Opens with a sharp bite of clove and mandarin that softens quickly into a dense, resinous heart where carnation and cinnamon push against smoky myrrh and sweet opoponax. The amber and patchouli anchor the dry-down into something almost edible but never lightweight — vanilla rounds the edges without tipping into dessert territory. Projection is loud for the first two hours, then sillage settles into a warm, incense-kissed skin scent that clings for hours. — Cold-weather evenings, confident wearers who want a fragrance that announces itself before they enter the room.
Repeatedly cited as the closest still-in-production cousin to vintage Opium — a spicy carnation-clove-amber oriental.
“Estee Lauder Cinnabar (the current formula) smells pretty close to the original formula of YSL Opium.”
Reddit side-by-side comparison
A true-budget vintage-oriental in the original Opium family — spicy, dense and long-lasting. Same-DNA rather than an exact 1:1 of the discontinued 1977 formula.
feminine
The best match, Estée Lauder Cinnabar, scores accuracy 7 — recognizable but not identical. If this scent is a signature you wear constantly, the original keeps a real edge on precision; if you just want the vibe for a fraction of the price, the dupe does the job.
The top dupe of Yves Saint Laurent's Opium (1977) is Cinnabar by Estée Lauder, scoring 7/10 for accuracy and 8/10 for longevity. At $45, it's a 70% match to the $135 original — saving roughly $90 per bottle. Below: 1 more dupe scored across the same two dimensions, aggregated from Reddit r/fragranceclones, Fragrantica, and blind tests.
Based on community consensus, the highest-accuracy dupe for Opium (1977) is Cinnabar by Estée Lauder — a Close, with tells match (7/10 accuracy, longevity 8/10). If you prioritize longevity over accuracy, sort the grid above by longevity to see the top performer on that axis.
Every dupe is rated on two independent dimensions: scent accuracy (how closely it matches the original) and longevity (how long it lasts on skin). Scores are aggregated from community consensus on Reddit r/fragrance, r/fragranceclones, and Fragrantica. They are never averaged into a single number — accuracy and longevity are separate decisions.
No. The Scent File takes no brand deals, no sponsorships, and no paid rankings. Rankings reflect community consensus only. We do earn affiliate commission when you purchase through our links at no extra cost to you — but this never influences which dupes appear or how they are scored.
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