This dupe for YSL Black Opium is $12 a bottle
As far as beauty buys go, perfume is top tier-level indulgence at its finest.
The thing we don’t really love, however, is that most of our go-to fragrances often have less than realistic price tags.
Trying to catch the final few drops of juice as a perfume bottle of luxury fragrance inconsistently sputters is humbling to say the least. Especially if you've been carefully siphoning the stuff like it's liquid gold.
But if the idea of being between bottles and the anxiety of going without the comfort of an olfactory is all too much, we a) completely understand, and b) have a salve to soothe your fragrance mourning.
Introducing the delightfully opportunistic concept of fragrance dupes.
We’ve already found some stellar dupes for discontinued fragrances, Kmart perfume dupes, and a plethora of Maison Francis Kurkdjian Baccarat Rouge 540 dupes and Le Labo Santal 33 dupes too. And now, we’ve hunted down another one — Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Eau de Parfum ($189.99 from Chemist Warehouse).
What Does Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Smell Like?
Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Eau de Parfum ($189.99 from Chemist Warehouse) is a sweetly addictive black coffee and white floral fragrance with distinct touches of cedarwood, patchouli and black coffee. This makes for a slightly richer olfactory experience than it’s budget-friendly counterparts, but the essence of the fragrance lives on in the strikingly similar scents you'll discover if you keep reading.
Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium fragrance notes:
Top: Pear, Pink Pepper and Orange Blossom
Heart: Coffee, Jasmine, Bitter Almond and Liquorice
Base: Vanilla, Patchouli, Cashmere Wood and Cedar
Available at:
- 90mL — $189.99 from Chemist Warehouse
- 90mL — $264 from Priceline
- 90mL — $285 from MYER
The Top 6 Yves Saint Laurent Black Opium Perfume Dupes
1/ OXX Fragrance Noir Night
from $12 at Kmart
This dupe from OXX is unusual in the sense that the brand hasn't actually disclosed the fragrance's notes. However, a bit of research on TikTok and reddit (AKA a beauty obsessives best friends) is all that's required to discover a few key points about the scent. It's described as a woody, spicy, and sweet perfume that's reminiscent of Black Opium, however it doesn't last as long as the fragrance it's inspired by.
Fragrance notes: Undisclosed
Available at:
2/ Designer Brands Poppy Noir
from $12.99 at Designer Brands
Much like OXX's budget-friendly spritzes, Designer Brands keeps the exact fragrance notes for their dupes a bit hush hush. However, the brand's website does describe this scent as being explicitly inspired by Black Opium, dubbing Poppy Noir a warm, sweet, and spicy fragrance with intoxicating coffee and florals.
Fragrance notes: Undisclosed
Available at:
- $12.99 from Designer Brands
- $14 from Big W
3/ Zara Gardenia
from $35.95 at Zara
This floral, fruity gourmand fragrance launched in 2021 and has been lauded as an affordable alternative for Black Opium ever since. Gardenia's composition is much simpler than YSL's complex brew featuring a trio of orange blossom, coffee and vanilla, and surprisingly not a drop of gardenia. However, those with a green thumb will be able to tell you that this scent's name is a nod to the coffee note at it's heart, as gardenias hail from the coffee family of flowering plants.
Fragrance notes:
Top: Orange Blossom
Heart: Coffee
Base: Vanilla
Available at:
-
$35.95 from Zara
4/ Àerre After Hours
from $45 at Àerre
Àerre's After Hours shares almost all the same fragrance notes as Black Opium, however the affordable alternative has reimagined the way you experience each of them. There is a splash of mandarin in the opening that you won't find in Black Opium, the perfume's heart is an ode to florals like jasmine and orange blossom, and it's the dry down that'll reveal that signature coffee note in the base.
Fragrance notes:
Top: Mandarin, Pear, Pink Pepper, and Liquorice
Heart: Jasmine and Orange Blossom
Base: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Vanilla, and Coffee
Available at:
-
$45 from Àerre
5/ Dossier Ambery Vanilla
from $49 at Dossier
This pick from Dossier has an identical fragrance ingredient list to Àerre's After Hours, however it's sticky sweet vanilla scent is wholly different by comparison. The brand likens it to an iced vanilla latte. Regardless, it's sensuous, yummy, bright and warm in all the ways that matter.
Fragrance notes:
Top: Mandarin, Pear, Pink Pepper, and Liquorice
Heart: Jasmine and Orange Blossom
Base: Cedarwood, Patchouli, Vanilla, and Coffee
Available at:
-
$49 from Dossier
6/ Whif Midnight Mocha
from $50 at Whif
Although Midnight Mocha is the most expensive dupe we've found, it boasts a list of fragrance notes that are an exact copy of YSL's Black Opium. The result is an intensely indulgent $50 perfume. In other words — you get what you pay for.
Fragrance notes:
Top: Pink Pepper, Orange Blossom, and Pear
Heart: Coffee, Jasmine, Bitter Almond, and Liquorice
Base: Vanilla, Patchouli, Cedar, and Cashmere Wood
More interested in what A-listers are spritzing? These are the perfumes celebrities actually wear.
Main image credit: @yslbeauty
Briar Clark got her start in the media industry in 2017, as an intern for Marie Claire and InStyle. Since then, her keen interest in fashion and beauty has landed her gigs as a Digital Content Producer and Beauty Editor with titles like Girlfriend, Refinery29, BEAUTYcrew and beautyheaven. She loves the way seemingly innocuous topics like skin care and style have the ability to put a smile on people’s faces or make them think about themselves a little differently. A big believer in self love and experimentation, Briar has made a point of becoming the Australian beauty industry’s unofficial guinea pig for unusual treatments and daring hair trends. When she’s not testing out the latest beauty launches, Briar is big on broadening her horizons, mostly in the form of food but she’s also partial to travelling to new destinations both near and far (and of course, allocating an extra bag to bring their best beauty offerings home with her).
