Obsession

Jean Guichard is a master perfumer. I mean, he made Eden and Loulou, and I ADORE both. When I was thinking about how to write my opinion about Obsession, I was thinking, again, yes, nobody does anything around perfumery masters still living. Nobody writes about them, nobody interviews them, zero. I can't understand that. I am very interested in what they think and how they make a perfume. What inspires them, and so on. I did a bit of research in a general sense about Jean. We know he is a teacher also, but what we all don't know is, for example, which components he uses in his perfumery most often. What I discovered is that the most used ones are vetiver, cedarwood, bergamot, rose, sandalwood, patchouli and jasmine. It would be interesting to ask him why. And how he came up with Obsession. Let me put it out there first. Obsession is a masterpiece perfume. In all aspects. It's bald. It's direct into the stomach and even the face. It's between love and hate, and that's what made this scent earn the name Obsession. Obsession can be born only between love and hate. In that space between. That safe zone where we rest because we can't decide. It's pretty unbelievable how a scent can drive you through different feelings, different timelines and even through history. Jean made many perfumes, many good, many historical. Historical because of pure artistic value and outstanding qualities. Obsession is one of those perfumes. It's hard to describe it because it's silently bold. It opens as a sun. That nice sunburn on your skin. This is very melancholic. The pleasant one. Aldehydes and sun. These aldehydes are in my nose: a mixture of a vintage hairspray and brutal vanilla, bergamot, basil, and green notes of grass. and, I assume, tree leaves, maybe oak, then peach, lemon and some mandarin. Top notes themselves could be sun cologne. Vanilla did the job here. Giving that amberish feeling without being amber. The speciality of this perfume is that the top notes stay. All that is coming just builds up. I like that. That's something to respect. When spices crush into your nose and after that into your brain waves, you don't get the rose, orange blossom or jasmine. All are calm, captivating but free, calm and very disciplined. Then intertwine with the rest of the middle notes like they understand they are a part of the legendary perfume. Wood, spices and flowers. To intoxicate you. Before you sense the base notes and before you enter that space between love and hate. Because when you feel the other side, interestingly based, you can't ever stop loving this masterpiece. It drags you into the animalistic/forest bold side and tells you, "Love and hate me!" Did you ever love? If yes, then you were also hated. In those days when you are in between, you are obsessed. That's the sense of the existence of this wonderful scent. This is definitely not for just anyone. It doesn't allow you. You have to submit. Only the brave can rule the place in between. It's a challenge. Pushes, pulls, goes on the nerves, blinks in the sun, and sends you a kiss of vanilla, and after that, slaps your face like a civet urinated over your shoes. Originally it was urine-like; have that in mind. It's animalistic. It's a guru scent. The spirit of obsession teaches you a bold lesson. I love you, but don't play with me. Perfume made for me. Thank you, Jean. P. S: I like the bottle. It's like a Handgranate. So you can end yourself if you can't stand "the middle."

I wore this when it first came out. Liked it, but did not love it. I was young. Perhaps too young. My ex wore the men's version, and I hated it, and him along with it. Because of my aversion to the men's version, I have stayed away from the women's version up until a couple months ago when I decided to buy a purse mini just to have it in my collection since I'm a perfume whore. HolyMaryMotherofGOD I love this stuff. I can't stop buying the vintage used bottles on eBay. I'm obsessed... (oh, how tacky that sounds considering it's name but IT IS THE TRUTH!). I have the 1980's bottles (sprayer in cap) and the kidney's ("splash cologne") with their gold trimmed orange-brown tops. I have the 1990's bottles (sprayer no longer part of the cap, but the gold trim survived the decade change). These are pre-reformulation, and pre-Coty. I have the 2000'sies reformulated Coty version. I actually find the new version fine. And considering how much of the original ingredients had to be replaced, I say that Coty did a stand up job. I keep the 2000 dark brown cap/no gold trim versions in my purse for later in the day over sprays. But in the morning, I use the vintage versions. The 1980's bottle's top notes are, of course, deteriorated a bit, but since I never loved the harsh herbal/sorta bitter citrus opening, I'm very happy about it's demise. So, mostly, CK Obsession gets better with age. The liquid is dark, and thick, and luscious. The dry down notes are: civet, classic sweet-amber- vanilla (Obsession perfected this one!), and the not-so-secret unlisted note of cinnamon. I have noted leather, and a really good sweet pipe tobacco note as well. This version is my favorite, because of the top note deterioration. The dry down is the money shot, and superior in all ways to any future versions. The 90's versions will smell this good in another 10 years (I hope that prominent cinnamon I smell from the 80's versions shows up as well!). The 1990's versions are wonderful in their own right, and eBay bottles abound for less than 30 cents per ml. These have "ripened" and the top notes are mostly intact. Subsequently the top to heart to dry down journey throughout the day is the authentic vintage one. Intoxicating. Mesmerizing. Orgasmic. I'll point out again that I feel like the cinnamon note is not quite so evident here. I did big side by side comparisons between my two generously sprayed arms. The 80's version, hands down, had the cinnamon. The 90's version: Not so much. And therein lies my core reason for preferring the 80's versions. This stuff LOVES me, and I it. We are soul mates, twin sisters. I have a large rotation of perfumes, but if I have not started my day with Obsession, I always manage to end my day with it. Spraying it liberally on my Pj's and pillow case. It is truly like coming home. I am grateful the gold band versions are still plentiful. I continue to stock up. How much is enough to last me my lifetime? Can I be embalmed in it? Okay, that last bit was a bridge too far. But you get the picture. I'm smitten. If you need to dump or swap your gold band versions... PM me... I'll gladly take your babies off your hands. They will be adored.

If someone says this is their fave fragrance u’d expect it to be someone in their 40s or 50s but HEYYY !! I’m in my early 20s and this is one of my signatures. I always get mixed reactions from people especially the younger ones bc my innocent and youthful image doesn’t match my olfactory preferences. Younger people often go for more juvenile scents, they’re like the biggest consumer of aquatics and gourmands, so it’s understandable why they’d be polarized by my choice of fragrance. My friends often say I’m that one friend that smells like a sexy aunt, a smoker, or a person who asserts dominance but if you saw me irl i don’t even resemble those descriptions physically 😭 but i don’t mind for i believe the beauty lies in its irony. Despite the unpredictable reactions from light fragrance enjoyers, people in their 30s and above often compliment my fragrances. AND THAT’S GREAT because their fragrances were far more interesting back in the days🫶🏻 I’ve already left a lengthy review (and here i am leaving another lengthy paragraph) of this fragrance months ago but back then it was just a teensyyy decant that I genuinely enjoyed wearing until its last drop but thankfully I recently got a full bottle (reformulated) and regardless it’s still lovely; however it’s my dream to experience the vintage formulation bc i can tell this has been watered down for years and now it’s sadly just a shadow of its former glory. This is such an interesting fragrance because it starts off sharply green with loads of citrus bitters and dries down to a leathery, animalic, and smoky vanilla coke float. While the scent profile itself is interesting, the way this fragrance beautifully works with my body chem makes it far more interesting than what it already is. There are days wherein the drydown resembles Guerlain Shalimar, it often smells like Dior Addict too when the creamy non-overtly gourmand vanilla really peaks through, there are also times where the chocolatey cola note gets super strong it starts smelling like Lalique Le Parfum. Surprisingly it doesn’t only amplify the base notes but in fact some of the green top notes and heart notes stick around till the last wear because there are times where it dries down to the smell of a geranium scented castille soap. It doesn’t end there :D there’s so much outcomes or possibilities with how the scent dries down on my skin and thankfully it’s always fabulous like this perfume is truly magnificent. There are times where it just screams LEATHER and unwashed faux fur, interestingly it also smells like bubblegum-ish vanilla at times which is so weird bc you’d never think it’d smell like that. Another unexpected drydown is when it smells like a vitamin c tablet but the WEIRDEST is when it smells like a freshly baked rye bread which happened once. If you ask me to yap about this perfume 30 times I would—or even more than that. Here’s another episode of me glorifying this perfume. If I ever get my hands on niche perfumes, the scent profile I’d instantly hunt for is something like obsession. It’s such a timeless masterpiece and I would totally cry if i did a speech on its beauty.

The only reason why i bought this is to compare it with the men’s version and gosh i’m hella shocked that the difference is so minuscule that an untrained nose wouldn’t even notice. Initial spray? EXACT SAME AS THE MEN’S VERSION. Classic Obsession has more sharp citrus smell but still has that same vintage makeup powder drydown as the men’s, except men’s has its powdery note amped up making Obsession for women lighter bc of the sharp citrus note that really peeks through on all of its stages, which probably makes it better for daily wear with the right amount of sprays. I also love how the women's has a sweeter vanilla note. I also find that the men’s version has a more sweet cola, boozier/whisky-like, and suede-ish drydown that makes it just a BIT, a TAD BIT more refined than the women’s. Although you can find the same “cola” dry down on the women’s, the women’s is more on the zingy citrus-infused cola side which makes it more tart than sweet classic coca-cola. I swear, the citrus notes are very strong in the women’s and no wonder why people say the men’s version is more rounded, they grounded it with aromatic notes. The women’s can be a tad bit too harsh and sharp bc of the tangy citrus. If you prefer to have a brighter, fresher, makeup powder + vanilla cola with bittersweet herbal notes and citruses peeking through until its late dry-down, get the women’s Women’s = Vanilla cola with a squeeze of lime juice If you prefer a sweeter, darker, woodier, boozier, thicker, makeup powder on steroids + flat cola, get the men’s Men’s = Cola with a shot of whisky Regardless of what version you’ll get, they’ll both work beautifully on everyone as they’re very unisex !! If you don’t overthink it, they’re almost the same exact fragrance 🤷 Update: I'm starting to detect the sweet vanilla more in women's version. it smells more like a citrusy vanilla coke and men's is more of your classic sweet coke. Both have a very makeup powder facet !! women's is vanilla-y makeup powder, and again men's is classic makeup boudoir powder. If you want more vanilla = women's, less vanilla = men's So far, I'm impressed and i'm leaning more towards women's obsession (tho i love both !!). This is such a classic and it's on my top tier faves for old school fragrances. I'm actually pretty young and I know that most people in my age nowadays are into saccharine blends (both men and women's). This is such a perfect perfume to give them a proper SHOCK :P haha "ew, what are u wearing, u smell like..." ohh it's something u could never pull off. BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL FRAGRANCE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Timeless, chic, elegant, modest, sexy, controversial, dominant, boss, money, delicious, sweet, gender-bending, skinny legend, versace boots, the house down slay, queen, hunty, mama, and oop, daddy, work, charli xcx, snatch my wig >:( I GOT THE POWER BABE-Y, statement fragrance. in short it's cute !! <3

First of all, I am writing this for my early-90s (?) issue of this fragrance that comes with an atomizer embedded inside the cap. I’m not totally sure—if anyone is knowledgeable on this topic please correct me! (Also, as a perfume newbie, I bought a 100ml bottle thinking it was something smaller for a very reasonable price! I’m so glad I did, though!) This opens up with a somewhat musty, almost dirty/dusty blast of spices and medicinal scents. The dustiness continues throughout the wear, but the spices develop nicely into a soft, incense-like scent. Despite the notes listed, I felt like this was somewhat...cool? Cold? That reminded me of Tiger Balm and other medicines from my childhood. I definitely think this is one of those vintage/oldie scents, but if you are familiar with Eastern medicine I think you’ll find this pretty approachable. The dry-down actually reminds me of Kyoto, in fall! What makes me “obsessed” is that this simultaneous smells clean and dirty. It’s very multi-dimensional and for me, mixes very well with my skin chemistry. I mostly get spicy floral with a hint of animalistic musk, possibly civet. Quite addicting in my opinion! I would describe this as “vintage”, but this also has an allure of a casual, laid-back feel that makes this a reminiscent of the US’s glory days in fashion. This also has an unisex appeal and makes me think of an actor from the 80s I’m a fan of...sexy but in a very approachable way, comforting with a good twist of animalistic, dirty appeal. Ah...great stuff!! PS: I was out walking around in a cemetery near my house today. The scent of incense wafting from the serene forest mixed together with the scent of my Obsession, which I had been wearing for about 6 hrs, was just so comforting. On me, Obsession is a reminiscent of walking in a quiet cemetery, with a breeze caressing my hair...very woody and incense-like, with just the right amount of dust and soil that grounds me.