Léonard pour Homme (original) (1980)
by Léonard

“Strong, dark and brooding” are the words a certain sage used to describe this scent. Leonard pour Homme is an exemplar of 80s scents – scents of a period when disco was king, when Christmas was called by its proper name, when letters were still the main medium of communication and the acronym “IFRA” would have been thought to be for a lethal exotic virus or neuro-toxin.

Leonard pour Homme, leather chypre par excellence, introduces itself with spicy olfactory fanfare – basil and thyme prominent in the fore. When the lovely screeching recedes a bit, wormwood/artemisia attains prominence. Smokiness also emerges, i guess, from patchouli and cedar oil among other ingredients of the frag. Perhaps because I live in the tropics and naturally exposed to direct heat sometimes, it is not long into the wearing that the animalic castoreum and leather ingredients ascend into my conciousness. Resinous labdanum sings in harmony with the smoke-sodden leatheriness to deliver an accord that may be a bit scary to the Acqua di Gio crowd. There is not a smidgen of sweetness in this frag. Baroque pipe organ music and the eerie sound of ghosts and crazed bats seem to be the appropriate sound track for LpH.

LpH is similar to Van Cleef and Arpels pour Homme, but less flowery. It also reminds me of Francesco Smalto pour Homme, but is a bit more herbal and oily; Trussardi Uomo without the tobacco notes, or a more resinous Bel Ami. In all its darkness LpH is not a room-strafing powerhouse like Trussardi pH. Lph has mazing longevity. 9+ hours after applying I still get authoritative whiffs of leathery darkness.

I came upon this frag late, but with it in my wardrobe now the rest of my life will surely be fragrantly richer.

13rd December, 2010.

The Estonian site lists the following notes:

Top: Basil, bergamot, lavender, marjoram, petigrain oil, thyme.
Mid: Artemisia, carnation, carrot, cedar, cinnamon, jasmine, iris, patchouli, vetiver.
Base: Amber, castoreum, labdanum, leather, moss, musk.

For me, the lavender/herbal aspect is clear. and you get occasional wafts of leather. I have to try hard to avoid the top notes, which are very strong, so keep that in mind. I don't much wood, moss, or castoreum. It's a little "powdery," so I assume that's the iris. The floral elements are probably too blended to detect more than the lavender. It also seems to have a little amber softening it up, but don't expect much sweetness here. Nor is there much in the way of spice. It does seem to have a little patchouli blended in, but the vetiver must be minimal. If you want a bitter leather, I suggest Francesco Smalto. This one is closer to Oscar Pour Lui or VC&A Pour Homme, but this one is blended better (I've only tried the new VC&A PH and I think that one is clearly inferior to the others). Longevity is quite good but with fair "sillage"/projection at best. One thing that's good is that it never goes into that "soapy lavender" area that so many of these "80s power frags" do. The only criticism I have is that I'd like to smell more of the notes listed clearly, but that's my preference, and I consider it a minor flaw, though of course the perfumer may have been trying to create this kind of smooth fragrance.

27th June, 2010. (Last Edited: 7th February, 2011.)

A misleading opening that makes you think what it finally is not: a sillage / longevity beast much akin to Van Cleef & Arpels pour homme (VC&A) or any of the leather scents in use during the 1950's.

Leonard pour Homme is, thus, a baffling individual. It makes a grand debut but he does not keep up to this initial appereance. Maybe pressed by the fashion of the times it was launched, the presence of flowers and leather makes you think he must be a relative to VC&ApH.

But it looks like he could not keep on with this farce, so he gets rid of these frills and settles into very subtle, delicate floral notes, in such a traditional way it makes one recall so called "gentlemany scents". Wearing this makes you think he did not feel comfortable with fashion at all.

16th July, 2009.

a truly wonderful leathery chypre.in my opinion similar to patou pour homme,with a dash of halston z-14.leonard p.h. used to be one of my favourite frags. sadly it is almost impossible to find now.van gils VGV,is also similar,but not as dry- leathery.

16th March, 2009.

Sorry to end the run of positive reviews but I really can't get on with this scent. It's very nauseating. The citrus/grassy notes are just too much and in your face. I normally like powerful scents, the longevity is good, but I simply wouldn't like to smell like this all day!

10th February, 2009.

Citrus and leather chypre and there's no doubt about it. It's not a powerhouse in my opinion. In fact, it's fantastic and still in the style of those 80's powerhouse. Love the sandalwood drydown and the herbal middile but is very short. Very nice though.

24th October, 2008.