SAMPLE ...Yves St. Laurent, Opium, DECANTED SAMPLE from Flacon, Parfum Extrait, 1977, Paris, France ..

Yves Saint Laurent is the French fashion house founded by Yves Henri Donat Mathieu-Saint-Laurent. The house and designer are often abbreviated as YSL. Laurent's career in fashion began at the tender age of 17, when he served as assistant to Christian Dior. With Dior's death four years later, Laurent was named head of the house of Dior at just 21 years of age. Still a young man when the Algerian War of Independence broke out, Laurent was drafted into the army in 1960 and lost his position at Dior. Military service and despair over the loss of his design position resulted in a hospital stay. After a brief period of recuperation, Laurent started his own fashion company and went on to become one of the most influential fashion designers of the 1960s and 1970s.

Laurent became known for his exquisitely-tailored women's suits, and is credited with creating the first women's tuxedo. The first designer to announce his expansion from couture into ready-to-wear, he is credited with making chic ready-to-wear fashions available to the mass market, and for making ready-to-wear a reputable business for designers. Laurent's ready-to-wear line was sold in boutiques named Rive Gauche, which would later be commemorated with a perfume. Yves Saint Laurent remained active as the collection's main designer through the late 1980s. After his retirement, a series of designers including Alber Elbaz, Tom Ford and Stefano Pilati have produced collections for the brand. Yves Saint Laurent passed away in 2008.

Cosmetics and perfumes have long been included in the designer's offerings. The house's first fragrance, Y for women, was launched in 1964. Y and several other launches by YSL, including Rive Gauche (1970), Opium (1977), men's scent Kourous (1981), and Paris (1983) have become modern classics of the perfume world and remain best-sellers.

Launched in 1977, the original Yves Saint Laurent Opium is an iconic, rich Oriental-spicy fragrance designed by Jean Amic and Jean-Louis Sieuzac. Inspired by China, it is known for a powerful, exotic blend of mandarin, jasmine, carnation, myrrh, patchouli, and vanilla. It was renowned for its, often controversial, scandalous marketing.

Opium is a warm, spicy, and opulent fragrance designed for sensuality and glamour. The complex composition features top notes of coriander, plum, citrus, and pepper; heart notes of carnation, cinnamon, peach, and myrrh; and a base of sandalwood, patchouli, amber, and vanilla.

Yves Saint Laurent was inspired by China, resulting in a Chinoise-inspired bottle design. The name caused scandal for seemingly referencing drug use, which actually aided its popularity. It became known for intense, controversial, and highly sexualised advertising campaigns, particularly in the 1970s and 80s. It was regarded ss a "power perfume" of the era, it is often lauded as a masterpiece of the oriental fragrance family.

Yves Saint Laurent launched this new fragrance to coincide with his Autumn-Winter 1977 collection inspired by China. It was an unusual blend of patchouli, myrrh, and vanilla. Saint Laurent oversaw the entire creative process, from the choice of scents to the shape of the bottle, the press kit, and the advertising campaign featuring Jerry Hall photographed by Helmut Newton.

The link with the Orient was not new in perfume. In 1913, Paul Poiret launched Nuit de Chine by the Parfums de Rosine in a jade-colored bottle recalling a Chinese tobacco container. However, the name chosen by Saint Laurent, with its reference to a drug from the Orient, caused a bit of a scandal .. especially in the United States. And yet the fragrance was an astonishing success. Stores were unable to keep it on their shelves. In one year alone, sales in Europe had reached $30,000,000. Thirty years later, sales have not diminished, and Opium remains one of the top ten best-selling perfumes in France. Along with Chanel No5, it is the only fragrance to have achieved this.

Top notes are Mandarin, Bergamot, Plum, Clove, Coriander, Pepper, Bay, Pimento, and Hesperides
Heart notes are Jasmine, Rose, Carnation, Lily of the Valley, Ylang-Ylang, Cinnamon, Peach, and Myrrh
Base Notes are Opoponax, Myrrh, Patchouli, Sandalwood, Vanilla, Benzoin, Labdanum, Castoreum, Amber, and Musk

Offered here is a lovely old bottle of this classic fragrance. I had to remove the outer cellophane wrapper in order to photograph it. Absolutely full and pristine .. never used. A wonderful old classic from the 1970's .. this perfume has been described as a masterpiece ..