Black Opium
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- Authentic original perfume
- Try before the full bottle
- Travel-ready 3ml, 10ml, 30ml
- Long-lasting scent
Black Opium by Yves Saint Laurent is a sweet coffee scent with a white-flower heart and a soft vanilla finish. Pear and pink pepper give it a bright, prickly start, lifted by a little orange blossom. Then the coffee arrives, dark and roasted, wound through with jasmine, bitter almond and a thread of licorice. It dries down to vanilla, patchouli, cedar and cashmere wood, warm and slightly powdery. Launched in 2014, it is mostly worn by women who like their sweetness with a bit of bite. Voters wear it in winter, in the evening and at night, and some also take it to work. Its longevity vote tilts towards moderate. On sillage, most wearers vote moderate. Try a 3ml decant over a few cold evenings before you commit to the bottle.
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50,000+ scent lovers and counting
The community verdict
Coffee and vanilla give Black Opium its sweet, warm centre: pear and pink pepper lead into jasmine and bitter almond before the vanilla base. The largest group finds staying power moderate, and most find projection moderate. It suits winter nights and autumn evenings, especially if you like sweet coffee.
Summarised with AI from perfume-community reviews
- Topfirst impression
- Heartafter a few minutes
- Bitter Almond
- Coffee
- Jasmine
- Licorice
- Brand
- Yves Saint Laurent
- Scent profile
- For women
- Launched
- 2014
- Decant sizes
- 3ml, 10ml, 30ml
We ship across the EU. Orders over €75.00 ship free. Returns are accepted within 30 days of delivery.
Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium, hour by hour
How it opens, settles and lingers on skin.
Espresso cups and vanilla pods on a hotel bar at night.
What you smell
First spray0–15 min
Heart15 min – 2 h
- Bitter Almond
- Coffee
- Jasmine
- Licorice
Dry-down2 h – 3–6 h
- Lasts
- 3–6 h
- Moderate
- Sillage
- Moderate, 2 of 4
What wearers say
Votes from fragrance communities, most-voted answers first.
Longevity13,400 votes
Most voted: 49%Moderate
34%Long lasting
Sillage14,097 votes
Most voted: 52%Moderate
29%Strong
Season13,400 votes
Most voted: 55%Winter
30%Autumn
Time of day13,400 votes
Most voted: 50%Night out
35%Evening
See all votesHide votes
Longevity13,400 votes
- Very weak3%350 votes
- Weak5%642 votes
- Moderate (Most voted)49%6,631 votes
- Long lasting34%4,567 votes
- Eternal9%1,210 votes
Sillage14,097 votes
- Intimate11%1,568 votes
- Moderate (Most voted)52%7,331 votes
- Strong29%4,149 votes
- Enormous7%1,049 votes
Season13,400 votes
- Spring12%1,608 votes
- Summer3%402 votes
- Autumn30%4,020 votes
- Winter (Most voted)55%7,370 votes
Time of day13,400 votes
- Daytime12%1,608 votes
- Office3%402 votes
- Evening35%4,690 votes
- Night out (Most voted)50%6,700 votes
Which size is right for you?
Every size is decanted from the same original bottle.
At 3 sprays a day.
Loved by 50,000+
Why scent lovers try it with us before they buy the bottle.
Hand-decanted from the original bottle
Decanted by hand from authentic bottles, never diluted.
Wear it for days before you commit
Live with it at work, at night and at the weekend before you buy a full bottle.
Just like the full bottle
A fine-mist atomiser sprays like the original, so it opens, projects and lasts on your skin the way the full bottle does.
10ML vs a blind buy
What a decant gives you that a bottle bought unsmelled can’t.
Why 10ML?
Blind buy
Authentic original perfume
Yes
Yes
Smell it on your skin before you buy
Yes
No
Try several scents for one bottle’s price
Yes
No
Travel-ready atomiser
Yes
No
No full bottle wasted if it’s not for you
Yes
No
If you like Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium
Perfumes that share its most characteristic notes.
- Save 35%
Shares pear · pink pepper
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Shares cashmere wood · coffee
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Shares licorice · cashmere wood
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Shares coffee · patchouli
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Shares pear · orange blossom
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Shares pear · orange blossom
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Shares bitter almond · vanilla
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Shares licorice · coffee
Layer it with
Chosen for bergamot, rose and sandalwood, notes that often share a formula with its patchouli, vanilla and cedar in the perfumes we stock.
Yves Saint Laurent
Black Opium layered with
- Save 36%
- Save 37%
- Save 35%
- Save 37%
The house
More from Yves Saint Laurent
Yves Saint Laurent opened as a French couture house in 1961 and added perfume to its work in 1964. The scents have a taste for contrast. Sweet coffee and vanilla sit on one side of the range, cool lavender, bergamot and geranium on the other, with cedar and vetiver keeping both grounded. Black Opium is where most people begin: a dark, sugary coffee accord smoothed with vanilla. Libre sets white flowers against lavender and citrus, crisp and a little severe. Y Eau de Parfum is the fresh, aromatic pick over woods, and Opium Pour Homme is warmer, softly spiced and powdery with a dry, herbal twist.
Frequently asked questions
What does Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium smell like?
Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium opens with Orange Blossom, Pear and Pink Pepper. The heart brings Bitter Almond, Coffee, Jasmine and Licorice. It dries down to Cashmere Wood, Cedar, Patchouli and Vanilla.
Is Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium long lasting?
Shoppers on fragrance communities most often rate its longevity as moderate (49% of votes), and 43% rate it long lasting or eternal. They most often rate its sillage as moderate (52% of votes). How long it lasts on you also depends on your skin and how much you apply.
Is Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium good for summer?
Shoppers on fragrance communities rate it mainly for winter; summer takes only 3% of season votes.
Is Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium good for winter?
Yes. Shoppers on fragrance communities vote winter its best season, with 55% of season votes.
Is Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium for day or night?
Shoppers on fragrance communities mostly wear it after dark: 85% of time-of-day votes are for evenings and nights out, 15% for daytime or the office.
Can I wear Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium to the office?
Shoppers on fragrance communities rarely pick it for the office: only 3% of time-of-day votes go to the office.
Who makes Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium?
Black Opium is made by Yves Saint Laurent. It was launched in 2014.
How many wears is a 10ml decant of Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium?
A 10ml decant of Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium holds about 200 sprays, roughly 67 days of wear at 3 sprays a day. The 3ml decant holds about 60 sprays, around 20 days. The 30ml decant holds about 600 sprays, around 200 days.
Which other Yves Saint Laurent perfumes can I try?
Besides Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium, 10ML has Y Eau de Parfum, Libre and Mon Paris from Yves Saint Laurent, each decanted from the original bottle.
Is this Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium decant the original perfume?
Yes. Every Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium decant is filled by hand from an original Yves Saint Laurent bottle, with nothing added or diluted, so it opens, dries down and lasts on your skin the way the bottle does. We sell only authentic originals.
What is a decant?
A small amount of a perfume, taken from its original bottle and put into a travel atomiser. You get the real fragrance in a size that lets you live with it for days before you decide on the full bottle.
How does the money-back guarantee work?
If a scent isn’t right for you, get in touch within 30 days of it arriving and we’ll arrange a refund. Terms apply. See our refund policy.