Obsession for Men Calvin Klein 1986 Eau de Toilette

Obsession for Men (Eau de Toilette) by Calvin Klein

Bottle Design Pierre Dinand

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Obsession for Men (Eau de Toilette) (Calvin Klein)

7.4 / 10 748 Ratings

A perfume by Calvin Klein for men, released in 1986. The scent is spicy-oriental. It is being marketed by Coty.
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Main accords

Spicy

Oriental

Sweet

Woody

Gourmand

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Cinnamon

Coriander

Lavender

Mandarin orange

Bergamot

Grapefruit

Lime

Heart Notes

Clove

Jasmine

Myrrh

Nutmeg

Pine

Rosewood

Sage

Red berries

Base Notes

Amber

Musk

Vanilla

Patchouli

Sandalwood

Vetiver

Perfumer

Bob Slattery

Ratings

Scent

7.4748 Ratings

Longevity

7.8623 Ratings

Sillage

7.5604 Ratings

Bottle

6.5605 Ratings

Value for money

8.2291 Ratings

Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 01/05/2025.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Obsession for Men After Shave

Obsession Eau de Parfum

Obsession for Men Body Spray

Musc Ravageur Eau de Parfum

Lapidus pour Homme Eau de Toilette

CK One Shock for Him

Reviews

22 in-depth fragrance descriptions

03/28/2012

7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 8
Scent

Missk
1357 Reviews

Missk

Top Review 7

Incense sticks

When I smelt Obsession for Men for the very first time I was amazed that I hadn't come across this fragrance sooner. It has all the qualities I desire in my own perfumes, let alone what I wish every man would smell like.

I love the scent of incense, particularly sandalwood, patchouli or vanilla based incense sticks. This fragrance smells like a beautiful combination of the three, all smokey, spicy and sweet.

Obsession for Men does perhaps smell a little 'churchy' and a little too oriental for some, but this fragrance intrigues me. There's nothing about this fragrance that speaks 'overly dated 80's scent' to me.

I find this fragrance to be very unisex. It smells very similar to a lot of fragrance's I have on my own wishlist right now, like, Myrrhe Ardente by Annick Goutal and 31 Rue Cambon by Chanel.

Despite its obvious incense note, this fragrance does tend to have a soapy quality that is lovely and clean smelling, taming those sometimes harsh spicy notes. Obsession for Men is the kind of fragrance which is sexy and cuddly at the same time, two conflicting feelings in one bottle.

The sillage and lasting power are great, and at such an inexpensive price, I'm amazed that this isn't more popular than it is.

06/15/2013

7.5
Bottle 7.5
Sillage 7.5
Longevity 6
Scent

Drseid
820 Reviews

Drseid

Helpful Review 5

The Calvin Klein From My Youth That Went Unnoticed...

*This is a review of the vintage version of Obsession for Men.

As I was in my mid-teens when Obsession for Men was initially released it is with some embarrassment that I admit to only trying the vintage version from my youth just recently, additionally not really noticing it on others over the years. The Calvin Klein release that I kept smelling back then (and loathing with a passion) was Eternity for Men... So with those unhappy memories of Eternity for Men coupled with my other failures with every Calvin Klein release I have come across, I forced myself to finally take a chance and blind buy a small bottle of the vintage Obsession for Men to see what I may have been missing all these years...

Obsession for Men (vintage) opens with powerful lavender before quickly morphing to its starring carnation and rosewood tandem in the early heart. The rosewood definitely features its rosy floral aspect that compliments the carnation while its woody facet grounds the composition. Joining the heavy woody florals is an underlying mild cinnamon and nutmeg spice combination that acts as further support for the woody floral accord while powdery vanilla from the base makes its way to join the party early in the late heart. As the fragrance enters the late dry-down, the powdery vanilla takes over as the focus, joined by slightly sweet amber and deep musk that replace the earlier florals, giving the composition a more warm finish. Projection is good, and so is longevity at 8-10 hours on skin.

The wonderful carnation and rosewood tandem featured in the early heart has a passing similarity to the heart accord of one of my favorite compositions, JHL by Aramis, but the two are dissimilar on the whole. Things get less desirable during the early dry-down as Obsession for Men (vintage) gets quite powdery; and when the powder combines in the late heart with the remnants of the carnation and rosewood it can be a bit too much at times. That said, once the floral aspects finally dissipate during the late dry-down the powder becomes much more tolerable and the composition is easy to wear again. The bottom line is Obsession for Men (vintage) has a lot to love with its fabulous carnation and rosewood early heart accord, but the later powder from the vanilla really ruins the effect to a great degree. Intrusive powder aside, Obsession for Men (vintage) is still a "good" to "very good" rated classic composition that earns 3 to 3.5 stars out of 5 and should be on any powder lover's radar as vintage bottles can be found relatively inexpensively on the after-market.

10/27/2021

Akela
10 Reviews

Akela

4

It smells nice, but .... poor performance

I bought this perfume again, which I knew was wonderful. But I was shocked at how much his performance was reduced. Please believe me that it has reached below the levels of Ferrari perfumes. Rain water. I throw three jets on my hair and after half an hour the one next to me can hardly feel it. I clearly don't feel it anymore. I'm sorry about him. But if that's the fate of all budget perfumes ... then ... I better buy fishing tools because I'm more earned !.

06/24/2023

9
Pricing 7
Bottle 7
Sillage 7
Longevity 9
Scent

Tobii
4 Reviews

Tobii

Helpful Review 5

A marvelous blended mix of spices.

Alright, this fragrance always seems to compel me in such a way, that I keep smelling it. It might be old from the 90s, and you can kind of smell that too. But this fragrance is wonderful. Let me try to explain why.
When first applying it, you smell a short fresh rush of citruses accompanied with cinnamon and coriander. I do not really smell lavender myself. This quickly transforms into a spicy, slightly animalic sillage. After a while you can definitely smell the gum-resin myrrh, together with rosewood, the spices and I guess a bit of the sage. Because it does have an incense kind of vibe.
When finally arriving to the dry-down after a couple of hours max, you can smell a comforting mix of vanilla, amber, musk and some typical sandalwood/vetiver. But I find it hard to distinguish these.

All in all, this scent has a special place for me. It once was gifted to me by a very special person and I do get a compliment every now and then when wearing this. To me, it's unique and comforting. I must say, that you can easily dislike this fragrance, because it does have a kind of barbershop-ish/old-man vibe to it. But don't be discouraged, it's a good mature-smelling scent.

Lastly, I want to emphasize that everyone's nose is different and that this review is of course an interpretation of mine. Always sniff it yourself and then decide!

Have a nice day.

10/24/2021

BrianBuchanan
353 Reviews

BrianBuchanan

Helpful Review 2

Obsessed no more

Obsession for Men is the perfume equivalent of an 80's soft rock ballad. Foreigner's Waiting for a Girl like You is a good metaphor of the anxious sentimentality expressed here. (The track came out five years before but it's still relevant due to perfumery's
peculiar temporal dislocation from other arts - an idea put forward by Chandler Burr - which does seem to have some merit.)

In my original review I wrote OfM is 'more than just a comfort blanket', now I'm not so sure. These days it strikes me as little more than a bitter sweet amber with herbs.

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