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Kapantese – :
If You want a truer version of the original opium, use the cream. It still uses the pure perfume extracts to scent the cream, which is why it’s so creamy smooth and inviting. Highly recommend the body cream to get a true scent; not sharp and screechy like the edt or EDP
dimadandi – :
I am an Opium lover from the 1980’s. I bought my first bottle as a teenager around 1987. I’m not too sure if EDT or EDP at the time. Today I managed to get a 3.5ml parfum in the red bottle with the tassel. It’s warm, woody and spicy. The incense note is definitely there but less so than I remember in teenage (but I was a heavy sprayer??). The parfum is soft, rich and inviting.
I don’t detect any civet or other animal smell, (predominantly woody/smoky) but I have in other perfumes so I’ll wait and see.
fpy421speagoessenda – :
This is the Queen of Fragrance for me. Yvresse (Champagne) on the other hand is the Queen’s sister. No similarity there of course. They are both equally stunning ❤️
andre7337 – :
I’m in love, deeply in love with Opium. Always wondered how vintage Parfum smelled, so had to order myself a bottle. I heard about Opium since early childhood, it was Number 1 Perfume in Soviet Union, too bad my mom couldn’t afford it back then, but she kept telling me that it was best perfume she ever smelled (besides Lancôme Climat, it was another big hit in Soviet times). Twenty plus years I kept in mind that info and finally ordered vintage Opium. It took me back in time, like a time- machine: my grandfather was a beekeeper and in the end of the summer he squeezed honey from combs, then melted beeswax. So imagine the smell of wood smoke, honey and beeswax. It was intoxicating. When I smell Opium I transport back in my childhood, where there are no worries, and my grandfather is still alive. Happy fragrance for me, absolutely no connection to lust or sin. Also reminds me of Ortodox church on Easter Day. Very peaceful fragrance indeed.
Alinialex – :
Picture a devilish good looking man. 30ish. Black denim overcoat in the middle of a cold blizzard night. Somehow you can see warmth within the evilness of his eyes. He is wearing the original 1977 Opium parfum…
Well… That’s how I’m going out tonight.
mmmalena – :
I tried opium today in a shop, spraying it on my hand. I got a strong hint of something that has been described here earlier as cats arse! Ugh. But after some time that changed and I could enjoy a much softer perfume. It is a an adult woman’s smell, not a girl. I love the incense and balsam, and would buy it if only it didn’t smell rank at first!
7jopa7 – :
I bought the 1977 version of the perfume shortly after it came out. The sillage was so great that I had to keep the perfume in its box, and then in a few more boxes just to try and contain it. Phew I never knew (to this date) another perfume as potent as this one. Not really for me – far too powerful, but if you want to make a statement, then this was the way. Weird that recent postings suggest the EDT is very (more) potent than (the current) perfume – or am I misunderstanding something. xxx
TK.Kochet – :
I agree with LuluSaintly’s description of the vintage parfum vs the 1977 EDT: The parfum is much softer and better blended than the EDT.
Also, I find the vintage EDT is sweeter (more carnation) and has higher sillage than the vintage parfum. While I find the parfum to be more balsamic.
I own the less complex, more synthetic, but still lovely current formulation of the EDT, the 1977 EDT and the vintage Parfum.
This is DRAMA DRAMA DRAMA, regardless of what formulation you get.
If you wish to announce to the world that you’re wearing Opium, the most effective way to do that, is by applying one spritz of the 1977 EDT on your neck.
However, if you value the private pleasure of the masterful blend that is the parfum, then you’ll be able to appreciate the significant difference in price between the two.
adultgirl – :
CocoChanel4ever. You are not missing anything, not having a cat! You have to get used to all sorts of disgusting things…
I tried Opium pure parfum yesterday against the EDT and strangely the EDT seems to last longer on me, but the parfum is much softer – still prefer it, overall, and not so easy to overdose.
Hamelion 375 – :
LuluSaintly, that’s so funny, still can’t stop laughing, too bad I don’t have a cat to smell it’s butt))). I absolutely love castoreum, but cannot stand civet, thanks God there’s no civet here in Opium.
Soofiya, don’t be afraid of castoreum, it’s very well blended and very pleasant in pure parfum.
zle667speagoessenda – :
Soofiya, I would say the parfum in the 3.5ml solid red bottle (no window for the fragrance), and with tassel, is definitely animalic – I thought more civet than than castoreum but apparently there is no civet in Opium. Overall, the parfum is much softer than the EDT and very well blended – more like the fragrance is coming out of your skin than applied to your skin. But it is definitely dirtier and skankier than the modern EDT (sorry, I haven’t smelled the China Legends flanker). My 3.5ml parfum smells like my cat’s butt. 🙂 But I should point out that it’s vintage – 1977 to mid 1980s. Still available on Ebay – mine only cost 10 euros – but might not be your cup of tea.
micabromo – :
Please note now this version IS NOT the original formula, but just the same bottle with the modern one.
What you find nowdays in shops and on YSL site is just a more concentrated version of modern edp, in the same-shaped bottle they used in 1977.
They say “an homage”, I say… well.
BloOdRa1n – :
I was born 7 years later after Opium was released, so I don’t connect it to 80’s. My mother was not a perfume person but growing up I heard her talking about Opium. She never owned it, but told me her sister in law used to wear one and it was the most intoxicating perfume ever. I always remembered that but had no opportunity to smell it. Until one day I was browsing on eBay and found pure parfum Opium. Ordered it and absolutely love it! My mom’s taste changed- once she smelled it, she didn’t recognize it and didn’t like it as much as I do. I’m kinda crazy about it. I like only pure parfum, edt way too loud for me. it’s sad this beauty got reformulated, so I’m always looking to find vintage one.
speckadr – :
RE: Castorum
In the parfum its well blended with everything else to give it warmth. You should be fine, unless your own skin amplifies certain notes like castorum. Ive tried many scents with castorum like Esprit de Poison (definately stands out) and Opium EDT first edition in the splash bottle stands out in the drydown. Parfum is fine. No issues.
ienybr – :
Can someone who has tried both opium parfum and opium China Legendes or at least this one and original opium help me?
I never tried original opium but I have a decant of opium china which I absolutely love.now I can get opium parfum but I’m very afraid of it’s castareum note.I usually hate this note also I hate animalic scents.how much is this one similar to opium Legendes de china or original opium because castareum tends to be faded in them and not too prominent
newcastle – :
When I think of this perfume, or meet its photo running the web, I always wonder why one of the best perfume ever made is not still in production, and above all why did YSL give its SAME NAME to the rubbish they now produce.
gfp730speagoessenda – :
Opium parfum is the greatest oriental of all. Holds up well over time if kept well. the Edt has much more incense, whereas the purity of all the notes make a rich whole that every oriental lover must try.
The Parfum is richer, more balanced than the incense heavy edt. The liquid is a bit oily, but that makes it adhere better. I like to decant it to a sprayer, but do be careful as sometimes plastic will react with Opium. Theres a reason its housed in a crystal bottle inside the outer shell. Id recommend glass or lead crystal if you plan to decant it. Complete oriental opulance: Layer the parfum on the pulse points and put the edt on everywhere else.
Vlad68 – :
The first designer perfume I have ever smelled straight from the bottle was my grandmother’s Chanel No. 5. The first designer perfum I ever bought for myself was YSL’s Opium! I experienced Opium in the jet stream of a female graduate student who was the epitome of a Middle East princess. She walked through my college Law Library with confidence and grace, bejeweled on every finger and with the darkest eyeliner perfectly applied like Cleopatra! Another woman must have been caught in that heavenly magnificence because she asked the woman what she was wearing before I could get my feet back on the ground. She said Opium, Yves Saint Laurent’s Opium! I have been a fan ever since because of the introduction to this opulent and exotic fragrance!
Daxaka009 – :
Capolavoro.
❤️