‘’Opium’’ is the brand name for a perfume created by top fashion brand YSL (Yves Saint Laurent). It was conceptualised and created by perfumers Jean Amic and Jean-Louis Sieuzac was launched in 1977. Its top notes are a mixture of fruits and spices. The exotic fruits like mandarin orange or yellow mandarin which was originally found in Italy and plum. It also has extracts of spices like clove,bay leaf, coriander and pepper which smells of the Oriental kitchens especially of India.
Its floral middle notes consist predominantly of sambac jasmine, rose and Lily of the Valley and carnations. The middle note also has spices and fruits like cinnamon, peach and orris root. It is underlined by the sweet woody base note which is rich in sandalwood, cedarwood, labdanum, myrrh, benzoin, castoreum, amber, musk, patchouli, vetiver, tolu and opopanax. This gives a woody base smell.
Popular Opium Perfumes in India:
Let we have to look at the top 5opium perfumes.
1. Opium Eau De Parfum Spray:
This perfume has a concoction using the top notes of mandarin orange and bergamot. It is made mystical with middle notes using myrrh and jasmine and a final accord of deep amber laced with Opoponaux imbues the scent with its celebrated rapture makes it a truly exotic one. This perfume is for women.
2. Opium Eau De Toilette Spray:
The overtly sensual side of the Yves Saint Laurent perfume masterpiece is less assertive in the Eau de Toilette, compared to Eau De parfum. The distillation of mandarin oranges and bergamot notes are done to make the predominant note of this perfume. This recipe also adds a floral touch and is contains myrrh, jasmine and carnation. The final note is rich in amber which unlocks the heart of the woman who wears it. This perfume is for women (pour femme). There were a lot of controversy associated with this perfume when it was launched stating that it has used the drug opium and also the Chinese community felt offended as the packaging and launch contained a lot of Chinese history and anecdotes.
3. Opium Parfum:
Women who were obsessed with YSL Haute Couture and Rive Gauche Prêt-à-Porter wanted a masterpiece designed by YSL. Hence inspired by the opulence, decadence and overt sensuality-traits of the oriental women, YSL designed this perfume as a homage to the women dedicated to the YSL brand. This has a mixture of many flavours the omnipotent notes of mandarin orange and bergamot, the mystical middle notes of myrrh and jasmine and a final accord of deep amber laced with Opoponaux. This perfume is for women (pour femme).
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4. Opium Pour Homme:
YSL launched the male complement Opium pour Homme which means Opium for men in 1995, created by Jacques Cavallier of Firmenich (The Swedish perfume manufacturer). Its main note is set by vanilla, with black currant, star anise, galangal, ginger and pepper, fusing with basic notes of cedar and tolu balsam making the fragrance masculine and exotic. Its liquid vial flask was designed by Jérôme Faillant-Dumas. This perfume is for men (pour homme).
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5. Opium Collector’s Edition 2013 Yves Saint Laurent For Women:
Yves Saint Laurent launched a limited edition of its fragrance Opium (the recent version from 2009) named Opium Collector’s Edition. It was launched in a luxuriously redesigned golden bottle. Glamorous, passionate, with subdued sensuality and wickedness, Opium has been ruling the market since it came out in 1977 in its original formula. Provocative as the name is and intense as the formula is, this perfume has a distinctive aroma of the oriental – floral – spicy character.
Its reformulated version, adapted to the needs of the modern buyers, was launched in 2009 in the bottle designed by YSL art director Fabien Baron and Stefano Pilati.The formula of this new fragrance has a top note of fresh bergamot and mandarin which remains unchanged as it was in the original concoction. They give way to intense Sambac jasmine, clove and myrrh in the middle notes, laid on the warm base note of cinnamon, oppoponax, patchouli and amber
Apart from that opium body oil, satin body powder, body moisturiser, rich body creme, luscious body shower gels also use the same formula and fragrance and are available in YSL and many other stores all across the globe.
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