Opium pour Homme Yves Saint Laurent (1995) Eau de Toilette

Opium pour Homme (Eau de Toilette) by Yves Saint Laurent

Bottle Design: Pierre Dinand

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8.1 / 10 359 Ratings

Opium pour Homme (Eau de Toilette) is a popular perfume by Yves Saint Laurent for men and was released in 1995. The scent is oriental-spicy. Projection and longevity are above-average. It is being marketed by L'Oréal.

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Perfumer

Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud

Fragrance Notes

Top Notes	Blackcurrant, Star anise
Heart Notes	Ginger, Pepper
Base Notes	Atlas cedar, Bourbon vanilla, Tolu balm

Ratings

Scent

8.1 (359 Ratings)

Longevity

8.6 (257 Ratings)

Sillage

8.1 (239 Ratings)

Bottle

6.2 (235 Ratings)

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 20.12.2018

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Reviews

12/16/2018

5.0/10

10.0/10

8.0/10

Basti87

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Basti87

Very helpful Review 8

My Sunday scent

I own Opium pour Homme for 2-3 years. The EDP is praised even more here, but I bought the EDT. 50ml of this classic from 1995. My bottle is still very well filled, because he never really made it to the use. Nevertheless: Jacques Cavallier-Belletrud has created a great fragrance here.

One at a time: The bottle is quite oldschool and suggests a vintage scent. At 23, he's also more of an oldie. The fragrance has a strong 90s touch, if not 80s touch. Even though I am anything but a vintage fan I like this fragrance very much. A great fragrance description with fragrances I can not give here so much. It's one of those scents where I barely smell scents. From the pyramid I only perceive anise, which is very present at the start. Also the Tolu balm from the base provides a cultivated pleasant touch. Otherwise I feel this fragrance rather consistently oriental with strong spice paired with an ethereal touch. I don't see the capital bourbon vanilla. Possibly a subtle sweetness that rounds off the base well.
All in all a beautiful fragrance, especially for mature men and vintage fans. I also like this creation, but I have never worn it outside the house. The desire and the mood was never there. Especially since this fragrance is also very intrusive and I have difficulties to find a suitable occasion. Everyday/job? No. Nightlife? No. Free time? No. And I can't think of any other occasion like this. I like to wear it on Sundays or evenings when I'm not up to anything great. But everyone has such scents, which he likes but rather wears for himself. He definitely has style and elegance.

As already mentioned, the performance is terrific. Almost too good, the Sillage. The shelf life is also very good here. You should be careful for all indoor activities. And you should keep in mind that this is rather a scent for cold days.

5 Replies

05/25/2018

7.0/10

8.0/10

9.5/10

Carlitos01

Helpful Review 5

The Opium sweet oblivion

This is a very impressive fragrance.
In the begining there was "Opium Eau de Parfum" and "Opium Eau de Toilette" for women (1977) and later on for men (1995). It got complicated later on with several flankers both for women and men.
My favourite "Opium Pour Homme" has always been the original EDT for being more masculine, subtle and wearable. I had several flasks along the years and currently have only the last reformulation. My memory must trick me with the continuous use of this fragrance and I don't recall if the EDT first version has been very different from the current one.
Twenty three years went by and I am still in love with this fragrance.
I know it's not as fashionable any longer as it was twenty years ago. Probably younger men consider it old fashion either because they prefer the new wave of "Bleu", "Nuit", "Dylan" and "Sauvage", or because they never tried this YSL diamond just for being a release from the last century.
Well... young guys out there!... give it a try! It is at least as oriental and spicy as many expensive modern offers.
It opens with a very strong sweet blackcurrant note and an also strong star anise that adds a pungent sweet licorice note to the fragrance opening. The opening sweet strong notes endure till the beginning of the drydown.
The heart notes give you two spices to embrace a bit the initial sweetness. The black pepper note is slightly stronger than the blue ginger although the latter kind of gives a far eastern tonality to the fragrance.
The bottom notes propose you a very strong and pungent bourbon vanilla accentuated the warmth of the ambery tolu balsam note and the cedar woody note.
The drydown is consists of a long voyage through an indian / chinese oriental sweet ambery scent of yummy vanilla.

It's sweet, it's strong, it's different, it's classy, it's alluring, it's Opium.

Let's check the sweet math of Opium EDT:
Scent Opening: 9.0 (my judgement)
Scent Dry Down: 10.0 (my judgement)
Longevity: 8.0 (7~8 hours+ with two sprays)
Sillage: 8.0 (more than 6-8 feet at its peak with 2 sprays)
Uniqueness: 9.5 (Penhaligon's LP 9 is younger and very similari to Opium Pour Homme EDT; The similarity with Opium flankers does not count :-)
Compliments: 8.5 (close to a serious compliment grabber although it's a head turner because it arouses curiosity with its pungent sweetness)
Wearability: 8.5 (Use it day or night during all seasons except in summer)
Versatility: 8.0 (You may use it in almost any event, although some perfumes are more adequate for specific situations. Avoid using it in Beach, sunny events and workout.)
Quality: 10.0 (my judgement)
Presentation: 8.0 (elegant, efective and simple but a bit outdated)
Price: 9.0 (100 ml non tester for 31 Euros + shipping)

Overall rating: 8.77/10.00
- between 7 and 8 =above average;
- between 8 and 9 = recomended;
- bigger than 9 = don't miss it;
I recommend this fragrance; I order you to try it at least!

1 Replies

05/05/2018

7.0/10

8.0/10

9.0/10

Jazzy76

If the man of my dreams was a scent...

If the man of my dreams was a scent, it could be Opium pour homme:
strong and mysterious, spicy and alternative, but with a sweet and deep character .
I love this scent, I think that its acchord is simply perfect: fruity-aromatic in the opening , spicy- at the heart, sweet and balsamic at the base.
Sometimes at the drugstore I test on myself this scent and I can say that the result is wonderful on my skin too.
A masterpiece to share!

02/26/2018

8.0/10

4.0/10

7.0/10

7.5/10

Pepdal

Helpful Review 3

Spicy Oriental

Opium Pour Homme by Yves Saint Laurent, has been around for a long time now and released in an era dominated by aquatic freshies, it is still popular today. Please enjoy my review.

12/25/2017

6.0/10

7.0/10

8.0/10

8.5/10

Smora

Greatly helpful Review 5

Stripped Down Fougere

Scentrack: DJ Shadow - Six Days

I believe I understand the Master Cavallier's idea. It's 1995, the era of aquatic horrors and melon tear gases. How to save the genre of fougere? To modernize it completely, to offload the redundant burden and introduce some novel notes. Opium, the legendary stripped down fougere.
Powerful, Oriental, spiced, sweet, sharp, rough, yet wobbly and elusive. Light anise and black currant on the wave of Eastern cuisine fiery ginger and jasmine. The base is made of transparent, yet strong Tolu balsam and almost gourmand vanilla.
An oriental imperial touch of French culture. A touch of class.

Rating: 8.5/10

More on Scentimentalwords

11/12/2015

7.5/10

7.0/10

Saporific woodsy

An exceptional spicy format of Fougere Royale by Houbigant.
Opium is sweet, classy and grown spicy with delightful fruity patch to control over vanilla and pepper. It could be an aromatic fougere but it lacks what a real aromatic fougere needs: complexity.
Opium is a simple crowd-pleasing aromatic perfume delivered in right time. Very good for casualty, dandy and blitz-compliment bringer.
7/10

04/17/2015

ColinM

Very helpful Review 5

Radian spiciness

Despite being clearly “inferior” to its feminine companion, I still find Opium pour Homme such a lovely and compelling scent. Even quite unique, honestly. The opening is fantastic to me: sweet, talc, an invigorating and bold balsamic-anisic feel and a radiant accord of “bright” spices (à la Fendi Theorema, or feminine Opium himself) with a tiny, bittersweet fruity note on a mellow base of sandalwood and cedar – so really aromatic, round and balmy. I also get something like geranium, halfway minty and floral. I admit I have a penchant for such “clean” scents, and Opium pour Homme surely is one of the nicest around: it’s bright, fresh, vibrant but in a peculiar soft and mellow way, remarkably sweet without being a gourmand – instead keeping it irresistibly “airy” and fresh. I get the similarities with Jaipur Homme, especially for the dandyish soapy-talc feel, but there’s also a mile of difference, mostly because Jaipur is far more warm, rich, almondy, “lusciously” powdery. Opium instead is quite more restrained and thin (and fruitier-balmier) built around a more subtle kind of refinement, an unusual sophisticated mood played on sweet, elusive and thin notes, really aromatic yet “weightless” in a way, like aniseed and cedar (which is really clean and discreet here). Not a masterpiece, but still a fascinating interplay of transparencies, silences, a sort of white-azure harmony of notes with just a hint of darker shades, especially on the drydown. Probably not that distinctive but really pleasant, versatile, cozy and unisex.

7,5-8/10

12/12/2014

5.0/10

7.5/10

MasterLi

Very helpful Review 5

Sweet n' Spicy...

Opium pour Homme is a wonderful balance of sweet notes and spices. Sweet as in Bourbon Vanilla and Blackcurrant... and Spicy, Woody & Aromatic in the Galanga, Atlas Cedar, Tolu Balsam, Pepper and Star Anise.

It's one that I really enjoy wearing. Of course I prefer the Eau de Parfum, but the Eau de Toilette is still very good. It's everything I want in an oriental really, just enough spice, just enough sweetness. It's luxurious, sophisticated... I don't find it too dated, but it has been called that by some people. I also find it more of a cooler weather fragrance, but as long as it's sprayed with a light hand, it could work in the heat too.

After a while, Opium pour Homme turns into a very nice skin-scent and the rich combination of Vanilla and Tolu Balsam comes out, and it's really something! I have no problem recommending this fragrance for someone who is mature in spirit but also young. It could work on the right person with the right attitude. Similarly on older men it would work fantastic. Again, everything I want in an oriental fragrance. A really underrated choice for men I think. One to try out and wear before deciding to buy, it really grows on you!

03/11/2013

5.0/10

7.5/10

7.0/10

Miaw2

Helpful Review 3

Classic!

A real french oriental, sweet but not that much - sweetnes in the right amount.

Black currant and Vanilla surrounded by spices, lasts for around 10 hours and have a excellent projection and sillage.

Classic and timeless, Opium is a must have for every collector.

Updated on July 2013

03/01/2012

7.5/10

7.0/10

Missk

Very helpful Review 4

Heavy spices and vanilla

So many women rave about this particular fragrance on their men. They say it's sexy, spicy, exotic, attractive and desirable. I would have to agree.

Opium for Men has some similarities to its female counterpart, Opium. They are both very strong scents, being very popular and in some ways, very 80's in their approach.

The scent is very rich and quite spicy, but not in a nose-burning sense of the word. I probably wouldn't advise this fragrance as being office-appropriate, however when applied lightly it could be worn anywhere.

Despite its obvious masculinity, I often feel daring enough to wear this fragrance for myself. I adore wearing Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford and Oud 27 by Le Labo, which are in some ways similar to this fragrance.

The contrast between the heavy spices and the syrupy vanilla is absolutely amazing. I do believe it is this particular blend that drives the women crazy.

The sillage and lasting power of Opium is something that almost blew me away. It's intense and powerful, shrouding the room with your presence. An absolutely outstanding fragrance that is still going strong almost 15 years after its release.