Fou d’Opium

I'm surprised to see that I never reviewed Fou d'Opium, given that Opium was for many years one of my two signature scents and Fou was my first and still most loved DSH purchase. Fou extrait is as if Dawn Spencer Hurwitz and Monsieur Laurent somehow went into the shop and made a fresh bottle of vintage YSL Opium extrait for me. It's definitely animalic, as the vintage parfum was (and is if you, like me,are lucky enough to have some) Longevity is excellent. I like to wear a few dabs with some vintage YSL edt or edp (such as Secret de Parfum) as well as sometimes wearing it solo. It is worth every penny I paid for it even though I have several bottles of the YSL extrait on hand - it's not just a dupe. Like everything I own from DSH it's just magnificent, with shifting layers of gorgeous carnation, spices, resins, and who cares what making it alive and intriguing for the entire time it lingers. Not for everyone but if you're a true vintage Opium parfum lover I highly recommend considering it. =)

Fou d'Opium is sweet smooth spicy oriental. It has less bite than Euphorisme d’Opium or the original Opium parfum. It is sexy and complex, but also sheer. The sillage for the voile de perfume concentration is delicate after the first hour. Longevity is 6 hours. DSH uses mostly natural ingredients.

I was born in the 90's and don't have any connection to the original Opium, but do have a closet full of bell bottoms and other 70's inspired pieces, so I wanted to try something that might match that vibe. Instantly the scent felt familiar; I can't say who or when it evoked, but someone in my life must've worn Opium at some point. This is a genuinely "well-blended" perfume where all the notes are melding together and difficult to detect on their own. It is however in the spiced floral and amber categories, neither aspect pulling too strongly. I was a little nervous that Fou would pull too animalic on me, but it's not urinous or anything. There's just a little something that dirties up an otherwise sophisticated scent. Bordering on that vintage frag halitosis smell, without going quite that far. The sweetness from the fruit notes is subtle, and along with the touch of vanilla, keeps things from getting too serious. Sheer is definitely a correct description, which I find unusual in what one would otherwise expect to be a very weighty perfume. It keeps Fou warm weather friendly, and makes it a little less intimidating for someone like myself just wetting their feet in Dawn's retro nouveaus. I do like this scent but I'm not sure whether it quite feels like "me", perhaps it is something for me to grow into. It could see it being very sexy on someone, it even veers slightly unisex. Performance is average for the house.

This is like something overly sweet with mild animalic as i tend to smell sharp plums and peaches with some neroli and lime ( i believe that's where the sharp factor comes from) and some balsamic note. As a matter of fact, after 4 minutes no animalic no more, the sharpness goes out, and it goes quite vintage with a tiny element of urine somehow and doses of honey. Some tiny dose of cloves comes in, slight incense, and the honey remains. It could be thought of animalic as a cause of it's vintage element, but i personally don't see it that much animalic rather than quite pleasing. I kind of like "Opium" by YSL and this seems kind of a good version of it somehow since the creator mentioned this although i see it more near "La Nuit" by Paco Rabanne.

Oh my goodness this was a pleasant surprise! Like stewed fruit, honey, and spices and a touch of raunch. Lovely.