Yves Saint Laurent’s 2014 sport edition of L’Homme: verbena, aldehydes and cedar, by Anne Flipo and Juliette Karagueuzoglou.
At a glance
L’Homme Sport is a Yves Saint Laurent flanker launched in spring 2014 and composed by Anne Flipo and Juliette Karagueuzoglou. It is a fresh woody fragrance: verbena, bergamot and aldehydes at the top, a lightly spiced heart, and cedar and amber in the base.
It was the sporty member of the L’Homme family and has since been discontinued.
Creation and context
Fragrantica announced L’Homme Sport in March 2014 and reported that it was expected that spring. Fragrantica and Parfumo both date it to 2014 and both credit Anne Flipo, one of the three perfumers of the 2006 original, working with Juliette Karagueuzoglou.
The brand copy, as Fragrantica reports it, promised an “unstoppable” scent with explosive energy for someone always on the move, and described “a magnetic and passionate blend of fresh woods, with a wave of citrus notes at the top and a sensual trail of amber in the base.” The bottle kept the L’Homme shape; Fragrantica’s report notes the bright green colour of the liquid. The same report announced Kouros Eau de Toilette Tonique for the same season, so the house was refreshing more than one of its lines at once.
By 2014 the family already had a clear range. La Nuit de L’Homme (2009) covered the evening, and L’Homme Parfum Intense (2013) the warm, resinous end. L’Homme Sport filled the remaining gap, the sports variant that most large designer franchises of the period carried.
The composition
Yves Saint Laurent has not published the formula. Fragrantica and Parfumo agree on the top and base; they list different heart notes, so both are given.
The aldehydes are the telling detail. Best known for the fizzy lift they give to classic floral perfumes, here they sharpen the lemony verbena and make the opening feel brighter and more effervescent. The base keeps the family’s cedar but trades the tonka of the original for amber. Parfumo’s users classify the result as citrus, fresh and woody, with a spicy edge.
Why it matters
L’Homme Sport is not a historically important fragrance. It is a clear example of a standard move in 2010s designer fragrance: taking an established best-seller and issuing a sport edition, brighter and lighter, aimed at daytime and summer wear. Chanel, Dior and many other houses did the same with their leading fragrances.
Its short life says something about that model. The sport variant depends on the parent’s name, and when the parent itself is already fresh and easy, as L’Homme was, the space between them is narrow. Parfumo’s community rates it noticeably lower than the family’s richer versions, and it was withdrawn while the original eau de toilette remained in Yves Saint Laurent’s range.
For the L’Homme family, Sport marks the widest point of its range. Between 2006 and 2016 the name covered a cologne-style ginger edition, an evening version, a resinous intense, a sport edition and an eau de parfum, all built from the same citrus-woody idea.
Reformulation and editions
L’Homme Sport was released as an eau de toilette. It has since been discontinued: Fragrantica reviewers describe it as no longer made, Parfumo records it as last marketed by L’Oréal, and resellers list remaining bottles as discontinued stock. No reformulation is documented.
The family continued with L’Homme Ultime in 2016. The earlier fresh variant, L’Homme Cologne Gingembre (2011), is also discontinued.
Wearing it today
Expect a zesty verbena-and-citrus opening with an aldehydic fizz, a short spiced middle and a light cedar-amber drydown. It is built for heat, daytime and exercise, and Parfumo’s users rate both its longevity and its sillage as moderate.
Two or three sprays suit it, with more on a hot day; the aldehydic opening is its most distinctive phase and fades first. Since it is discontinued, bottles appear mainly through resellers. If you want the same fresh, easy character from a fragrance still in production, the original L’Homme eau de toilette is the obvious comparison.