Black Opium Illicit Green

I had written a review of this one a little bit ago, but I felt like maybe I wasn't giving it a fair shake. Recently I've been reaching for this more and more, and I have discovered how much I genuinely enjoy it. YSL Black Opium Illicit Green opens a little sharp and citrusy, but immediately settles down and you can start picking apart the rich, deep layers. I do not own a single BO flanker aside from Illicit Green, so I can't make any comparisons to the OG BO, but I find this to be such a thick, dark, inviting smelling parfum. It's unusual that I like it so much given that I stick with more juvenile gourmands or green/chypre scents. You can definitely smell the coffee, vanilla, and fig in this. I don't get any other florals, and I don't smell the patchouli in it (maybe it's just blended down into oblivion and I can't pick it up). I only smell citrus within the first five minutes, otherwise it's a very smooth scent and gives off an aura of "unbothered bitch" to me. This compliments my morning cigarette better than any other fragrance I have (fellow smokers can probably relate to how scents clash with cigarette smoke). Originally, I dogged on this one for being "weak" and "underwhelming", but I never really tried anything new with it to see if I could make it pop. I was using it the same way I use my other scents, (wrist spritz, walkthrough, lil neck spritz) but it wasn't doing it any justice. This fragrance performs poorly on skin, but it SHINES on clothes. I sprayed my jacket with it LAST WEEK and it's still ridiculously noticeable, like I had just sprayed it. This scent buries itself in the fibers of your clothes, so if you're struggling to get good performance, skip the skin application altogether and just put it on your clothes. Trust me, it does more than enough that way. Dare I say she even gets loud on clothes.

Black Opium Illicit Green by Yves Saint Laurent is an absolute gem! Let me tell you, this fragrance is all about the seductive power of fig, with a touch of vanilla sweetness and a hint of irresistible coffee. It's like a secret elixir that awakens your senses and casts a spell of allure. When you wear this scent, you can't help but feel a surge of confidence, like you're stepping into a world of possibilities. The fruity notes add a playful and vibrant twist as if dancing on your skin, while the white floral whispers delicately in the background, adding an elegant and feminine touch. The warm spicy undertones provide a subtle hint of mystery, like a captivating secret you keep to yourself. A touch of citrus brings a refreshing zing that brightens the composition, while the woody notes ground the fragrance, giving it depth and stability. And let's not forget the green and fresh accords that infuse a sense of vitality and modernity, making it perfect for any occasion. Black Opium Illicit Green is more than just a fragrance; it's an experience. The scent accompanies you on your journey of self-discovery, helping you embrace your sensuality and become more comfortable in your own skin. It's the perfect companion for those moments you want to captivate without even trying, leaving a trail of intrigue and admiration in your wake. It's a fragrance that embodies your unique blend of confidence, vulnerability, and a desire to be effortlessly sexy. It's a true game-changer and an essential addition to your perfume collection.

Oh the most controversial fragrance of all time people, you just make her more popular, don’t you know that! First off I still have my OG bottle from 2014. I will always have her. She is dense, she is thick, and she is obnoxious and I love her. The coffee is non existent and the floral bomb you get it crazy, but something is so addictive about this scent. I have 100 plus frags in my collection. I do not discriminate. I find the thrill of trying new frags despite what people have to say so this leads me to the Illicit Green flanker.. Opens super fresh, like a green sour apple almost. I initially sprayed it and that was my first thought, green apple! You 100 percent have the OG Black Opium DNA in this but its a bit tamer. Not soft but maybe a touch subdued. The dry down is beautiful. I get a tiny bit of coffee with lactonic feels but still holds that infamous floral DNA the OG has. The jasmine comes out to play very lightly which makes this scent feel a bit more classy shall I say, not so "cLubBing" like most people bash opium for. I highly suggest people give this a try before condemning it because of the original. This is a nice fresh take on the OG. Has decent longevity, 5-6 hrs on skin and 8 on clothes (I overspray FYI). As for the price, ehhhh. YSL you are paying for the name. If you can get it onsale, def grab it! Will be a lovely scent for spring/summer/fall.

The reason why I bought 'Illicit Green' instead of 'Extreme' version is simple. 'Illicit Green' propelled me into fruit harvest season while I've never been a lover of the fig. And I also believe that none of my fragrances have this prevailing note, but still.. Fig makes itself the protagonist in its own way, what I've done in last few hours has been to nontop spraying to feel it over and over again. Just by lifting the caps and smelling their dispensers, differences between these two are clear. While 'Extreme' is much denser and more sugary like a cappuccino, 'Illicit Green' is not a cappuccino, the coffee note declines the invitation (once again it's a snort to me). The biggest difference is about freshness. 'Illicit Green' is very juicy and botanically fresh, so close being edible, is inviting to bite down on, and tasty. A renewed twist for a more joyful, playful look. At this instant 'Extreme' becomes a languid embrace and abandonment, by cocoa powder notes. Overall this creation appears more fruity and less sweet to my nose. The juiciness and semi acidity of the fig seems to give a more bitter taste. I don't know how anyone could imagine mixing coffee with fig, they did it and it's masterful.

Just tried this in the store and I am in LOVEEE!! I’m not familiar with any of the BO flankers (or even BO before today) so this was my first experience with the line and wow.. honestly a bit speechless like I don’t even know how to fully articulate how “me” this is.. quite literally the first thing that came to mind when I smelled it was “holy sh*t this is my essence in a perfume” It’s warm, subtly spicy, and sweet with a beautiful floral touch.. the coffee note is not overpowering at all but instead sooo divine, seductive and really ties everything together. The fruity notes bring an amazinggg balance and adds a fresher, slightly citrusy and almost creamy(?) aspect to it (probably the fig?) I did smell the OG in the store just so I can compare and the best way I can describe this one is literally just a fresher, slightly lighter, more spring-esque version of the original.. exactly what I was looking for since I found the OG to be a bit heavier, less fruity and possibly not as much as an every day scent.. and didn’t have that slightly fresher aspect that I love from this one.. bought a bottle off Mercari as soon as I got home!

Yummy! This is a soft spicy slightly vanilla-y scent. But the first note that stands out to me big time is the coffee note. Which is exactly what caught my attention in the first place. I Love Noa Noa from Chacarel (sorry If I’m misspelling the name) and that perfume also has a noticeable coffee note to it. But this one is not as soft as Noa Noa, but to my nose quite similar in some ways. - I can also detect some marzipan notes in Illicit, but that might just be the combination of the scnt notes, that makes it come across as if there’s marzipan notes in there. It also has this ‘dusty’ feeling to it... I can’t explain how a dusty scent note actually smells, other than the fact that to my nose, at least, it smells like dust. A bit dry, perhaps leaning a tad woody. Like an old wooden floor kinda smell. In the best way. I would wear this day and night and mostly during the winter and fall. But if it’s not too hot during the summer, I might wear it then as well.

Illicit Green is a shift in my direction. The OG was strong and abrasive on the opening and a punch the face. Based on the notes I should have loved it, but didn't. But Illicit green speaks to the notes that are appealing to my pallet. I'm a coffee drinker but never thought I would somehow enjoy the note in a fragrance, but I do. It's present without being in your face smelling like fresh brew. The pear and fig open the fragrance with a sweetness but not sugary. It's well balanced and falls into its position perfectly. The dry down is where the magic happens for me. The vanilla comes in and it all just melts together in harmony. No clashing at all. I figure the fig leaf and patchouli is where the green in "illicit Green" come in. It seems to add to the balance without taking over. This is what I would call a grown gourmand. It's absolutely on my full bottle purchase list.

While I hate the OG I am in love with this one! For me, the coffee comes way more through. I have to point out that even though it's not a green perfume at all (despite being marketed as such), you can actually notice that this one leans towards a greener, more unisex type of coffee. Weirdly, I do not notice the creaminess and sweetness of the fig until the juice sets down (very faintly, but it's there). Also, they removed the liquorice note that I despise from the OG!!! It's still a dark fragrance but creamier (it reminds me of Nuit Blanche in that sense, which I also own and love). If you don't like the OG but you love coffee notes, I would strongly recommend you try this one! Perfomance and sillage are not amazing but as far as I know this is something generalized in all the Black Opium line. It lasts way more on clothes than on skin, so take that into account :)

I love it! A reviewer mentioned here that she detected marzipan notes, and regardless of whether it really has marzipan notes, it does smell of it and that's the sweetness I love the most in BOIG! Other well blended notes like a classy orange blossom, jasmine and vanilla are great and there's some powdery undercurrent of a compact face make-up, well atleast the foundations and face powders I have used and loved for the same reason. Happy I got myself this gem❤️ Edit: I'm surprised nobody finds it similar to poison girl by at least 70%. Of course boig is more evolved in complexity and more outgoing than pg, and pg is quite demure and introverted in comparison, yet to my nose they are in the same vein. Both are a love for me 💞 Edit: another similar scent it reminds me of is Paco Rabanne Ultrared, they have similar marzipan type sweetness that I love.

I’ve tried the original, edp, edt,intense and illicit green and this is so far my favorite, even though I like them all. I prefer the illicit green because it’s not green, not sweet, not dark or too gourmand: it’s all of that at the same time, without being too much of anything. I finally have some coffee in here! The green coffee beans which are very clear to me in the beginning, together with vanilla and jasmine. I’m a sucker for anything jasmine but this is a notch on top. After a couple of hours I get some pears and figs. Le fil rouge of this perfume are the fig leaves and green notes which are somewhat in the back but definitely there throughout the day. I sprayed in on my clothes and skin and while it’s almost gone from my skin (after 3-4 hours) I can still smell the perfume coming from my clothes and hair. I’m in a green coffee paradise!

**I am new to the fragrance world I don't have the best most informative reviews, I go based on vibes** This fragrance I am trying to make a signature, I absolutely adore it. It is like if Black Opium just had a bit more freshness added into it and some sweetness dialed back a tiny bit. (Original Black Opium is a bit sweet for me even though I enjoy gourmands.) I don't really pick up on it being as masculine as some people say, I can see it being more unisex but leaning feminine. I think it's a great fragrance. My only criticism is becoming nose-blind to it (that could also be because I wear it all of the time.) It's a beautiful fragrance I just wish I could smell it for longer, its good all year round maybe not too much in the summer. Overall a 9.5/10 for me (0.5 taken off because of the longevity.)

I love the original Black Opium -- I don't find it "polarizing" at all and the vanilla & coffee notes agree with my body chemistry. I realized I had a sample of the Illicit Green that I'd never used and finally tried it. Wow! Love at first spray. It's (literally) "greener" and lighter than the original. The burst of pear & fig in the opening is just gorgeous and the dry down settles into such a warm and light jasmine & orange blossom. The coffee and vanilla are a bit more muted than the original. I actually layer them together often but Illicit Green is a standout on its own. Always lovely compliments when I wear it. If you like the original this is a safe blind buy. Probably more suited for daytime and year-round wear, whereas I generally only use the original during fall and winter.

It's a going out scent. Even though in comparison to the original, it's more "daytime", I feel this can still be a night out type of fragrance since it is very similar. It's probably 10% fruitier and fresher. Definitely less patchouli. It works out for me since I don't like patchouli dominant fragrances. Not too say it was overpowering in the OG. Imagine Illicit Green being the every night out scent and "wouldn't mind grabbing your attention scent", but the OG is the, "I definitely wanna grab your attention tonight" scent 😅 The fig leaf isn't too noticeable, and I'm not a huge fan of leafy green herbaceous scents so this is fine. I also don't detect an obvious presence of fig but it does lend it a slightly fruitier quality as mentioned earlier. Still a mass pleasing scent

Deep and sultry. These are the two adjectives that come to my mind to describe this perfume. A beautiful mix of fruit (not girly though), flowery and gourmand notes. I can see how it gets a love or hate reaction, you would definitively wear this to get noticed, it’s not for the faint of heart. It’s made for a determined career woman who wants to be seen, heard and taken into consideration. There is a pleasant soapy dry down and that’s what also sold me on this one, the middle notes make it a clean scent, on my skin I feel the beautiful orange blossom, a middle note that is present in a few perfumes that I am currently testing (Voce Viva being one, from Valentino). Just also adding that there is no “green” as in fresh and aquatic here. This is a new favorite!

This is so nicely done! Very pleased! I like the OG Black Opium and LOVE the Xtreme but the other flankers are not my taste. This is coffee and fruity in the best possible ways! This is longer lasting than Black Opium and on par with Xtreme. Very good performance and you can smell it on yourself. Idk if I can smell fig but I smell a juicy fruit smell which is maybe fig but I can smell fig in other fragrances and it smells similar but this isn’t a sour smell it’s a very sweet in a good way coffee fragrance. I don’t get any floral which is great for the smell this has! Definitely worth the price and safe blind buy if you like coffee fragrances!

Oh, I love this one. It's so easy to love, too. The fig and pear ooze juice, and the bright mandarin gives just the barest hint of tartness to save it from being too sugary sweet. The rich, decadent base and note of coffee makes you feel like the scent of some niche, expensive cafe is clinging to your clothes. It's easy to overspray, which is no mean feat with the current trend of skin scents and watered down EDP's, so those who find it cloying are invited to try again with a lighter touch. This is a perfume that keeps my nose glued to my wrists and gets compliments from everyone, no matter how picky.

I've never bought from this range before but was attracted my the fig. Wow! I am in love. It's like a dreamy trail of sweetness and I can smell caoco. I suppose it reminds me of warmth and comfort but it's also an edible kind of smell. There is definitely a green note to my nose but it is subdued although keeps peeking through. I'm glad I waited to try Opium when I thought it had the notes I would enjoy otherwise I think it would be too sweet. So, a sweet, cacoa, scent with a green vibe is how I'd best describe it. I've been layering this with Body Shop Fig and it is gorgeous!

I wasn’t sure how well fig would go in Black Opium but I am a huge fan of fig perfumes and I do enjoy regular Black Opium (though prefer Le Parfum) so I figured I’d give this a try. It’s really nice! Some of the reviews said the fig wasn’t really noticeable in this but it definitely is, it just blends well with the rest of the notes. I can see how it might feel redundant to own both this and regular Black Opium but I also feel like this is the nicer one of the two and wearable in more seasons. This fig is very slightly soapy so it’s just a little bit fresher and greener.

At first I got that coffee hit the black opiums are famous for, good start as far as I was concerned. Then, I left it to see what it became on my skin, and after 20ish minutes I smelled..bleurghh..a bit of everything and nothing all at once, very strange. However, this is a lesson for me around the dry down. An hour and a half later, the most beautiful vanilla/fig/coffee/hint of pear, this feels very well blended to my nose, the florals supporting and not overtaking. I think I love Nuit Blanche much more but I adore this and can still smell it 7 hours after spraying.

I had blind bought the original Black Opium and LOVED it, so I bought Black Opium Illicit Green during Black Friday sales and it did not disappoint! I love how its a fresher gourmand, vanilla scent while still keeping the coffee notes. Upon the first couple spritz, its fresh with citrus notes with vanilla but gently eases off to the original Black Opium and soft citrus notes. I feel this is more suitable for all season wear (or at least from fall/winter to spring) without feeling too rich and heavy. Also better for day time wear too as its more fresh. Love this!!