Opium Poesie de Chine Eau d’Orient by Yves Saint Laurent was launched at the beginning of 2008 and represents one of the many versions of the legendary Opium perfume for women. Compared to the original (but it is not hard to imagine), it is fresher and more modern, and the incense and wood notes are much softer, in favour of a first floral whiff of magnolia.
The only part that stick to tradition is the note of cinnamon. According to the YSL website, the official notes are: mandarin, magnolia of China and vanilla.
The first thing that can be noted in the opening is a floral note of Magnolia, mixed with what seems to be cinnamon. On top of everything dominates a line of very soft orange. In the middle phase the main aroma of cinnamon and resins remains the same, but the magnolia lowers its intensity, leaving room to further resinous notes. Curiously enough for a perfume like this, the line of spices doesn’t become either dense, nor dark, and remains relatively fresh. As the medium phase evolves, this Opium Poesie de Chine Eau d’Orient takes more woody and incense notes, and this is the part where it more reminds of the original Opium perfume. There are also spicy notes that range from a resinous cinnamon to white pepper. The final notes are very similar to the original Opium from 1978, but still softer and still with the line of resinous incense notes. The florals are very low and compensate for the oriental resin notes.
This fragrance has a floral opening, with a middle phase based on the original Opium, but after that, it takes a spicy daily style, leaning more towards the summer than the winter as it evolves. In the office it feels young as it has non-classic florals. It is more personal than romantic. The ideal age range goes from 25 to 50.