Fragrance is one of my beauty vices, and I’ve amassed quite the collection over the years as I can never resist adding new fragrances to my collection.
I’ve never been one to stick to a specific fragrance and wear it day in and day out as I like to change my fragrance every single day depending on my mood and my plans. When it comes to fragrance, I really like oriental, woody and gourmand scents and one of the bestselling women’s fragrances for 2016 is YSL Black Opium.
YSL Black Opium launched in 2014 and was described as being a rock ‘n roll version of the original Opium that should highlight the dark, mysterious side of the YSL brand.
My mum always wore the original YSL Opium whilst I was growing up, but it always a little too mature for my liking, so I loved that YSL created a more modern interpretation of their classic fragrance.
Even though Black Opium is only two years old, it’s already won awards including the Allure Best of Beauty Award and their media campaign has evidently been very successful as it’d be impossible to not have seen their adverts on TV, in press and online.
Since the launch of Black Opium, YSL have already created new versions and I have three of the different Black Opium versions available which I wanted to do a comparison post on, incase you were unsure which version would appeal to you most.
I adore the packaging of all the YSL Black Opium fragrances, as the bottles feature a gorgeous, glittery design with a hollow centre and clear glass to show the colour of the perfume’s liquid inside the bottle.
I especially like that YSL have chosen to keep the design consistent across the different versions, with each having a different colour glitter and different coloured liquid within the bottles.
The three versions I own are; YSL Black Opium Eau de Parfum, YSL Black Opium Eau de Toilette and YSL Black Opium Nuit Blanche Eau de Parfum.
YSL Black Opium Eau de Parfum 50ml £66 – for those that love intense gourmand scents
This is the original provocative fragrance which is said to be a new glam rock fragrance full of mystery and energy, and an addictive gourmand floral in a glam rock bottle.
What makes the original Black Opium Eau de Parfum, so original is that its most dominant note is coffee which contrasts against the delicate white florals to create such a stunning scent.
Notes wise it contains coffee accord, orange blossom, cedar wood essence and patchouli essence. Before trying Black Opium for the first time, I was apprehensive that I wouldn’t like it, as I hate anything coffee related – tastes or scents.
As coffee is the most dominant note, there is no escaping it, but I absolutely love it and would recommend fellow coffee haters to give it a try.
You definitely can detect the coffee within the scent, but the sweetness of the orange blossom and woodiness of the patchouli creates a deliciously warm, slightly spicy white floral.
I’ve never smelt anything like Black Opium before so I can’t even begin to name some fragrances to compare it to but in my opinion it’s definitely more of an evening fragrance as it’s intense and sexy, and it lasts for such a long time on my skin as I can still smell it the next morning which rarely happens for me.
YSL Black Opium Eau de Toilette 50ml £54 – for those that love oriental floral scents
The Eau de Toilette version launched a year after the original Black Opium scent, and it contains the same prevalent coffee note, but this time combined with fresh, greener shades of flowers, tea and fruit.
The Eau de Parfum version highlights a blend of flowers and coffee, whereas this Eau de Toilette highlights the green character of coffee.
Eau de Toilettes typically don’t last as long as an Eau de Parfum due to the lower concentration of perfume oils and are sometimes more appropriate for summer, but I find the Black Opium Eau de Toilette to last for at least six hours on me.
The YSL Black Opium Eau de Toilette notes are; blackcurrant, pear, green mandarin, jasmine tea, orange blossom, coffee accord, white musk and blond woods.
I would describe the Eau de Toilette as being a fresher, less heady and fruitier version of the original and is my go-to for day to night scenarios as it’s still intense but a little fresher than the original.
YSL Black Opium Nuit Blanche Eau de Parfum 50ml £66 – for those that love lighter, sweet and white florals
Nuit Blanche is the newest addition to the Black Opium Collection, and was named after the annual arts festival in Paris which lasts all night, and is the first fragrance in the Black Opium collection to have a different coloured lid as the others have black lids and Nuit Blanche has a gunmetal lid.
The Nuit Blanche fragrance is all about the night with the energy of the coffee and is electrified with a burst of energizing aldehydes and aphrodisiac white musk for an all-night adventure.
The notes include silky smooth rice, Bourbon pepper, orange blossom absolute, Black Opium coffee, vanilla absolute, sandalwood and white musk, and I think the bottle is so stunning and apt with a more intense silver glitter which looks like the night sky scattered with stars, and the pink fluid gives the effect of dawn.
There’s no denying that Nuit Blanche is similar to the original Black Opium Eau de Parfum but for me it’s a little lighter and sweeter, with less silage so you don’t have to worry about it being too overpowering for those around you like the original.
I love the original the most as it’s so intense and beautiful, but I like the versatility of Nuit Blanche as it lends itself well for a day or night scent and I think it would work well in the warmer months.
Longevity is fantastic like all the other Black Opium versions and I can still catch a whiff of its beautiful scent the following morning, and it clings to clothing too.
I would love to know if you’ve tried any of the YSL Black Opium fragrances, and if you have which is your favourite? Let me know below…