Perfumes like Black Opium, note by note

Carolina Herrera's Good Girl comes first here: one comparison site names it the closest coffee-based alternative to Black Opium. For a lighter take, Lancôme's Idôle shares the most listed notes. To wear the original first, Black Opium comes in 3, 10 and 30 ml decants.

What Black Opium smells of

Black Opium is a coffee-and-vanilla perfume with white flowers, launched by Yves Saint Laurent in 2014 as an Eau de Parfum. Its published pyramid opens with pink pepper, orange blossom and pear, moves to coffee and jasmine, and settles on vanilla, patchouli and cedarwood. Nathalie Lorson, Marie Salamagne, Olivier Cresp and Honorine Blanc are credited as its perfumers.

At launch it was described as a rock 'n' roll-inspired interpretation of the 1977 classic Opium, as a perfume news report put it at the time. YSL's own shorthand is “Floral Coffee”, and YSL's own site calls Black Opium the first feminine fragrance to dare a black coffee accord.

These picks are matched against the 2014 Eau de Parfum only. Le Parfum, Over Red and Pink Glaze are separate versions with their own character, compared in Black Opium versions compared.

How these six were chosen

Each pick is an original perfume by its own house, chosen because a named site ties it to Black Opium or because its house notes overlap with Black Opium's. We ordered them in three steps:

1. Perfumes that named sources tie to Black Opium come first, the most-cited first.
2. Then, for those no source ties to it, the number of Black Opium notes in the house's own list.
3. Then a spread of styles and houses, with one pick per house except Lancôme, which has three.

A limit applies to all of it. Every closeness claim below comes from perfume blogs and comparison sites, not from a major magazine, and is worded as theirs. No source gives any of these six as an exact match. Several drop the coffee note altogether, which leaves them close on the vanilla and white-flower side only. If the terms are new, perfume notes explained covers coffee accords, gourmands and white florals.

The six picks

• 

  Carolina Herrera

  Good Girl

  Eau de Parfum · 2016

  Carolina Herrera's own notes read almond on top, jasmine sambac and tuberose in the heart, tonka bean and cocoa in the base. Jasmine is the one note it shares with Black Opium on that short set. The house's description adds that almond and coffee give it a bold edge, but coffee is not a listed note. One comparison site names it the closest coffee-based alternative, while another finds the two differ most in the heart. It suits someone who wants tuberose where Black Opium has coffee.

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• 

  Lancôme

  La Nuit Trésor

  Eau de Parfum · 2015

  Lancôme's release for this perfume names black rose essence, Tahitian vanilla, papyrus and lychee praline. Vanilla is the shared note in Lancôme's release, and Lancôme's US note list adds patchouli in the base; neither of Lancôme's lists names coffee. One perfume blog places it in the same dark-evening mood as Black Opium, with rose and praline where the original has coffee. Another calls it warmer and more romantic than Black Opium, less edgy and more sensual.

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• 

  Lancôme

  La Vie Est Belle

  Eau de Parfum · 2012

  Lancôme lists pear and blackcurrant on top, iris pallida, orange blossom and jasmine sambac in the heart, then patchouli, tonka bean, vanilla and praline. That makes five notes in common with Black Opium: pear, orange blossom, jasmine, patchouli and vanilla. One comparison site describes it as a softer, more consensual alternative for lovers of the vanilla oriental base note; another finds it more floral and less coffee-centric. The line itself is compared in La Vie Est Belle versions compared.

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• 

  Lancôme

  Idôle

  Eau de Parfum · 2019

  Lancôme describes Idôle as a musky chypre floral. Its listed notes are pear, bergamot and pink pepper, then rose and jasmine, then white musk, vanilla, patchouli and cedar. Six of those appear in Black Opium's pyramid, the highest overlap of the six picks. Its heart is rose and jasmine over white musk, there is no coffee, and one comparison site contrasts its luminous clarity with Black Opium's caffeinated darkness.

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• 

  Giardino Benessere

  Tethys

  100 ml

  The house boutique lists coffee bean, wild jasmine, vanilla and chocolate on top, Bulgarian rose, jasmine and amber in the heart, and red patchouli, cedar of Lebanon, Tahitian vanilla flowers and musk beneath. It is the only pick whose house notes name a coffee bean beside jasmine and vanilla. No source ties it to Black Opium, so the basis is the notes alone.

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• 

  Lattafa

  Yara Elixir

  100 ml

  Lattafa lists strawberry s'mores and black currant on top, jasmine and orange flower in the heart, and vanilla, caramel, amber and musk in the base, and presents it as a richer evolution of the original Yara. It shares jasmine, orange blossom and vanilla with Black Opium, but it is a strawberry-caramel gourmand without coffee or patchouli. The house makes no Black Opium comparison; the basis is the notes.

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Good Girl against Black Opium: tuberose or coffee

Good Girl is the pair that sources compare most directly. One comparison puts the choice as tuberose or coffee, finds the two differ most in the heart and least in the drydown, and says Good Girl is a floral first while Black Opium is a gourmand first. It adds that the two smell alike only a little, mostly late in the day, when both settle into sweet, warm skin scents. Both are Eau de Parfum.

Carolina Herrera's note list is short, with almond, jasmine sambac and tuberose, tonka bean and cocoa. Coffee appears only in the house's description, which says almond and coffee add a bold edge, and one comparison calls it a passing hint rather than the theme. The rest of that line is laid out in Good Girl versions compared.

Which to choose

The answer depends on which side of Black Opium you wear most: the coffee, the vanilla or the white flowers. If vanilla is the draw, the best vanilla perfumes go further.

• Named the closest coffee-based alternative: Good Girl, if tuberose in place of coffee suits you.
• Softer: La Vie Est Belle, with iris and praline and five shared notes.
• Lighter: Idôle, with the highest note overlap and a musky chypre floral build.
• Described as warmer and more romantic by one blog: La Nuit Trésor, for black rose and praline.
• With a coffee note in the house list: Tethys, from Giardino Benessere.
• Fruity gourmand: Yara Elixir, if strawberry and caramel appeal more than coffee.

What the houses charge

Bottle prices differ widely across these houses. The table below shows what each house's own store listed on the check date, scaled to 100 ml where the bottle was a different size. Perfume price per ml explains how to compare, and delivered prices by country covers what arrives at the door.

For a wider look at women's perfumes beyond this one, the best perfumes for women is the next stop.