Jonathan Bailey’s Earliest Scent Memory Involves Whiskey and Rose Water.

4 min readMY 10-YEAR-OLD has informed me that no one uses the word ‘rizz’ anymore. But if we still did use that word, we’d say that Jonathan Bailey definitely has it. He possesses an almost magical ability to draw an audience in, whether he’s dancing on tables as Fiyero in Wicked or seducing Britain’s Regency-era upper crust in Bridgerton.Bailey’s rizz is innate—it’s clear once you meet him in person—and unique, so it should come as no surprise that when Armani Beauty was looking for the face of its new men’s fragrance, they’d seek him out. The new scent, I Will, opens with a bright burst of Italian bergamot, gradually easing into its sensual blend of smoky vanilla and woody leather notes. Bailey tells me that the scent was years in the making and that the perfumers—Nathalie Larson and Alberto Morillas—created 2,800 versions before settling on the one you can purchase. “Armani has celebrated masculinity for the last 50 years, and I think fragrance is such a key part of that,” Bailey says. “This is Mr. Armani’s final gift to the world—the creative he signed off on.” (Giorgio Armani passed away in September 2025 at the age of 91.)Armani Beauty’s latest scent is a blend of bright bergamot, sensual vanilla, and warm woods.It’s the right fragrance for right now, as summer begins its languid final bow and autumn’s kaleidoscope of colors takes hold. To me, I Will is warm, comforting, and sexy—the kind of scent I’ll reach for again and again this fall. Bailey agrees. “The sensuality of it is unrivaled,” he says. “And it feels like a true day-to-night scent because initially, it feels incredibly zesty and virile. And then the vanilla comes in and is re-imagined because of the leather underneath. It feels enduring.”Bailey’s relationship with scent is enduring too. From the mustiness of the London stages that saw his career first blossom to the whiffs of whiskey and rose that evoke some of his earliest childhood memories, fragrance has always been there. This is the bouquet of Bailey.Every guy has that one first “nice” cologne—what was yours and do you still wear it?No, I don't because I was a bit traumatized. My first one was Joop, and it’s so etched onto my memory. I remember going into history and my teacher saying, “Who the fuck has sprayed all that cologne?” You never want to be that person. And I knew then that there is such a thing as excess with that scent. So, no more Joop because of that unfortunate experience.Are you a signature scent guy or do you rotate?I like to mix it up because you've got to be curious in life. There are too many incredible scents and there are too many emotions and moods that we feel that all correlate with them. I love going over to people and being like, “You smell incredible. What are you wearing?” It’s an icebreaker, but I'm also fascinated with the alchemy of how fragrances sit on everyone's skin.Armani has so many iconic fragrances like Code and Acqua di Gio—what does it mean to you to be part of the brand?It's unbelievable. Armani has been an incredibly supportive and grounding force over the last few years. I met Mr. Armani in 2022, and I did an eyewear campaign for the brand as well, so I've been in the family. And they are a family and I think that’s a testament his leadership and vision.Do you ever wear a scent to get into a character? I do. I love it when you can smell people on stage. And because I started in theater when I was very young, I remember looking up at these incredible actors that were almost mythical creatures delivering these extraordinary performances and I could smell them on stage. I could smell the oil paint and the cigarettes that were smoked backstage. Now, I'm going back to the Barbican [theater] to do Sunday in the Park with George next year and when I went backstage thirty-two years later, it smells the same. It was like I was a kid again.What’s your earliest scent memory?The smell of talcum powder and rose water from when I would go visit my grandparents. And even my granddad, who was always slightly boozed—I remember the smell. It was whiskey breath, and he always made me chicken legs. The smell of whiskey and chicken legs.I read that you were practicing your Wicked choreography while you were filming Fellow Travelers. Is it hard to bring two characters to life at the same time? I think the best things come out of instinct and there was so much of Tim in Fellow Travelers and so much of Fiyero that I was like, “I understand this.” You can’t overthink it. You just allow the body to take over. There was something brilliant about getting ready for Wicked when Fellow Travelers was so demanding because I could focus on learning the dance moves and just work on my voice.A lot of your work has been physically demanding. How do you train to play those characters? If you’re doing something like Wicked or Jurassic Park, you get an amazing trainer. My day-to-day is gymnastics and body weight stuff. I like the rings.How do you prioritize wellness and health in general? What I've realized is mornings are important to me. The idea of waking up and having space. I also think sleep, walking, and cycling are key. If you can cycle or walk and not get in a car or on a train or a bus, I’ll always take the option. I feel it’s much better to leave two hours early. That's why I like being in New York. I have a lovely driver, and he looks at me after I’ve been here for a while and says, "Are we walking today?"SHOP ARMANI’S I WILL EAU DE PARFUMOther Colognes We Like Maison Margiela Under the Stars Eau de ToiletteImaginary Authors A City on Fire Eau de ParfumMind Games Opera Mate Extrait de ParfumPrada Paradigme Eau de ParfumNow 33% OffTom Ford Neroli Portofino Eau de ParfumJohn Varvatos Artisan Costiero Eau de ParfumBrian Underwood is beauty director at Women’s Health, where he oversees content strategy for the brand across all platforms, including digital, print, and social. Underwood previously served as beauty and wellness director at Oprah Daily and O, The Oprah Magazine. During his tenure leading beauty content for the Oprah brand at Hearst, stories Underwood commissioned were awarded the Skin Cancer Foundation Media Award and a Fragrance Award for Editorial Excellence (his second). He was the launch Beauty Director of Dr. Oz THE GOOD LIFE, and has held additional editorial positions at Fitness, Organic Style, Good Housekeeping, Life & Style Weekly, and Woman’s Day and has written for Self, Shape, Seventeen, Redbook, Cosmopolitan, and many more. Underwood previously served on the Skin Cancer Foundation’s gala committee and as partnerships director of the Trans Beauty Clinic, a New York-based charitable organization that provided beauty services and workshops to the city’s trans community.