Bette Davis. That is who I think of when I smell this wonderful creation. Opium defined an era, had its run, gave many memories for many to reflect back upon, and to this day remains a cult classic.
With its burning spices, its blackened wood, dark vanilla and spiked cinnamon note, along with the patchouli, one couldn't mistake Opium for anything else. It is instantly recognizable and its presence is known before you are. 1-2 sprays will cover it, any more will cover you and everyone else in your vicinity.
Opium goes beyond the definition of classic and stands next to the definition of legend. It has been 33 years since 1977, yet Opium continues to remain as strong as she was in her younger years.
I envision Stevie Nicks, circa 1977 during her "Rhiannon" number wearing this while twirling her black lace in the air with the scent of Opium filling the room.
In my top 10 favorite fragrances forever.

Oh dear, no. Potent: you don't wear it, it wears you!

Luckily I only bought the vial to test as I blind buy perfumes sometimes. This is as bad as chanel no. 5. Very old smelling and sickening.

This review is for the pre-reformulation version. The "new" Opium now available has got to be the sickest travesty I have encountered in the fragrance world. It's not even a clumsy approximation. So not worth five bucks, let alone $75.
But original Opium? Blatantly sexual, rounded, opulent, glowing, as richly spiced and satisfying as a Moroccan tagine. It defines the term "expensive-smelling." The sheer majesty of this spice blend suggests a bejeweled lacquer box of Cleopatra's ancient essences kept behind glass and guarded round the clock. A fragrance for confident, sophisticated women who want to smell fabulous, not demure. I don't ever wear it during the day, nor do I wear it in warm weather, but I have a bottle of the vintage bath oil that I love to smear into my cleavage before heading out for a dressy event (or staying in with... plans ;^)) I like the oil and parfum formulations best, as I find the EDT has some choking indolic jasmine notes that ruin the fragrance for me. Plus, IMO, this is a scent to dab, not spray. Its sillage is epic, and it wafts up from warm skin like a mantle of incense. I couldn't wear Opium daily, hence a lippie off for sheer intensity. But it is a gorgeous, gorgeous "once in a while" experience. Apply with EXTREME restraint, and only the original formula.

I have been craving Opium for a long time. I have memories of a rich, warm, almost creamy spicy, intoxicating skin scent my older cousins used to wear and hand down their nearly empty bottles to me!.... I wished I had read the reviews before going out and buying a bottle before Christmas.... I don't even recognize it anymore. The YSL Opium I purchased is scratchy, powdery and cloying. It also seems baseless. I have an opium fragrance oil from an occult shop that is closer to the original YSL Opium than this current version is. The current version resembles Avon Imari (modeled after the original YSL Opium) than it does the original. I am aware that reformulation of perfume like death and taxes, is a certainty, however, when they tamper with the basic elements and 'feel' of a fragrance, that is where I draw the line. If you know YSL Opium well from the 1970s and 80s do NOT purchase current product untested.

I would have given this fragrance 0 lipsticks if it had been possible.
This is not Opium.
I have known Opium since I was a child and my mother was sometimes using it, especially when she was going out in the evening, for an elegant dinner. It was a gorgeous, warm fragrance, and it still was when I got older and I started using it.
I have not purchased any bottle for a few years, until a few days ago.
When I sprayed it on my wrists and behind my hears before going out I had a hint that something was a bit odd, but it was when I took the bus that I realized it no longer was the Opium I knew.
It was horrible, cloying, overwhelming, and yet empty, a sad ghost of the original one.
I looked for a seat in the bus where I could sat a bit far from the other people, because I felt actually embarassed by the horrible perfume I had on, and I could not wait to go back home so that I could wash it away.
Shame on YSL.

Old formulation in the rectangular tall bottles was gorgeous, a warm, sensuous fragrance. This new formulation in a the square bottle is so awful, I am now headed off to the bathroom to scrub it from my skin, it is literally making me nauseous. If you wish to sample the best of the old opium but could never take it full strength, try getting your hands on some of the limited editions like fleur du shanghai which is simply beautiful and very reminiscent of the opium of old which my mother wore until her dying day. Pass on the new because its simply awful.

This Perfume is simply amazing, if you're looking for a strong long lasting fragrance that makes you feel so sophisticated . It smells so different from all the other fragrances I've tried, I was about to buy CK one but I'd heard about this and so decided to sample if. After I sprayed it I couldn't stop smelling it, I wanted it there and then. I'm never going back the CK one, this Fragrance isn't light and floral, it's full of spices and herbs that just smell so great together. If you want to smell like a sophisticated sex goddess get this NOW! (Also It sorta reminds me of my nanny alittle, she had great taste)

OMFG!! This is awful. My Mom wore this in the late 70's and 80's, and I always loved it. It was warm, spicy, comforting and mysterious! From what I have read, it has been tweaked, or maybe even re-formulated....but whatever has been done, it is not the Opium I remember. Thank God, I got a generous sample from Sephora. I tried it 2x, and the second time my Spouse literally got a migraine, pulled the car over and made me wipe my neck and wrists with some wet wipes we had in the car. Even then, the stench remained. We were on our way to the gym for a cardio class. As my body heated up, I wanted to die. I could not escape the overpowering old lady, musty smell. Honestly, this smelled almost as bad as Estee Lauder Youth Dew. I was so sad and shocked, how similar Opium smelled like Youth Dew. Old lady, dirty, musty, cloying, overpowering, un-fresh, un-sexy, migraine inducing and gross. Epic Fail!!!!

Oh, Opium. What has happened to you?
I remember you as my first perfume awakening. As a 12 year old in Marshall Field's, a lady dressed to the 9's walked past and left you in her path. Men fell to their knees. "Opium!" she told them. Rich, full, mysterious. Like you had just sat in a far away temple then walked through a spice bazaar. One day, I told myself.
The Opium of today starts out with a sneeze of spice, compared to the gale force of sensuality of before. Both the edp and creme turn quickly into a wet cardboard smell with a little carnation-clove-cinnamon air freshener to try to hide it. *sniff* I'll have memories of you, but we cannot be. Is it me, or is it you?
One spritz and there was no smell. It surfaced about 1/2 hour later, and a lady in the room started looking for her allergy meds. Coincidence?
New formulation packaging is lovely. No actual lid, so one lippy off for that.

My god, I can see why this perfume is named Opium because from the first spritz, I feel like I am literally addicted. I am 20 years old and I will admit, I do love vanilla and sweet fragrances. However, I have fallen head over heels for this perfume in the most awestruck, knocked-over-the-head-with-a-club type of way. I am an English major so when I spritz a perfume for the first time, a medley of adjectives immediately run through my head. My adjectives for Opium are luxurious, womanly, and most of all, opulent. This fragrance is the essence of opulence in a bottle. This review is going to be short because I honestly don't have words to describe how wonderful it is. I am left speechless at the extravagant elegance of this fragrance. I feel extraordinarily lucky and joyous to have found it. There is no question that it is my HG of orientals from the very first sniff. I do not like, love, adore, or cherish this perfume. I am in love in the deepest most passionate and lusty way it is possible to love a fragrance. This perfume has changed my life and I recommend that everyone try it.

How can you NOT love Opium? Opium is like a woman who is always flamboyant, always looking happy, never seen to be miserable, warm, and always has a life of her own. SHe's always out there and off busy doing SOMETHING with her life! That's what Opium is. I picture wearing rich atumnal colors, especially in the fall and winter! :)
Opium is clove-y and VERY cinnamon-y but thankfully without any sugariness in it, so it doesn't smell like Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Big Red gum being chewed! :) I love all of that heavy sugar-free cinnamon in Opium, it smells so different and that's what makes it timeless.

Yes, it has been reformulated and it is only a shadow of what it used to be. Shame on YSL and on the perfume industry that keeps doing this regularly to some of the masterpieces of perfumery! But so much has been written on this that I will not also add my own indignation to all this; most of us could writte pages and pages against this ridiculous trend. However, even a shadow of something great still remains way better than most of the endless flowery-sweet-desert anonimous fragrances that small or big houses pour on the market every few months. This is why I still give it 5 stars, although it is mostly for what it was. I would so much prefer to see only one significant fragrance coming up every 2-3 years rather than tons of them every 3 months that do not last more than the few minutes taken to sample them and leave the unmemorable strip in the shop. But then, (and fortunately for them) I am not in charge of the profit making machine that big perfume houses have become.... Nice work on the bottle design though! It brings the bottle in line with the fragrance (as it was!).

Noooooooo! Say it ain't so. This is yet another classic that has been repackaged and REFORMULATED (like Shalimar) beyond recognition. The original was a 5 star classic, the new one is a wimpy whisper of what it once was. TRAGIC :( R.I.P. Opium.

when i was a small child, my grandmother had opium...i thought it was "chic" and so wanted it as an adult...the smell still reminds me of my grandmother but with that said i am not my grandmother...

Opium is the quintessential IN-YOUR-FACE powerhouse oriental, not for the meek and self-conscious. It opens with a conflagration of spice and incense that remains broiling just beneath the surface as Opium dries down. Almost immediately after application and most definitely during Opium's dry down phase there's a moist, slightly funky note that I'm guessing is coming from the spice, balsam, myrrh, plum, and vetiver. It's this funky note and Opium's sheer strength that keeps me from loving the blend entirely, but it's tolerable and not so bad that I'd get rid of the bottle my mom so kindly sent me for free. I think this is another scent I'll have to spritz onto a cotton ball and dab on. I reviewed the EDT (tall bottle) for reference. Wouldn't re-buy as I doubt I'll use up what I have.

Yaaay!! With my husband's encouragement, finally tossed what was left of this into the trash can.
I stupidly thought because I'd pd. so much for it yrs. ago, should like and wear it.
I always tried to not use to much, but even so, it always seemed to be too, too heavy of a scent, making my eyes water at times, cause migraines, which I have many of anyway.
NOW HAVE THE HUBBY'S BLESSING TO GO TOMORROW AND FIND SOME NEW SCENTS I ACTUALLY LIKE!!
I just started buying and purchasing the Lifestyle fragrances at Walgreens and found their version of 'Opium' not as strong and extremely cloying as the real thing,thus, may be purchasing theirs in the near future.

Once upon a time I wore Opium because I thought it smelled spicy and mysterious and sexy. My husband said, "Are you wearing Old Spice?" and I put it in a drawer never to be seen again. The end.

I would imagine that if it had been available, Helen of Troy and Cleopatra would have worn Opium. This is a scent that launches a thousand ships. Men will war over a woman who wears this. Yes, this is potent stuff. It is spice and incense and more spice. Just a sprits will do, this is not one to be sprayed liberally. It should not announce your presence, it should make those standing near you want to get closer to sneak another wiff.
Worn the wrong way, yes, it can be offensive. Worn the right way, it can be sexy, seductive and provocative. Oh, I'll just be blunt about it.... It smells like sex, people. It is not meant for the office, or church or a PTA meeting. This is to be worn for two reasons and two reasons only. One, you are willing to put out. Two, you are not willing to put out, but you DO want a certain someone to have dirty thought about you. I'm kidding..... not really.
Until recently I believed this to be a winter only fragrance. However, this blooms beautifully in the heat of a summer night. Summer humidity might make this potion even sexier, and I didn't believe that was possible.

Like many times before....I've rediscovered this classic, purely by accident.... strolling one day through the hot city,went to the upper part of the city surrounded with cool woods and lower temperature....
a stranger passed me by, a woman, not dressed in anything special or peculiar....and the scent that she left behind was something so fammiliar and so wonderful that in an instant brought my childhood memories...someone in my family(I can't remember who exactly), wore Opium ....loads of it so to say...and that comfy,warm and oriental scent stayed pretty firmly in my nose....
and at that moment, with this woman who wore it that day...I knew-ok, this is the sign, tha moment that I've decided to buy it..
I had a sample of EDP and Opium Orchidee du Chine, and I was using them sparely, thinking that I'll soon get bored....alas!that didn't happened.....and since I have beautiful perfume classics, it is impossible not to have Opium right beside my Chanels,Guerlains, YSLs,Ungaros....etc...and though it is still summer here, it developes divinely on these evenings when it gets a little bit cooler...
this perfume is the most exquisite,boozy,heavy,chrystal-clear oriental, that (there's no doubt) will be remaining the most popular and cherished oriental frag ever....cinnamon,patchouly,carnation, resinoids,vanilla....omg,you name it-he has it..
ant the interesting thing is that Opium has some kind of unexpectable lightness to it...it doesn't take a strong,fierce woman to wear it..I can easilly see it on a fragile, pale blonde girl just as well....
learn to appreciate it if it goes with your chemistry,and discover a thousand facettes this wonderful fragrance has to offer...
stunning piece of art and a definition of the ''perfect chaos of composition'' that makes undoubtelly perfect order...

(edit- a dear MUA member reminded me of something importatn considering Opium...namely this version that I have, is non-reformulated edp version in a plastic container, red plastic, with the round glass part in the middle....BUT, the new square edp version is very beautifull too...they aren't soooo much different, though you can detect some notes heavier and more mature in the vintage,non reformulated version....nevertheless, bot of them are very worthy of your attention....:)