Opium pour Homme Eau de Parfum (1995)
by Yves Saint Laurent

Opium eau de parfum pour homme

There comes a time after years of wearing and appreciating the nuances of fragrance that one can see where one has been and the level to which one has evolved.

Kouros was my first foray into the YSL line and after 20 years it's still on my shelf- a new bottle, of course.

Lately I've been thinning out my wardrobe, trying to fine tune what I want at hand and also because I want rid myself of excess. Ah,the joys of turning 42.

The Opium eau de parfum pour homme had been on my radar for a few years but I had not given it much thought until I started searching out and edps and discovered the marvels of the basenotes forum.


The reviews were stellar so I knew I must try it.

The comments ranged from 'rich, warm, complex' to 'vanilla-like'.
They sum up my feelings about this eau de parfum. But I must add, 'masculine, thougtful, intimate'.

This is one fragrance that has garnered the most compliments for me though I rarely give much thought to what comments my fragrance will inspire.

Also, I honestly am happy, dare I say, 'feel' happy, to wear the Opium edp and this is because I can buy into the 'olfactory' trip that most of Houses want us to aspire to. Aspirational advertising doesn't work with me for the most part as I'm pretty happy and fortunately secure.

I wear this on sultry summer days and on deep, bleak days of Canadian winters. The Opium edp is familiar and comforting, intially strong and surefooted yet in the end subtle and reminiscent.

YSL's Opium edp is a joyful, nay, joyous! exception in an overcrowded and misdirected market of glass and alcohol.

Yes, I'd be pretty sad to find out that of all the YSL fragrance line they'd be silly enough to pull the Opium edp. Perhaps they'll tweak the packaging and re-market it as Hermes has done with Equipage? I pray.

I am on the verge of making this my signature scent because it is truly a well-balanced, well-thought out men's fragrance. In fact if I had to pick just one edp to have in my wardrobe, it would be the Opium edp. As an aside, the edt works nicely layered with the edp. Try it!

If any one knows where I can purchase the whole product line of Opium, do let me know. But in the meantime, buy it and enjoy!

Edit: Originally submitted 4-27-07

For forty-five minutes it’s a compelling and fun woody oriental with good spice and some of the ripe, plummy bubblegum note from the women’s counterpart, but it’s all down hill as the cheap, loud vanilla blows up becoming an intolerable burden for what can seem like an endless duration (especially true of the EDP). I always think of it as a fragrance for children. Indeed, I smelled it on a high school kid (I asked him what he was wearing), and damn near gagged. Other than a guy wearing too much Drakkar Noir and a few women in their loud, cheap fruity-floral orientals with nuclear radiance, this was one of the worst fragrances I’ve smelled on another person. They had the right idea, and weren’t terribly far from something decent, but small details make or break any fragrance. If you must have something similar, look into Opium pour Homme Eau d’Orient. Its structure is poverty stricken, and it’s fairly banal, but it’s a hell of a lot better then either concentration of the original. I still find it hard to believe it was even released, but as the great Edmond Roudnitska famously said, “Most perfumes today are bonbons”. Either way, there are a lot better bonbons than this.

The EDP version is a beautiful and complex oriental. I am not a big wearer of vanilla, but this is flat out good.

I reviewed this in Sept,2008 and at the time, it was my strongest frag in the drobe. It no longer is the most tenacious one I own, but is still one of the best cool to cold weather scents in my arsenal.

It's safe to say it is strong, terrific longevity and will always have a place in my rotation.

At first I really loved it and was amazed that I found a YSL fragrance I adored. However, after a couple of wears, I realised that it didn’t agree with my skin chemistry – it smelt a bit 'off' during the drydown.

Opium PH EDP shares some qualities with a typical Lutens scent (i.e. a rich, heavy and complex) but without the substantial sillage or longevity. Personally, I much prefer Arabie than this.

Also, I really do think that the bottle itself is in need of a serious revamp.

[Original submission date: 13 April 2008]

My boyfriend wears this and it drives me crazy... It's an incredibly sexy, overpowering scent, even more so when it is paired with an equally sexy man. I adore this scent.

A real beauty. Fortunately my skin loves intense fragrances so this never gets too strong on me. I even wear it in hot summer evenings. Interestingly enough I hated the Eau de Toilette version which I tried first. I wasn't really expecting to like the EdP but wow......! Medium sweet (on my skin)) velvety oriental which gave me the visual impact of a red transparent pillar lifting from the point of application. There was something familiar to this imagery that I couldn't quite put my finger on. Then looking at the directory notes I noticed it is a Jacques Cavallier scent, the same person who created Le Feu d' Issey. And then I knew that this is were I got the imagery. The exact same sensation of a "cold fire" lifting from the skin. Sander Man also creates the same impact.