Our take
What does Pour Homme smell like?
Yves Saint Laurent launched Pour Homme in 1971, the same year as Rive Gauche. It was the house's first masculine fragrance, an eau de toilette by Raymond Chaillan. It opens like the great fresh colognes of the period. Lemon, bergamot and lemon verbena come up with lavender and a bitter petitgrain. The heart is more aromatic. Rosemary and clary sage lead, geranium and carnation add some spice, and rosewood brings a quiet velvet touch. The base anchors everything on vetiver and patchouli. Cedar and sandalwood follow, with a little tonka and musk at the end. That woody base gives it fair staying power for an eau de toilette of its era. The style is very much the shaving kit of a well-dressed man in the seventies. More herbal than Dior's Eau Sauvage, released five years earlier, it also feels drier and more like a barbershop.
When to wear it
Wear it on spring and summer mornings, at work or at the weekend. Spray it freely on the chest, the way men did in 1971.
It belongs to the Citrus, Aromatic family. Pour Homme is one of 35 creations by Yves Saint Laurent in our encyclopedia.
