Why Are Gen-Z Bros into YSL All of a Sudden?

It’s no secret that Gen-Z males are into perfume. PureWow Senior Editor Dana Dickey writes that the discovery of the fragrance world was a rite of passage for her teenager, and the rise of smellmaxxing (aka the practice of curating a personal scent wardrobe to ‘optimize’ how you smell) shows just how deep the obsession runs. My own Gen Z brother is a budding fraghead, always happy to snag my “manly” perfume samples. One of the buzziest colognes out there these days? YSL’s Y ($165), which is arguably the scent of Gen Z TikTok right now. So, what’s the big deal? I tapped two Gen Zers to find out.

YSL is one of the fashion brand’s signature fragrances, launched in 1964 in response to the wild popularity of Chanel No. 5, which debuted in 1921. The men’s iteration, however, didn’t come out until rather recently—2018. Lenny Kravitz became the face of the cologne in 2020.

The cult scent has five versions: Y Le Parfum ($115), Y Eau de Parfum ($165), Y Elixir ($198), Y Eau de Parfum Intense ($180) and Y Eau de Toilette ($115). All are united by their intense woody, musky notes—this manifests as patchouli, incense, pine and oud, depending on your pick. Y is anchored by florals, usually geranium, but in some of the colognes, juniper berry or lavender. The combination produces a fresh, zingy scent reminiscent of bergamot with earthy, dark undertones.

YSL isn’t just a heritage fragrance house—it’s having a major moment with Gen Z men. According to consumer trend platform Spate, YSL Beauty has grown by 48.1 percent across platforms in the past year with Search interest up by a whopping 53.4 percent. On TikTok, fragrance creator Noel Thomas has featured Y several times over the past year to his more than 900,000 followers, including the viral video above and an individual review of the Y Eau de Parfum in the summer of 2024. The cologne then peaked in popularity in December. And with young millennial heartthrob Austin Butler as the face of YSL’s MYSLF, the brand’s 2023 fragrance launch, YSL has cemented its status as a go-to fragrance brand for the next generation of men.

To gather some first-person insight into Y’s popularity, I tapped my Gen Z brother, Sam, along with that of PureWow Beauty & Cultures Editor Chelsea Candelario, Christian, to see what was up.

“This is one of my favorite colognes for summer. It has a great bottle design and a calming scent that isn't overwhelming, but gets people's attention,” Christian says, noting that he wears it for every occasion.

My brother tells me that there’s definitely hype around the brand itself (what Gen Z male doesn’t want an ultra-cool logo emblazoned onto the side of a cologne bottle?), but the scent does hold its own. Sam describes it as “smooth,” observing that Y “definitely provides a presence.” In short, the brand recognition + commanding olfactory notes + fresh (but manly!) florals = something that turns heads. I mean, if I had a boyfriend, I wouldn’t mind if he smelled like this.

As one TikTok creator reports: “This smells like a super mature, well-put together guy.” Maybe this is the boys trying to manifest a destiny other than a stay-at-home son. Maybe it’s the scent equivalent of a first real job interview. Whatever the case may be, it looks like my brother will be one of the best-smelling guys in his senior class (and maybe I’ll be swiping perfume samples from him next time).