I have never owned a vintage bottle but as far as the "new" formulation goes, I approve!! I applied this at 9am and it is now nearly 8pm and this has left a wonderful musky/vanilla/amber softness to my skin. I purchased this mini bottle for about $15 at Target I think, if you are looking for a scent that lasts all day, this is an incredible value and the tiny bottle should last you quite awhile since you really don't need more than a few drops.


Upon first spray, I get a sense of something woodsy,balmy and green, oakmoss perhaps? Honestly, it smells very similar to a man's aftershave, there is nothing ladylike/girlie about this scent. Then the civet and spices and amber kick in like WHOA. If you happened to over-spray you will regret it big time in about an hour. It gets very sweet but not bakery vanilla sweet...I can't really explain it. It's like a heavy amber honey syrup infused with exotic spices. Despite it's sweetness, I feel this is actually a unisex scent.


I have been wearing this to work and loving it. Not sure if I would wear it on a date though...on one hand, it is very sweet but it's also dirty/primal and very unisex, This is kind of like Tabu and Opium and some of the other vintage powerhouses that scream SEX...men either love it and will ravish you or they will say you "smell like their mom" or ask "where you with another man tonight?"

My skin/chemistry eats perfume, 99% of body sprays and light floral/aquatic scents are wasted on me. This stuff is a keeper in my book.

When I was a teenager, the idea of wearing perfume seemed ridiculous; only bimbos and old ladies would spritz themselves down with “embalming fluid”. I was too busy wearing black, listening to counter culture music (whatever that is), and pretending to not care. Needless to say, I never wore any of the classic fragrances from the late 80s/ mid 90s. Recently, I purchased a bottle of designer juice at the local small town drug store, and hoped for the best. Wow. Obsession is a first-rate production, complete with an eclectic cast of characters. The opening is abrasive with an icky soapy-green burst that makes one wonder why Obsession is classified as a spicy oriental. On the skin, it begins to unfold chaotically, leaving a trace of (almost off-putting) powder. Next, a cute and fuzzy animalic note (civet) politely says hello, instead of throwing a Bal a Versailles middle finger. Slowly, the green-forest-creature-powder begins to expose amber and spices and after about 30 minutes the premise that this is not a spicy oriental turns on its head. This is the spicy oriental. Incense, vanilla, sandalwood, and spices are now the main actors, while the rest of the cast quietly scampers on and off the stage as supporting characters.

In an attempt to understand Obsession, I applied it to one side of my body and Ambre Sultan to the other. At first, the bombastic Serge Lutens seduced me with delicious sweaty-sweetness, which made Obsession seem like a powdery mess. But, as time progressed it was clear that Ambre Sultan simply turned down the volume, while Obsession told me a story. In fact, I would go as far as to say Ambre Sultan could be a stand-in for one of Obsession’s actors.

When I wear Obsession I tend to pair it with a cotton T-shirt and dark eye make-up—the teenager in me definitely approves!

Tenacity: 5/5
Sillage: 5/5
Overall: 5/5 (Ambre Sultan 4/5)

I love this perfume. It's soft, feminine, comforting, sexy. It's not sharp, screechy or toothache-inducing. It's an original scent and timeless in nature. It was great back in the 80's (albeit the formulation was MUCH stronger then). Coty Prestige has since taken over the production of this fragrance, and in doing so, has updated it. By that, I mean they have been loyal to the scent by keeping it delicious, but the strength is not a hammer over your head. The sillage is moderate. The lasting power is pleasantly long. I never feel ripped off. There is nothing worse than plunking down a bunch of cash for a perfume that can't be detected by you or anyone else after 2 minutes of having it on..... Don't let the 80's reputation of this scent shy you away. I have migraines and sinus allergies - THIS DOES NOT BOTHER ME AT ALL...... SO - If you like mellow citrusy top notes with a woodsy, powdery, incense kind of dry-down that is hypnotic ... dare i say magical - look no further.

A woman at the place I work wears this and every time she walks by I always think she smells amazing. One day I ran after her to ask what that amazing frag she was wearing and turns out it was this. NOT AT ALL the Obsession I'm used to smelling on other people, good body chemistry I guess. This past Christmas my SO bought a bottle for me per my request and upon first spritz I was transported to my middle school/early highschool days when an ad with a scent strip seemed to be in every issue of Seventeen, Mademoiselle, and Sassy. I can't say that I was happy about this as those years were miserable for me and scent has that amazing ability to transport one back in time so quickly. When I first applied this it smelled a lot plasticky and I was really concerned as I knew that the frag had changed hands and had been messed with (some investigation told me I was correct). I suffered through the day feeling like I'd wasted money but thankful it wasn't much since the bottle was so tiny. Then at the end of the day I checked my wrist again and was pleasantly surprised to see that the plastic note was gone and I could smell a lovely bouquet of spices, vanilla and warmth. Now THIS is what I was smelling as the co-worker walked by. Now the question is whether I can suffer through the day smelling like weird plastic to get to the good stuff at the end of the day? I think I can but I won't be wearing this often because of that fact. Something I learned accidentally was that if I put my wrist under running warm water I can get fragrances to wear down to the base notes on my skin. Yes, it is a waste of fragrance but really it saves the sanity of my nostrils and mind. So it's a nice cozy fragrance but I won't be buying another bottle unless I can get my hands on a vintage 80s bottle.

Powerful (happy) memories for me with this one. Released in 1985, this is a supremely decadent vanillic Oriental that just HAD to be big to catch up with the size of hair and shoulder pads back in the day. The juxtaposition of bergamot and greens with cinnamon, tonka, and plush, oily amber was (and is) blatantly sexual. It turns women into edible sex goddesses-- but this is old-school gourmand a la Shalimar. No candy-syrup overload as with the disposable celebrity fumes now glutting the market. Obsession is rich and classy, as well as erotic.


Me and my friends all coveted Obsession, but back then it was Chanel-level expensive, so we wore the lighter, fruitier Parfums de Coeur knockoff called "Confess." It says a lot about Obsession's unmistakable signature that even the knockoff version smelled indescribably unique!


Some complain about the various Obsession reformulations, but I think that's overblown. I have a mint-condition splash cologne from the mid-'80s; a spray EDP from the late '90s (gold band around the cap); and a recent EDP (made by Coty Prestige). They smell far more alike than different. The Coty version is a bit less sweet and less smoky/balsamic, but I actually find it the most wearable for that reason. The signature of this powerhouse Oriental remains intact, as does its strength and projection.


Wearing Obsession is a fun reminder of how special fragrance used to be, before there were 1,000 new releases a year, all smelling of pear shampoo or gardenia hand soap. I took off 1 Lippie for the sheer depth and gravity of this scent-- you must be in the mood to smell of Serious Perfume and you must be 100 percent committed to wearing it all day long. I'm not always in that place. But I do love Obsession. It is scrumptious and great for winter snuggling... Or more ;).

The ampimathy of Style. Love the Color the color of the
sunset. thats when the
real action starts the notes incense vanilla
spices & woods
brings out the enticipation waiting
passion is in the air and having one
hot passionate love with your lover
this is the perfume for you. continued >>

My heart skipped a beat as I sniffed it again at a local drugstore: ah, memories... I always seem to tie the fragrances I wear to the memories linked to those times, so I have been always using scents as a mindmap, and this one leads me back to a stormy irish winter spent in Cork once upon a life, full of misty enigma-filled early mornings ( there's something almost supernatural about that time of the day at that time of the year in Ireland, I swear), soul-searching afternoons and heartbreaking love stories. This fragrance is not for someone who is enjoying an easy ride: it's a fighter scent, with a butch quality in it wonderously blended with the quintessential animalistic sensuality: wearing Obsession is like turning up on lover's doorstep wearing a rough wool coat over a stark naked body - that's exactly how nerve-wrecking and arousing this is: by being so rough it makes one feel extremely fragile under it!! Wool biting at the skin, whiskey unfolding its warmth in your mouth, fighting for the last square of bitter chocolate with best friends while cosying up in front of a fireplace, bone-chilling winds roaring outside almost sweeping stranded passers-by off their feet - that's the direction in which my emotions take flight when I sniff it. Amber, pine, moss, almonds all thrown into the pot and given a rough shake. After the drydown it does settle into a calm dense aura, but you smell it and just know that the storm is coming, because it has so much promise in it! Very unique - not like Opium at all, way more sensual and feminine imo. Alas, the plastic cap looks rather cheap, the bottle itself is sleek and rather masculine. Since there's very little sugar there it is probably appropriate and suits those rough qualities of the contents. When it comes to the name - it happened to have translated quite literally into my life: fell for a guy from work head over heals while wearing this, felt an almost compelling pull towards him, and it took me more that a year to shake off the spell, especially after I had a cold chill running down my spine when I saw a bottle of Obsession for men sitting on his bathroom shelf and thought: wow, talk about living up to the name of the perfume you've chosen...

Obsession = instant headache. I don't think it smells bad so to speak, just TOO MUCH.

This is a very strong and overpowering fragrance. Its a mature fragrance.

Calvin Klein's Obsession does remind me of the 80s, I must admit. My mom gave this one to me, because she knows I love having quite a perfume collection. It does have its own distinctive scent, which to (amateur in talking about perfumes) is a very warm, almost overtly sexual, gourmand fragrance. If I just use one spray, it lasts for a long time and really isn't too off-putting. However, any more than that, I can see that this would be incredibly cloying. It's definitely more of a wintry type scent. Not really my thing, but nonetheless, it will retain its place on my shelf, at least for now.