Leonard Homme (2008) {New Perfume} {Men's Cologne}

Léonard has introduced a new men's cologne called Léonard Homme.

Lately, and since the successes of Dior Homme (2005) and Yves Saint Laurent L'Homme (2006), "homme" has become the best name in town for a men's scent.

See also Guerlain Homme

It's the new thing, the new in thing to do

Before you would see a "pour homme" much more typically, "for men". Now it's simply and bluntly put, Homme, and it sounds like hombre!

The more testosterone you put in the name of a perfume, the more flowers you can cram into the scent

That's the new trick

Next you will see a cologne called Sideburns smelling of muguet

The new Léonard scent offers this interesting motto: THE MAN BEHIND THE FLOWERS (not my capitals)...
L'Homme Au Milieu Des Fleurs, in the French version

It could be a reference to Léonard's textiles, to the orchid that is the emblem of the house

To the artistic director Daniel Tribouillard that was nicknamed that way

Or it could point to the floral notes used in the scent to encompass all of the above

Because usually flowers are for girls, in mainstream perfumery at least, in the modern period.

But things are changing fast for men, if they want to

A progressive man wears flowers these days

Fortunately for us there is that other useful stereotype: a real man is unafraid of his feminine side, of his flowery side

Never mind that flowers are not all just of one sex, nor have human sexes

It all re-started with the iris in Dior Homme, then the orange blossom in Jean-Paul Gaultier Fleur du Mâle

By the way, the latter smells different in France. But more on that later.

Well, I will say this: my jaw literally dropped when I smelled Fleur du Mâle in a French Sephora

But I don't want to create an international commotion

So, in principle no man wants to be caught hiding behind a flowery bush, that's in English, but Léonard thinks he is crouching there, waiting to be driven out of cover

They used the tag line for the perfume

In French, he is actually luxuriating in the middle of a mass of petals, The Man in the Middle of Flowers

It looks like French men are much readier for floral scents

Yep, that French Fleur du Mâle was something
 

What they say, in their own words:

"Léonard part à la conquête des hommes et dévoile sa vision du masculin. (...) Viril, élégant, et subtilement fantaisiste, l'Homme Léonard assume ce qu'il est."

"Léonard has decided to conquer men and has unveiled its vision of masculinity. (...) Virile, elegant and subtly whimsical, the Léonard man accepts who he is."

It is said to be a fresh woody scent, with dry and sensual accents.

What it does:

"Une signature olfactive qui transmet à l'homme qui le porte la volonté d'entreprendre, de conquérir un monde nouveau."

"An olfactory signature that imparts to the man who wears it the will to undertake, to conquer a new world."

The list of notes does not mention florals, but they appear on the composite image of the perfume's notes

Top notes: bergamot, nutmeg, Bourbon pepper

Heart notes: violet leaves, cedar, clary sage

Base notes: incense, cashmere wood, benzoin from Siam

The pattern on the bottle is inspired by Coptic textiles which were the source of inspiration for the Léonard 2008-2009 winter collection.

You can also read our review of Balahé by Léonard