Calvin Klein
Calvin Klein
632 votes
A unique visual signature based on accords, character, and seasonality
The first fifteen minutes burst with bergamot's citrus brightness and basil's green herbaceous snap, creating an almost culinary freshness. Vanilla and peach immediately undercut this with honeyed sweetness, tilting the composition towards something more indulgent than the crisp opening suggests.
By the second hour, coriander and exotic spices bloom richly, weaving through jasmine and orange blossom in a baroque tapestry of warm florals. Cedar and sandalwood rise beneath, creating a woody foundation whilst the amber begins its quiet, persistent hum—the fragrance now smells exponentially richer and more complex than it did on application.
After four hours, only the amber-woody base and animalic musks remain, creating an intimate skin scent that hovers just centimetres from the body. Civet imparts a subtle animalic warmth, oakmoss adds earthy texture, and the fragrance becomes less a perfume and more an extension of one's own chemistry—softly spiced, gently sweet, deeply personal.
Obsession is a fragrance of deliberate sensuality wrapped in a cloak of spice—Jean Guichard's 1985 masterwork refuses the pastels and florals that dominated its era. This is amber-soaked opulence with a whisper of danger. The opening bristles with basil's peppery green bite alongside bergamot's citric snap, but these brightness notes are merely the prelude to something far more carnal. Vanilla and peach create a honeyed sweetness that feels almost edible, yet the fragrance's true character emerges in the heart: coriander and exotic spices dance with rose and orange blossom, whilst cedar and sandalwood anchor everything in woody austerity. What makes Obsession compelling rather than predictable is the animalic base—civet and musk provide an almost skin-scent intimacy, a warmth that feels lived-in and sensual rather than manufactured.
This is a fragrance for those who understand that restraint and subtlety are not prerequisites for sophistication. The amber-woody accord creates a second skin, something that clings rather than projects. Obsession suits evening wear, intimate gatherings, and people who prefer their scents to tell stories rather than announce arrivals. It's unisex in the truest sense: neither aggressively floral nor overtly masculine, but rather gently animalic and decidedly adult. Age has mellowed any dated qualities; it wears like a vintage velvet jacket—slightly mysterious, entirely intentional.
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Slava Zaïtsev
3.5/5 (483)