Our take
What does Wanted smell like?
Wanted, released by Azzaro in 2016, trades on a bold, playful spirit. The opening pairs zesty lemon with sharp ginger and aromatic lavender for a jittery freshness. The heart warms up: a lightly caramelised apple, cool spicy cardamom and a gin-like, resinous juniper berry. The base, built on tonka bean, a dry, diffusive amberwood and earthy vetiver, sets up an addictive warmth somewhere between sugar and wood. That contrast between bright spice and soft drydown makes Wanted a sociable scent, designed for instant appeal. The ginger stays audible for a surprisingly long time, keeping the sweetness lively rather than cloying.
When to wear it
Great for evenings out and cooler seasons; it suits men who like modern, approachable spicy woods.
The story of Wanted
Wanted landed in 2016, a year after Dior's Sauvage had reset the men's aisle, and every brand wanted a loud woody amber of its own. Azzaro, then part of the Clarins group, needed a second pillar beside Azzaro pour Homme, the 1978 fougère that had carried the house for decades. Wanted keeps a thread of that heritage through lavender, then dresses it in ginger, cardamom and a very current tonka base. The bottle did half the talking. It is a heavy ridged metal cylinder shaped like a revolver chamber, with the name stamped as if on a wanted poster. It feels solid in the hand and stands out on any shelf. No perfumer is credited in our data, and we won't guess one. The launch did well enough to spawn a family. Wanted Girl came for women, Wanted by Night followed in 2018 with more cinnamon and a darker base, and The Most Wanted arrived in 2021. Each version pushed further toward sweetness and late nights, and the original now looks almost restrained next to them.
Our detailed review
Lemon and ginger hit first with a fizzy sting, close to a cold ginger ale. Lavender hangs back, clean more than floral. After about an hour the apple takes over. Not a crisp apple but a baked one, slightly caramelized, kept off the dessert tray by cardamom and juniper. This is the best stretch of the wear, a sweet gin-and-tonic effect none of its direct rivals quite reproduce. By hour three the base moves in and the character drains out. Tonka and amberwood take over with the dry, scratchy woodiness shared by a hundred other masculines of that decade. The vetiver barely registers. We think it is well made and easy to like, but it goes generic by evening. It suits a man who wants to be noticed on a night out without overthinking it. Fans of classic fougères or dry woods will find it too sweet, and up close the amberwood base can feel harsh.
Wanted vs its rivals
YSL's Y is the closest match: the same apple, ginger and juniper over the same tonka and amberwood base. Sage and geranium are what separate them. Y smells greener and crisper, a white-shirt scent, while Wanted runs warmer and spicier thanks to cardamom. Parfums de Marly's Percival shares the lavender, cardamom and amber base but adds violet, cinnamon and a lot of ambroxan. It smells like expensive laundry and works better in an office. Nishane's Ani opens on the same lemon, ginger and cardamom, then slides into a creamy vanilla with sandalwood. It is richer and rounder, and easier to share with a partner. For a crowd-pleasing night-out scent, go with Wanted. Y is the safer daily choice. Ani is the answer if the drydown of Wanted feels too dry and too macho for you.
Longevity, projection and use
Wanted outperforms most eaux de toilette, and our intensity rating of 4 out of 5 reflects that. Expect six to eight hours on skin in normal conditions, somewhat less in summer. Projection is strong for the first hour, then holds at roughly an arm's length. Two sprays cover an evening, one on each side of the neck. Go to three outdoors in cold weather. Sprayed on a scarf, it is often still there the next morning. It works best in autumn, winter and cool spring weather, for dinners, dates and nights out. At the office, one spray is plenty.
It belongs to the Woody, Spicy family. Wanted is one of 4 creations by Azzaro in our encyclopedia.
