Wafting through the vents and down the catwalk at the most recent Saint Laurent show in Paris was a scent so heavy and intoxicating that guests immediately identified it as Opium. Laden with patchouli and spice, it belongs to a decade that gave us some of the most iconic fragrances — Chanel No 19, Dior Diorella and Estée Lauder Cinnabar — and one that is saturating the fragrance world right now. “There has been a noticeable shift in what people are drawn to. We’re seeing more interest in fragrances that feel textured, warm and nostalgic,” says the Liberty beauty buyer Nicole Zimbata.
— Read more in Why perfumes are having a 1970s makeover at The Times.
Very happy memories of Opium! I was in my late teens/early twenties, working for a US oil & gas service company in Aberdeen, Scotland & the small admin/secretarial team, of whom I was one, were given GBP 25.00 Harrods vouchers for Christmas. Opium was widely advertised when it was launched, but available only in top London department stores – so when I visiting my family in Surrey for Christmas my mum & I went to Harrods & I used my voucher to buy a bottle of Opium – the iconic plastic/resin/whatever-covered glass bottle with the ‘porthole’, the mushroom-shaped stopper & the gold thread tassel – I loved it, & was the only one of my friends who had it at the time, which did make me feel rather pleased with myself!
What a great memory, and that was such a cool bottle.