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Obelisk 1985 Eau de Parfum

7.9 / 10 268 Ratings
A popular perfume by MCM for women, released in 1985. The scent is oriental-spicy. The longevity is above-average. It was last marketed by DC Design Cosmetic / Art & Fragrances.
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Main accords

Oriental
Spicy
Woody
Sweet
Floral

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
PeachPeach GalbanumGalbanum BergamotBergamot Citrus fruitsCitrus fruits Green notesGreen notes
Heart Notes Heart Notes
Ylang-ylangYlang-ylang JasmineJasmine ThymeThyme RoseRose RosewoodRosewood
Base Notes Base Notes
AmbergrisAmbergris CedarwoodCedarwood MuskMusk SandalwoodSandalwood VanillaVanilla MossMoss
Ratings
Scent
7.9268 Ratings
Longevity
8.5221 Ratings
Sillage
8.0215 Ratings
Bottle
6.0199 Ratings
Value for money
8.856 Ratings
Submitted by Kittycat, last update on 01/27/2025.
Interesting Facts
Apparently, after MCM's licensing rights expired, Loft Monaco acquired the rights to Obelisk.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to
Obelisk (Parfum) by MCM
Obelisk Parfum
Krazy Krizia (Eau de Toilette) by Krizia
Krazy Krizia Eau de Toilette
Stella Cadente by Linari
Stella Cadente
Obsession (Eau de Parfum) by Calvin Klein
Obsession Eau de Parfum
The Calling by Phuong Dang
The Calling
Must de Cartier (Eau de Toilette) by Cartier
Must de Cartier Eau de Toilette

Reviews

8 in-depth fragrance descriptions
TIA1971

4 Reviews
TIA1971
TIA1971
2  
My singature!
...since 1990, it was the first gift at my 19th birthday from my “new” boyfriend in this year. A lot of people think, it is ony a fragrance for cold seasons, maybe autumn or winter, but never for summer! He said it ist “a frangrance for prostitutes” (sorry, but this is what he said).

I don`t think so. It’s a strong fragrance okay, but...

We will forget this statement. Vanilla and sandalwood keep it calm, although I can’t smell the vanilla, but I know, that is the reason for softnesss. It starts wonderful smelling like oranges for me (maybe this ist the mix vom peaches and citruses) and there must be some other spices, not ony thyme. For me there is cinnamon and the roses and jasmine are not so strong, as the most people would think and it smells wonderful sweet and I like it for every day, it is a really warm fragrance - not hot ;-D

For me it is an extraordinary fragrance that is second to none! Test it!
0 Comments
Ponticus

42 Reviews
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Ponticus
Ponticus
Top Review 70  
Girls' night out - just like a woman
"Surprise gift for everyone, please don't put on perfume, Anna"!
This message raised the expectations of the wartsab group girls' evening in the run-up to the evening meeting, and the excitement was intensified by a slight crackling of the tender phone as it was stroked. The wartsab message had been sent by Anna Lühse, a therapist with her own practice who was unfortunately unable to attend the last meeting. Ms. Dipl.-Psych. Anna Lühse recently celebrated her 40th birthday, is professionally very committed and divorced.

After the first chatter somewhat flattened, Bärbel's Schnittchen effusively praised and the Proseccogläs were filled again, Mrs. Dipl.-Psych. Anna Lühse placed her recently newly purchased MCM bag in the middle of the flat table, directly in front of Jackie, alias Jacques jelly, who sat as always with his cat puss on the sofa. Jackie got wide-eyed at the pretty, cognac-colored shopper. Before he could pull this to himself, Anna reached in and distributed to each in the round a bottle of the perfume Obelisk of MCM
Somewhat sadly Anna reported to have found Obelisk in the sale for free in the three-pack in the drugstore. There the idea came to her this 80/90s fragrance today all girls to transfer and to revive with it perhaps memories and experiences from elapsed time. The first remarks were lost in the general and joyful surprise. Anna called for a little calming down and suggested that everyone apply two/three sprays to themselves in order to give free space to their own thoughts. No sooner said than done, all the girls looked for a comfortable spot and off they went.

A fresh juiciness spread in the room. It smelled very fruity, like orange, also lemony and green-spicy, not sweet, but tangy-spritzy. Freshly squeezed, citrusy fruit juice on mown green herb meadow probably sums it up well.

At such a meadow parked in the mid-90s at a retro meeting also my old VW bus mused Melody Vögele-Schmitz, young at heart old 68erin. For her in the self-sewn dress from self-dyed batik sheets and the VW bus it was the last big ride together. And a smile flitted across her face as she closed her eyes to remember more clearly the days and especially nights she and Francesco spent here together.

Anna, by now somewhat at peace, also enjoyed the spicy-juicy olfactory experience. She immediately fell back into her own self-pity, however. In this, Anna fancied herself somewhat very much on the sidelines as far as life and love were concerned. Actually, I'm an obelisk too, it went through her mind. Well-built, beautiful to look at, full of inner values, but in the meantime on the residual ramp of love, little valued, not yet completely forgotten by life, but left behind in the junk box unnoticed.

Meanwhile, a larger oriental carpet has already been rolled out on the lush spice meadow and earthy-woody tones make the place on it soft and cuddly. This oriental undertone mixes with subtle florality and slightly musty-hay floral notes before everything melts into a wonderful creaminess. This wraps itself velvety-warm and very aromatic around a sandalwood/cedarwood melange with slightly sweet dips of vanilla, ending in a comforting sense of warmth. There is no heaviness in this warm, balsamic butteriness and even the juicy spicy aromatics of the beginning are still present deep in the background.

Bärbel, butcher shop saleswoman at Metzger Axthelm, also felt this comforting warmth. Both in the scent of obelisk and in her love affair with the butcher. Since the last girls' night out, their relationship had taken a turn for the best, and they were likely to be married soon.

Optometrist Klara Sicht tensed her muscles a little, not quite wanting to get involved in this scent-well. For as long as she could remember, her life had been one long struggle. Not ugly, but with her glasses, even as a schoolgirl, never the prettiest, never the smartest, never the most fashionable, never the first on the dance floor and never the most desirable guy as a boyfriend. So she fought glasses jokes, prejudice, calories and not being noticed. She also had to conquer her husband! Now she is a strong woman and a role model, not only in the girls round!

The other girls sat relaxed together, one smiled, one whispered and two held hands familiarly. Only Jackie, holding the MCM shopper tightly in her hands, had fallen asleep next to kitty on the sofa.

With the removal of the MCM label from the bottle and packaging, Obelisk was stripped of part of its identity. Nevertheless, Obelisk remains a fragrance full of liveliness and elegance, a fragrance for an independent woman! Obelisk does not get woman as a gift, Obelisk buys woman herself and treats herself with it a few hours of charming vulnerability for her otherwise so demanding life.

As the round dispersed a little later today, the room still had the smell of a waxy, oriental vanilla, it smelled spicy and a sense of balmy warmth accompanied the girls home. They were somewhat introverted and each held her bottle of Obelisk in her hands. The canapés were eaten and also the empty Prosecco bottles testified to a sociable evening
Thanks to all of you for listening to the second girls' evening, and especially to Schatzsucher for establishing contact with Anna Lühse, Dipl.-Psych.
55 Comments
Serenissima

742 Reviews
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Serenissima
Serenissima
Top Review 20  
the feminine side of MCM
After recently receiving a generous sample of "Obelisk" and successfully testing it, I find myself puzzled: what held me back from this fragrance back in the mid-eighties?
Why did I instead buy "Success"?
Perhaps it was really just the honey presence that I found very appealing, which, along with the name, led me to choose "Success".
Or was it the long-known saleswoman who recommended "Success" because she thought it suited me better?

Today, I perceive "Obelisk" as quite tame, almost tender.
And I too, after the first contact, guess cinnamon. But who knows where the cinnamon bark is hiding around the corner.
In addition, galbanum immediately announces its spicy claims to me: Hello, we know each other!
A fruit basket filled with ripe peaches and many different citrus fruits, including of course bergamot, comes along with this resinous friend.
It invites you to a picnic in the green; it smells very appealing, and the freshly mowed lawn is already warmed by the sun.
Jasmine and rose must not be missing here either. They adapt so well that the noble and very fine aroma of rosewood is clearly recognizable and lingers for some time.
I like that; usually, it gets a bit overshadowed by the stronger scent brothers and sisters.
A hint of thyme lingers in the air; the heavy fruit basket has probably crushed part of this robust and very herb-scented plant, causing it to aromatic resist.
What a shame for the herb: the herbal-spicy addition actually benefits the previous scent progression.
Ylang-ylang flutters brightly and, as always, flitters around cheerfully chattering; this fragrance beauty is probably already looking forward to the upcoming meeting with cedarwood; they like each other and thus enrich "Obelisk" richly before the now arriving sensuality lazily settles on a dark green mossy cushion. This capricious character makes itself comfortable to stay.
Now her entourage rushes in and creates quite a stir!
Warm vanilla generously entwines apparently white musk - how good that sandalwood is present to rein in this somewhat sultry eroticism with its own spiciness.
Thus, this seemingly thick fragrance structure does not overwhelm me, and I can enjoy the grand entrance of amber: its resinous magic had been missing so far to bring "Obelisk" into the "right course".
Now this fragrance composition is wonderfully balanced and develops into a refined being.
Into a scent being that remains loyal for many hours and spreads its undeniable charm not only throughout the day but also for a large part of the evening.
I, the delicate blonde, feel as if I am surrounded by a vibrant, golden fragrance veil. It feels very good!

Here, they clearly knew what they were doing at MCM when they launched "Obelisk" just like that.
At that time, Michael Cromer could not have built his "empire" without fragrances; it was simply expected. Anyone who wanted to play along had to have more than one stone in their favor.
With Cromer's presence in the "colorful pages" (and also in serious journals), at numerous jet-set parties that he enriched in Munich, Marbella, St. Moritz, and elsewhere, it is no surprise that his fragrances - as Turandot writes in my "Success" comment - became "bulk goods".
She knows very well what she is talking about.
It was in the nature of things that every "also-ran" who was not there bought one of the MCM bags, and if that was not possible, at least one or even both fragrances.
It is a well-known theme that much with the original label "luxury" eventually becomes common property.

However, that does not change the fact: I really like "Obelisk"!
Its oriental-spicy opulence seduces into a time when there was still a bit more room for these luxurious things. Everything seemed richer, more generous back then.
Perhaps I am only seeing it through the lens of nostalgia: if "Obelisk" has been rescued from this era without losing too many feathers, it should please me.
Here I find another pretty gem of the art of perfumery.
10 Comments
Pudel

1 Review
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Pudel
Pudel
7  
wonderful
I recently tried it on my wrist... it just wouldn't leave my mind. Today I got it for myself. Yes, it smells strong and maybe a bit overpowering, but I LOVE IT! For me, it is pure femininity... as a typical Scorpio, I do like extremes ;) fragrant greetings from Vienna, Bianca
4 Comments
Bayadere

7 Reviews
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Bayadere
Bayadere
Helpful Review 9  
Classic oriental fragrance monument
In the 90's I had a liaison with a man who wore opium (for women) with preference. At that time not yet reformulated and a neat firecracker. Along with Shalimar and Cinnabar, one of the all-time great classic Orientals. I still remember how enraptured I was by the man and the scent! I actually still have a bottle of the unreformulated version of Opium as a reminder of those special times. I have also added Cinnabar and Obelisk over the years for everyday use. As everyone knows, Opium is a mere shadow of its former self. If someone were to ask me what fragrance could replace Opium, I would recommend Obelisk without hesitation. Not fragrance twins in the true sense, they are at least close relatives.

While Opium actually seems to consist only of base notes, Obelisk comes up with more distinct top notes. Only unfortunately, I may not really like it. Therefore, also no maximum rating from me. I feel the same as Eriele: Summer and winter, indoors and outdoors, tested during the day and in the evening, Obelisk always seems synthetic to me. My guess would be that the citrus and green notes (maybe galbanum too) in the top notes combined with the amber base notes create this scent impression, which is somewhere between resin, forest and orange and in the interplay doesn't seem natural but rather artificial. Nonetheless, this is a great oriental - if you can manage to block out that synthetic whiff. But if you miss the old Opium, you should at least give Obelisk a try. Obelisk does not have the erotic radiance that the original Opium possessed, but in wintry weather, it fulfills its purpose and envelops you gently warming.

Now I have to confess that while I like the classic Orientals a lot, I unfortunately don't like them on me. To my amusement, even my environment reacts irritated, with words and looks, when I reach for heavy, oriental fragrances. Somehow I obviously don't possess enough projection surface for these kinds of scent monuments. So I have now decided to weed out the classic orientals from my collection. The same goes for Obelisk. He finds a new home with a good friend and will hopefully be loved more there.
5 Comments
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Statements

5 short views on the fragrance
19
2
Dark green, warm-spicy oriental with a bitter wood note. Warming, strong but not overpowering.
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2 Comments
18
1
Incredibly beautiful! Deep oriental powderiness, very present but absolutely unobtrusive. Highly addictive!
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1 Comment
10 years ago
12
A true 80s hit! EDP Vintage is a pleasant surprise, not a headache candidate! The orange-spice combo really has a bit of a pre-Christmas vibe!
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0 Comments
6
beautiful floral spicy oriental. Tested for the first time today, but I know the scent, even if subconsciously. Typical 80s, but nice.
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0 Comments
4
Phew! What a spicy bomb. It's very unique and special, but too special for me.
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0 Comments

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