Exclusive: Dwayne Johnson Takes Us Inside His New Line of Fragrances

6 min read

FOR SOMEONE who’s had his nose broken several times, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is infatuated with fragrance. You’d know that if you tried his grooming line, Papatui, which launched two years ago with a selection of skin care, body and hair products, and deodorants. Scent plays a big part in almost all those items, with complex bouquets designed by Frank Voelkl, the master perfumer at DSM-Firmenich.

And like with anything in Jonhson’s life, he wasn’t going to do it halfway. Cologne obsessed since he was fourteen (more on that below), the launch of Papatui allowed Johnson to truly immerse himself in that world. “I thought, let me really understand what I like, why I like it, and what it’s all about,” he tells Men’s Health exclusively. “The ideas of multiple notes—it was a fascinating experience.”

With this level of enthusiasm, it’s no surprise that the actor is expanding the Papatui line with a new collection of three fine fragrances, created by Voelkl and Jérôme Epinette, another fragrance master well-known for his work on scents for Byredo and mega-hit brand Sol de Janeiro. The scents—all with numeric names, P-01, P-07, and P-21—offer an option for every guy and are perfect for scent layering. P-01, with its familiar blend of leather and woods, is an all-around crowd-pleaser, while P-07 is a lighter creation, a fresh blend of amber and cypress. P-21 is the most audacious—a rich, complex mix of smoke and bourbon brought to life by Epinette. They’re complex, layered, and, most importantly, accessible (full size bottles will only set you back about $40).

Shop Papatui’s New Fragrances

Papatui P-01 Eau De Parfum

$40 at Target

A strong blend of bright bergamot, cardamom, and apple merge with tonka, vanilla, and amber to make for an all-around crowd pleaser. This is confidence, bottled.

Papatui P-07 Eau De Parfum

$40 at Target

If your tastes veer toward the bright and sporty, you’ll love this one, a mix of bergamot, patchouli, and vetiver. An easy everyday wear.

Papatui P-21 Eau De Parfum

$40 at Target

Johnson swears he wears this one all day long, but it’s seductive mix of birch smoke and coconut make it ideally suited to after-dark. This is your date-night spritz, fellas.

Theres utility with spritzing on your favorite scent (you’ll smell great, obviously), but Johnson—at heart, still that teenager smelling a great cologne for the first time—is still in awe of the deeper power of fragrance. “It can totally change your mood,” he says. “I think it really can almost change the cells in your body and make you feel different. I have been in funky moods sometimes, and then I'll take a shower, put something new on, and suddenly I’m in another zone.”

Here, Johnson shares the process of creating these new scents and how the power of the nose has always played such an important part in his life.

What sort of journey were you hoping to take guys on with these scents?

I've always been just fascinated by fragrances and scents. Since I was maybe fourteen, I was always so interested in fragrances. And when we launched Papatui, the idea of fragrances was always there. But we wanted to take our time. We wanted to find the scents that would appeal to masses, but I wanted to maintain a little bit of a niche feel to them. A fragrance can affect your DNA, how you feel, how you walk into a room, how you are absorbing your day. It’s hard to choose a favorite, but there's something special about all of them.

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We wanted to make something that felt complex to the nose. I never knew anything about opening notes and middle notes and dry-downs, And once I understood that I wanted to make something that feels niche and sophisticated and would smell like it costs $150 or $200 bucks.

What was the collaboration with the two perfumers like?

With number one and seven with Frank, we were always going back and forth, and I was always sending the team notes. I’d say, “Hey, let Frank know I love these. Can we go a little deeper? Can we mix it up just a little bit more?” Frank is such a master, so when he locks in and he sends something over, it's in the zone already. When Frank originally was sending over number one and seven, again, they were already in the zone. And I just said, “Hey, can we push it a little bit more?” How about this?” And I had just gotten in Parfums,de Marly Althair, and was so inspired.

Shop the new Papatui fine fragrances

What was your first experience with scent?

I was fourteen years old and I was flying from Hawaii to California. Back then, they'd walk the duty-free cart through the aisles, and I saw they had a [Ralph Lauren] Polo cologne in the green bottle on the cart. Another passenger asked for a sample and when I smelled that, I was like, “Oh my God, what's this?” I saved my money for such a long time to buy a small bottle of that green Polo scent. It made a real impression on me. It's such a classic smell from a classic brand, and I wore the shit out of it. I loved it so much that when I got down to the bottom, I put some water in the bottle to make it last longer. Since then, I've always loved scent.

The connection between scent and memory is undeniable. Do you have a core scent memory?

Every time I hit the ocean, especially in Hawaii, I smell the ocean, smell the breeze, and that's a core memory for me. And I love fragrance so much that every morning it's part of my routine. Even If I'm not doing anything, I'm always spraying on new fragrances. And this is such a girl-dad thing, but when I give my little ones a hug in the morning and they say, “You smell so good.” it sticks with me. At some point when they grow up, they're going to look back and be like, “Remember every morning how dad always smelled so good?”

Does fragrance ever play a part in how you bring a character to life?

Usually every character I played, I’ve attached a fragrance to that character. It started when I was on show on HBO called Ballers. I thought, “This guy Spencer is going to smell a certain way, and fragrance is important to him.” Not every single character I played has a strong fragrance to them, but maybe there's a little oil in there—something nice and soft that can put me in that zone.

Shop the new Papatui fine fragrances

Are there any fragrances you hate?

Sometimes, the animalistic notes are a little strong for me. I try to get there. I've tried to really be open to everything. I need to apply more discipline because if that opening note does not grab me and does not create some sort of trigger in me, I won't have the discipline. I know it's the beginning of the story and there's the end will be different, but there's some stories I just don't want to sit through. And then, without fail, I'll see a friend a week later and I'll ask, “What are you wearing?” And it's always that scent I just threw away.

When you’re developing a fragrance, do you have an idea of where or when your customer will wear it?

To be honest with you, no. I wanted to make fragrances that you could wear all day. P-21, for example, is amber and smokey, there's some allure to it. Typically, that feels a little after dark, a little nighttime. But I rock it early in the morning, I really want to leave it up to the consumer.

Where would you like to go with the next fragrances?

I'd like to see us expand a little bit into some more vanilla and explore the different shades of vanilla. I’m a big fan. I’d also like to be a little daring and maybe put scents together that typically don't go together.

Shop the new Papatui fine fragrances

Are there any traditionally female scents you love?

Every scent I own is unisex and maybe even leans a bit feminine. I like being able to disrupt the expectation of what I would smell like. So, when I meet people or I give them a hug, it’s an unexpected scent. I think especially some of these unisex fragrances are just beautiful, especially if they veer more toward feminine notes. I love that. I like a floral.

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Beauty Director

Brian 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.