A comprehensive guide to Yves Saint Laurent perfumes, from rare vintage fragrances to modern releases, including the history of each period, boxes, bottles, labels, and expert tips to help you identify genuine YSL perfumes.
Introduction
Opium , Kouros, Paris, YSL pour Homme... What about Yves Saint Laurent classic perfumes?
Well, you
should look at the labels, the stickers, the technical symbols, and batch-code numbers.
The problem -especially for Yves Saint Laurent- is the confusing amount of many different labels, numbers, symbols, boxes and codes.
To recognize YSL scents, it is
necessary to know the history of the House, because boxes, labels, symbols, etc., reflect the different historical periods.
This should be pretty simple, but it isn't: actually the labels, the stickers and the boxes, were messed up during transition periods, and made things difficult to understand.
So let's go and try to solve the mystery.
So let's go and try to solve the mystery.
Please keep in mind that is not so important to know if that bottle was produced exactly in March 1989 or in June 1990, because it’s more important the historical period during it was produced.
Historical periods of the YSL perfumes.
Anyway, here are the FIVE historical periods.
All perfumes produced by “Yves Saint Laurent” split into five historical periods:
All perfumes produced by “Yves Saint Laurent” split into five historical periods:
1 - The Beginning (or "Charles of the Ritz Era"), from 1963 to 1986.
2 – The American Years. (or "Parfums Corp. Era"), from 1986 to 1992.
3 - French Years (or "SANOFI Era"), from 1993 to 1999.
4 - The "PPR-Gucci Era", 1999-2007.
5 - L'Oreal Era, since 2008.
Summary of the historical Eras.
Briefly: n 1961,
Yves Saint Laurent launched his own fashion house.
Two years
later, in 1963, U.S.
Two years later,
in 1973, "Squibb" company acquired "Charles of the Ritz."
ILLUSTRATION:
The first picture shown is a box where you can read, with great
simplicity, "Made in France-Yves Saint Laurent Parfums", along with
the ban on the sale outside of the authorized dealers. This label remains up to the mid-eighties.
 |
| YSL perfumes during years 1964-1985 ("Charles of the Ritz" Era) |
During year 1986,
Yves Saint Laurent acquired back from Squibb the "Charles of the
Ritz" brand, paying about $ 500 million, and thus fall again into the possession
of perfumes and cosmetics division. This operation, albeit expensive, opened vast horizons and enormous markets for YSL.
These were the so-called "American Years" (or "Parfums Corp." Era ).
ILLUSTRATION The second box is labeled "Yves Saint Laurent PARFUMS CORP." and is used
from 1986 to 1992-1993. Bottles could have stickers with references to New York.
 |
| "PARFUMS CORP."1986 1992) without EAN barcode1986-1988 with EAN barcode 1989-1992 |
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WARNING
During 1988-1990 the EAN barcode (bars + numbers) on the box was almost universally adopted in perfumery.
In 1992 the Greendot was adopted in many European countries.
In 1992 the Greendot was adopted in many European countries.
If in a "ParfumsCorp." labelled box the barcode is missing, it means that it
was produced from 1986 to 1988-1990.
On the contrary, if you find the barcode on the box, probably the "ParfumsCorp." scent could be dated "1989 to1993"
Finally, if the Barcode AND Greendot are BOTH present, it could be dated 1992 or 1993..
.
PAY ATTENTION: many times you will find "new" perfumes in "old" boxes: unfortunately YSL messed up packaging, especially during "transition" times. This means that you can easily find "ParfumsCorp." labelled bottles even after year 1993.
On the contrary, if you find the barcode on the box, probably the "ParfumsCorp." scent could be dated "1989 to1993"
Finally, if the Barcode AND Greendot are BOTH present, it could be dated 1992 or 1993..
.
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In 1987 a Wall Street stock market crash occurred, and major investors withdrew, leaving YSL in poor economic conditions. YSL got rid of Charles of the Ritz, but retaining the cosmetics and perfume industry. The situation was further exacerbated by the economic depression during the early Nineties.
In 1992, the YSL group was "on sale", and the buyer was found in the French corporation SANOFI, in January 1993.
Here the "French Years" (or "Sanofi Era") began.
Here the "French Years" (or "Sanofi Era") began.
So, since 1993, the box changes again, this time showing the label SANOFI, which will remain until 1999.
 |
| YSL SANOFI-Era, years 1993-1999 |
In 1999, the fashion house Gucci acquired the YSL brand, and commanded the stylist Tom Ford to give a new direction to the house.
And here the "PPR-GUCCI Era" began (1999 until 2008).
And here the "PPR-GUCCI Era" began (1999 until 2008).
In 2002, Yves Saint Laurent, in poor health, retirs from the world of fashion.
The brand YSL perfumes and cosmetics continued to exist in the hands of the Gucci group.
So, from 1999 until 2007/2008 ("PPR-Gucci Era") labels changed again, becoming simply "Yves Saint Laurent Parfums."
In most cases the address "NEUILLY" appears on box and labels (since year 2000)
In most cases the address "NEUILLY" appears on box and labels (since year 2000)
 |
| PPR-GUCCI Era. "Yves Saint Laurent PARFUMS" label. |
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WARNING
WARNING
During 2003 EU adopted the new Directive on cosmetics, which provides, among other things, a long list of ingredients to be labeled on the box. The Directive must be implemented no later than early 2005.
The packaging of all perfumes change, and since 2004/2005 report the "long list of ingredients"
 |
| LEFT: before 2005, with "short" l ist of ingredients RIGHT: after 2005, with a "long"list of ingredients |
In 2008, the division of YSL perfumes and cosmetics passed into the hands of the French multinational corporation L'Oreal, and the word "Parfums" on the label disappeared. The words "Yves Saint Laurent" and the address "NEUILLY" remained.
Note the "B.R.I." acronym: it means L'Oreal laboratories
 |
| L'Oreal Era. since 200 8 until 2011 the word "PARFUMS" disappears, the acronym BRI appears |
In 2011, the brand name appears on the box as "Yves Saint Laurent - YSL Beauté.".
But here we are no longer in the vintage, but in modern times ....
The importance of Batch-codes
OTHER THAN LABELS, YOU HAVE TO CHECK THE BATCH-CODES.
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OPERATING INSTRUCTIONS
First, get all clues from the box and/or bottle:which period? ("Charles of the Ritz", "ParfumsCorp.", "Sanofi", "PPR-Gucci"...)
Then, check the batch number table below.
(could be useful to know the year of launch of your perfume)
BATCH-CODES TABLE
1979- 2012
Let's start!
there are at least 4 numbers on bottom of the box, 4 or 5 numbers on bottom of the bottle
BOX "Charles of the Ritz" type (years 1964-1986). batch code number starting with:
1979 = 9xxx
1980 = 0xxx
1981 = 1xxx
1982 = 2xxx
1983 = 3xxx
1984 = 4xxx
1985 = 5xxx
BOX "Parfums Corp." type (1986-1993), batch code number starting with:
1986 = 6xxx
1987 = 7xxx
1988 = 8xxx
1989 = 9xxx
1990 = 0xxx (here the barcode appears)
1991 = 1xxx
1992 = 2xxx (here the greendot appears)
1993 = 3xxx
BOX "Sanofi" type (1993-1999), and the batch code starts with:
3xxx = 1993
4xxx = 1994
5xxx = 1995
6xxx = 1996
7xxx = 1997
8xxx = 1998
9xxx = 1999
BOX "PPR-Gucci" type (1999-2008), and the batch code starts with:
0xxx = 2000
1xxx = 2001
2xxx = 2002
3xxx = 2003
Shifting to "1 number+3 letters" batch code
4xxx = 2004 (both codes adopted: you can find 4123 and 4ABC)
5ABC = 2005 (here the "long list of ingredients" on the box appears)
6ABC = 2006
7ABC = 2007
8ABC = 2008
(during transition period between PPR-GUCCI and L'Oreal:in year 2008, there are some inusual batch numbers such as "EA00A", and similar ones.)
BOX "L'Oreal" type (since 2008, with B.R.I. label)
9ABC = 2009
0ABC = 2010
1ABC = 2011 (here "YSL BEAUTE" appears on box)
now shifting to long batch code
62 H XXX = 2011
62 J XXX = 2012
62 K XXX = 2013
62 L XXX = 2014
62 M XXX = 2015
62 N XXX = 2016
62 P XXX = 2017
62 R XXX = 2018
TUTORIAL PICTURES
 |
| Box "Charles of the Ritz" Era, batch code 9285 = year 1979 |
 |
| KOUROS, Charles of the Ritz-type box, batch 20781 = year 1982 |
 |
| (from Ebay) "Charles of the Ritz" label, batch 4312 = year 1984 |
|
| "Charles of the Ritz" Era, batch 6170 = year 1986 |
|
| a typical "Parfums Corp box (1986-1993, and beyond) |
 |
| (from Ebay) Parfums Corp, batch 12941 = year 1991 |
 |
| "Parfums Corp." box plus barcode batch 2337 = year 1992 |
 |
| YSL Champagne, launched in 1993, batch code = 39141 year = 1993 |
 |
| (from Ebay) YSL Champagne, launched in 1993,batch code = 41651, year = 1994 |
 |
| Messing-up box and bottles: a 1995 perfume (batch 5114) packaged in a older box |
 |
| Opium, "Sanofi" box, batch 6274 = year 1996. |
 |
| Sanofi box, batch 7335, year 1997 |
 |
| Live Jazz, launched in 1998, batch 81871, label "Sanofi" = year 1998 |
 |
| YVRESSE/Champagne, batch 8245, Sanofi box, = year 1998. |
 | ||
| batch 9054, Sanofi box. Year 1999
|
 |
| Nu Edt, launched in 2003, batch 30411, word NEUILLY appears = year 2003 |
 |
| switching from numbers to letters, during year 2004 |
 |
| batch 5KBA = year 2005 |
 |
| year 2005, YSL Parfums, NEUILLY |
 |
| 7KBB = year 2007 |
 |
| 8FAA = year 2008 |
 |
| label NEUILLY (since 2000) + BRI (L'Oreal) batch 8BAA = year 2008 |
 |
| label Neuilly = since year 2000 , + BRI (L'Oreal) batch 9BCA = year 2009 |
 |
| L'Oreal type box, without the word "Parfums" |
 |
| switching to new, long batchnumbers (since year 2011) batch 62Jxxx = year 2012 |
 |
| New KOUROS without metallic base: batch 62Hxxx "H" means year 2011 |
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UNUSUAL BOTTLES
 |
| Estimation sign was commonly adopted at the end of the Seventies |
 |
| KOUROS, box Parfum Corp., batch 0290 written inside the box (and not outside) = year 1990 |
 |
| "Parfums Corp." box with Greendot and Barcode, batch D60441 = maybe early year 2006. (it should be a "Sanofi" box) |
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....and...
Batch-codes
Year-of-production,
all-you-need-to-know
about vintage perfumes in the following pages:
-GUERLAIN perfumes ( here )
-CHRISTIAN DIOR perfumes ( here )
-GIORGIO ARMANI Perfumes ( here )
-VAN CLEEF et ARPELS perfumes ( here )
-CHANEL perfumes ( here )
-BVLGARI perfumes ( here )
-HERMES perfumes ( here )
-VERSACE perfumes ( here )
-GIVENCHY perfumes ( here )
-GUY LAROCHE perfumes (here)
-CACHAREL perfumes ( here )
-ROCHAS perfumes (here)
-GUY LAROCHE perfumes (here)
-CACHAREL perfumes ( here )
-ROCHAS perfumes (here)
-JEAN PATOU perfumes (here)
-LANCOME perfumes (here)
-CARON perfumes (here)
-CALVIN KLEIN perfumes (here)
-RALPH LAUREN perfumes (here)
-JEAN PAUL GAULTIER perfumes (here)
-SERGE LUTENS perfumes (here)
-GUCCI perfumes (here)
Plus:
Kouros by Yves Saint Laurent, visual guide (here)
Fahrenheit by Christian Dior, visual guide (here)
Azzaro pour Homme by Azzaro, visual guide (here)
Drakkar Noir by Guy Laroche, visual guide (here)
Opium by Yves Saint Laurent, visual guide (here)
Samsara by Guerlain, visual guide (here)
and others..