Burberry Touch for Men Review

Burberry Touch for Men came out in 2000 and won the Fragrance Foundation award for Fragrance of the Year in the men’s luxury class the next year. It is a clean violet leaf and white pepper scent that took the office by storm and has been quietly working ever since. It is the barbershop scent that everybody has smelled and nobody can name. Until now.

How it was tested, and where the method is written down: How We Review.

At a Glance

The Opening

Violet leaf does the heavy lifting. It gives you a cool, watery, slightly soapy green note that is the signature of this scent. Mandarin comes in behind it for a bit of brightness, and then there is artemisia, which brings a faint medicinal edge. Parfumo calls it aromatic and slight medicinal artemisia, and that is the right read. A lot of people will not consciously register the artemisia, but it is what keeps the opening from being a plain citrus. The whole thing reads as clean without ever being sharp.

The Dry Down

White pepper, cedar and nutmeg take over, and this is where Touch earns its reputation. The pepper gives it a soft bite that never turns hot, the cedar gives it structure, and the nutmeg adds a round warmth underneath. The base is white musk, tonka bean and vetiver, and that is the powdery musky skin scent people mean when they say this smells like a barbershop. It settles down fast and stays there. Evolution is minimal. Owners keep saying the same thing, that it does not stand out at first but it grows on you, and that the projection stays elegantly close to the skin the whole way through.

The Accords

Cross-check the lists and the order is nearly identical across sources. Fragrantica leads with fresh spicy, then ozonic, musky, aquatic, woody and aromatic. Parfumistas lists the same ten in the same order. Scentiamo agrees on the top five. Parfumo splits fresh and spicy apart and adds synthetic, which no other source carries. Fragrantica has it at 4.01 out of 5 from nearly six thousand votes, a solid score for something this soft.

Longevity and Projection

Three to five hours, intimate projection. Parfumo scores longevity 6.6 and sillage 6.3, ScentVerdict says four to six hours, and more than half of the Scentiamo community votes put it at level three, the middle of the scale. Scentiamo sillage sits mostly at level two, which is close to the skin. Owner reports are honest about this one. It becomes a soft woody skin scent within a few hours, and if you have been wearing it a while you will stop smelling it before anybody else does. One owner recommends putting it on an hour before bed and letting it become a sleeping scent, which is a strange review and a real one.

Where and When to Wear

Office, a quiet dinner, a first date where you do not want to overwhelm anybody. ScentVerdict calls it the definitive fresh and powdery office scent, versatile and quietly confident and always appropriate. Parfumistas puts it at 65 percent daytime and 33 percent spring. Spring and fall are where it lives. It also gets called a sport scent and a formal scent, which is another way of saying it never gets out of place. One owner put it as unisex leaning more masc but not turbomacho.

Dupes and Clones

There is no scored consensus on this one, and no made-up number stands in for it. The Sniff Test rates both listed clones at 6 out of 10 for similarity. Dua sells a Touch for Him with a stated inspiration of Touch for Men by Burberry at thirty six dollars. Parfumo runs head to head compares that put Prada Amber pour Homme at 7.9 against Touch at 7.3, and Lanvin Eclat d’Arpege pour Homme at 7.5 against 7.3. Those are fragrance ratings rather than similarity scores, but they are the closest numbers available. A top Parfumo reviewer compares it to Cacharel Nemo, saying Touch is fresher and more focused on vetiver, cedar and spices, with a musky base and a powdery frame. There is no ScentMetric page for this scent at all.

How It Compares

The Verdict

Touch for Men is the safe bet that keeps being safe. The consistent criticism is that it is inoffensive rather than exciting. One owner said it could be sold in a bottle labeled Generic Good Smell. Another said it is somehow one of his most complimented scents of all time. Both are true. You will never get a comment about what you are wearing, and you will never get a question about what you are wearing either. For a twenty five dollar bottle with a five thousand vote rating, a Fragrance Foundation award, and a scent that has been on office desks for twenty five years, that is a better trade than most people give it credit for. It is the best value Burberry in the lineup, and it is the one I keep reaching for when I do not want to think about what I am wearing.

Common Questions

How long does Burberry Touch for Men last?

Three to five hours, with intimate projection. Parfumo scores longevity 6.6 and sillage 6.3, and ScentVerdict reads it as four to six hours.

Is Burberry Touch for Men a dupe?

There is no scored consensus on this one. The Sniff Test rates both listed clones at 6 out of 10 for similarity, and there is no ScentMetric page for the scent at all. The closest numbers are Parfumo head to head comparisons, which put Prada Amber pour Homme at 7.9 against Touch at 7.3, and Lanvin Eclat d Arpege pour Homme at 7.5 against 7.3.

What does it smell like?

Violet leaf does the heavy lifting. It gives a cool, watery, slightly soapy green note that is the signature of this scent, with mandarin in behind for brightness. Fragrantica leads with fresh spicy, then ozonic, musky, aquatic, woody and aromatic, and Parfumistas lists nearly the same ten notes in the same order.

Who is it for?

The office, a quiet dinner, a first date where you do not want to overwhelm anybody. ScentVerdict calls it the definitive fresh and powdery office scent. The consistent criticism is that it is inoffensive rather than exciting.

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