Comme des Garcons Series 6 Synthetic: Tar

Putting this one starts my journey. I am walking down the side of a freshly paved road on a hot day. I pass by a factory of some sort, perhaps an automobile tire manufacture? In the parking lot there is a test track, where a driver is testing a new set of tires on the pavement, leaving long black trails. The scent of rubber fills the air, mixing the the fresh tar from the road. The sun beats down on me causing me to perspire a bit. I remove my leather jacket and throw it over my shoulder. I slowly walk along the roadside leaving the factory behind me as the test track rubber scent begins to fade. The path along the road start to diverge slightly from the road, taking me inland and away from the fresh asphalt, leading towards a pond surrounded by blooming flowers. Tar is a casual scent IMO. Anywhere from trendy casual to that ratty old T-Shirt with the hole and the mustard stain. But I do not see this in formal. I am glad I did not wear a sports coat today. And my coworkers are glad I did not wear the mustard stained shirt... I get good longevity on my skin. Tar projects well for the first few hours, then becomes more of a skin scent. While I do consider this to be unisex, I find it to be more masculine than feminine. Bottom Line: This one is worth a sample. Edit: I am wearing this one again today. This wearing I am picking up a faint barnyard stink lurking beneath the paved road scent. Almost like there is road kill on the fresh tar, but off in the distance. The really adds to the feeling of walking down a fresh paved road on a hot summer day.

It took me by surprise to realise that "tar" is just one piece of a bigger picture in this scent, which smells almost industrially clean at first, more like plastic fresh off a factory conveyor belt than the dirt the name suggests. The opening notes come across almost like a photo-negative of tar: shiny, white, and a little alien. If you were drawn in by the name like I was, the true filthy black tar you're probably looking for doesn't really come through until a little later, when it brings a lot of "tar-adjacent" concepts with it - rubber, motor oil, leather, exhaust, and just a puff of smoke. But what makes Tar unexpectedly wearable is when the same cleanliness that jumps out at the beginning comes back tamed as the whole thing dries down, a bit like that "new car smell" made for humans. Ultimately, no matter what you're looking for in this one, there's definitely some element of it waiting to sneak up and surprise you - if you can't find a tester or a sample (I couldn't), the "Synthetic" name gives you much more of an idea of what to expect than "Tar". It's what robots must smell like, and I love it.

Review in one sentence ? POLLUTION HAS NEVER SMELLED SO GOOD ! Review summarized in one song ? Sons of Anarchy theme song. You want a full review ? M'okay ! =) Yes it smells like tar, and smoked tires, with a leather touch. Like a biker, wearing proudly his new leather jacket, who smokes his cigaret after a ride in a big city on his metal monster. But wait ! Why this bad boy have made this ride ? For his girlfriend, and he doesn't come empty hands, he has a very delicate bouquet of flowers on his hands. Not that one which smells a lot, but those ones, white, with a perfume almost fleeting. So voila... A very masculine, virile smell, leather, tar and rubber with a lovely flower note. The sillage is ok, just enough to notice it, but not too much, so you don't have to worried about asphyxiate people who won't love this particular "urban" smell. The longevity ? Awesome.

With some perfumes, there is no point in enumerating the notes that the perfumer used to try to get where s/he was going. It's better just to say what it really smells like and leave dithering about ingredients to perfumes that just smell like perfume. For the first couple of minutes I smell a decided overtone of brand new vinyl shower curtain, but then Tar gets down to business and smells just. like. tar. I am very, very impressed. Then some burned rubber, like hot rod tires on a sun-baked street when a driver has just peeled away from the curb. Amazing, just an amazing job of truth in advertising...if Bond #9 was really interested in creating perfumes that smell like the districts they are named after, I can think of several parts of NYC that would be fine candidates for the honor of having this scent as their namesake.

I wish I could give an accurate review for this fragrance, sadly I have to work from memory as it's been discontinued. This was a favorite of mine in 2020. I loved using it on days where I'd just washed my hair with neutrogena's T-gel shampoo (also discontinued) although it smelled little like it. A gorgeous scent reminiscent of hot tires on asphalt and leather seats in a new car. Oddly clean and refreshingly chemical despite what you might assume, like a hardworking mechanic fresh out of the shower picking you up for a date. Sexy! I miss it. I found myself constantly nose to wrist with this one. I seem to remember it having a poor performance, with a pretty intimate sillage and not lasting very long, although I only had many stick-applicator samples and never got to spray it. Would buy FB if I ever found one.

Smells like my grandfathers motorcycle, dusty early spring in Berlin, new black puffer jacket, fresh pair of Nike Air VaporMax Plus, burnt rubber on the asphalt in the heat when the air is melting around you, tar. I absolutely love it I got this at the Dover Street Market in London, after spending something like half an hour trying to choose from the extensive collection of CDG they had available & this was my favourite. It’s literally embodiment of that moment when you go out in first days of spring and smell the nature awakening, fresh air, dust and car exhaust all mixed together. The only downside is that on me it ends up smelling flowery/sweet and more ‘normal’ than in the bottle. I would prefer it stay on the tar-ey/synthetic side when worn otherwise would be my signature (I’m female)

Possibly my favorite of all Comme Des Garcons Parfums. Tar is vaporous and sensual- smells like city haze after a summer storm. I first tired this on an august morning in Edinburgh and was absolutely hooked. Definitely smells of asphalt and burnt rubber in the sexiest way possible. To me, it gives me the same comfort that Tom Ford's Ombre Leather brings, while being its own thing entirely. After hours of wear, Tar has a certain resinous roundness, and almost leans floral but never veers into any sort of sweet or green territory. It's warm, urban, and animalistic in a sense that can only be expressed through the egregore of the urban jungle. 10/10

Just a little add (I don't edit my previous review because this is not about the review itself) : In only 1 day, it left no one indifferent. Every people I met today asked me what was it, first time it happens to me... Some love, some hate, but with that one (and I said, as it's not loudy, you won't disturb anyone, just intrigue), trust me, you will left an impression to your entourage. For me, a perfume has 3 main purposes : - Smells good (for you, mainly). - Feel good (and confident) as it's your alter-ego, your second skin. - Leave an olfactory memory of yourself in the minds of people. In only 1 day, this perfume reached all of them.

when i smelled this in store my jaw dropped. the saleswoman saw that me and my bf loved the smoky incense fragrances, so she said "if you like smoky try this" and ya. it smells like a burning tire. but i loved it. it is superrrr rubbery and sharp. i want to own even a little bit of this just for the novelty.

This is what I imagine Ryan Gosling smells like in Barbie the movie. Reminds me of opening a plastic toy from my childhood. Very mechanical, very synthetic and a very artistic perfume. It’s a statement and it’s brilliant.

Pretty cool if you ask me! Love this type of avant garde perfumery. Not for everyone, but certainly reminiscent of an industrial, pungent scent win a little sweetness. Happy to add this to my collection. 7/10

This one is really nice! After a harsh industrial opening, a nice tender floral note comes up and gives this dark tar-scent a beautiful mix. Leaning masculin to me and vey wearable!

balloon plastic helium warm bouncy house idk also something sunscreen-y! this is a great perfume to layer with others to create a plethora of interesting smells

12” Delroy Edwards, 65 mm Kryptonics roller skate wheels, Anthony Ausgang, sunglasses after dark. You better duck when I show up the goo goo muck. Lovely.

Rubbery industrial smell, a spot on tar likeness. Very soft.

Holy hydrocarbons! It is what it says it is: warm, oozy, melted, aromatic tar, just like they use to mend the roads with. Doesn't have the full acrid-smoke, chemical-weapon accord that you'd get from a brazier full of the molten bitumen stuff while resurfacing - it is just a little little bit more fragrant and laid-back than that - but this really is a photorealistic approach and tar is what it is all about. Moreover it's super-black, industrial tar, rather than any kind of more woodsy tree tar or the fragrant, more floral, slightly more housetrained kind of medicinal-but-homely vibe you would get from products like Wright's Coal Tar Soap or Victorian coal-tar shampoos. So it's a smell I happen to love, but the associations may be offputting to some people. Projection not huge (perhaps just as well) and longevity a bit limp though - you'll need resurfacing with a new application layer after 3-4h in my experience. Glad to have tried it but it was a little too simple to be completely solid, in my opinion.

I like this fragrance. It is unisex although I can’t see many women wearing it. It is very pungent and hints of weird scents like gasoline, tar and bike oil yet it still smells interesting and I enjoy it. Some people however may not like it. One day I took my morning commute in the bus as I always do and had this on and had a few people looking around to see what stunk and a few people even moved away haha!! But I guess I over did it that day with the sprays so go light on the sprays. I feel like this cologne is very serious And mature while being adventurous. Good buy for someone looking for a scent that is totally different to any other they might have smelled. 8/10 overall

It does absolutely smell like Tar, very photorealistic. Is it unpleasant or unbearable? Actually, no. And that is what surprises me about this perfume. It's tar but not disgusting, somehow soft and way more manageable than you can imagine. It's still not a safe blind buy and I don't think it is something I would put on myself often but it's still very artistic and avant-garde and definitely a good choice when you want to smell incredibly unique. For me it's gasoline and tar all the way, doesn't dry down into flowers like for some people. I wouldn't recommend this over the hot months though, could be too much.

Wild stuff. Smells exactly like what I was wanting, just stronger than expected. Jiffy Lube in a bottle galore. I love it as a daily fragrance when I’m not working. A very impressive scent. Still stinks though.

Sampled this on my skin yesterday. Later after it had worn off, I ate a chicken souvlaki platter from King Souvlaki in Astoria, Queens. It tasted EXACTLY how this smelled. Make of that what you will!

opens nicely, has an industrial vibe and you can smell the "grilled cigarettes" and some plastic when you first spray. if it didn't dry down to a soft floral vanilla smell i'd buy a bottle but it finishes way too soft for my liking. i was expecting for it to have more of a tarry/metallic dry down but it's very feminine which ruins it for me. otherwise i'd wear this a lot but the base is too girly

I had high hopes for this since I was so impressed by Garage from the same series. Something about the dusty floral note in this is really nasty to me. It reminds me of CDG Odeur 71, which I also really dislike. I think I'm gonna go scrub this one off

Not exactly steaming asphalt on a hot day, but very close.

Tar is actually much less scary than it may sounds. Yes, it smells of pure asphalt and it is somewhat weird but, as usual with Comme Des Garcons, it results wearable, absolutely unique and very distinctive (assuming you're fine with the typical avant-garde aspect of most of the house's deliveries). Upon application, Tar delivers an industrial accord of black asphalt juxtaposed to a slightly strident note of bergamot. The overall effect is remarkably modern, sort of urban-industrial in a very artistic way, unconventional yet very compelling. In this phase Tar brings to mind of large clean basements, modern art exhibitions at the Hamburger Banhoff, minimal techno parties taking place in ex-warehouses now turned into alternative clubs, brand new modern buildings, high speed trains, cabs, temporary Guerrilla stores, rainy days, wet asphalt. Tokyo, Berlin, New York... The fragrance evolves into an amazing styrax driven drydown that while being slightly more approachable than the opening, it's still far from resulting conventional. Insensey, woody with just a hint of sweetness and with the typical synthetic facet that's the house's hallmark. Probably not a fragrance to anyone's taste but, if you're up for something really avant-garde, there's nothing like it. Once again, when it comes to the binomial "weird and wearable", there's nothing like Comme Des Garcons. Love it! Rating: 8.5/10

I LOVE this fragrance, unfortunately I believe it is discontinued in the stores (as I bought the last one). It is a great layering scent, adding a bit of mystery to the otherwize trivial or typical scent in your fragrance wardrobe. I would describe the scent as a mixture between poison, printer toner, burnt rubber, india ink, and car seats. The packaging is AMAZING (the liquid is held inside of a black plastic bag encapsulated by the outter plastic tube.) And the spray with one spritz is refreshingly gratifying as it has a wide yet light range of spray. If you like CDG odeur 71, you'll love this addition to the synthetics series (which is actually seperate entities which make up the odeur 71 fragrance to the best of my knowledge.) The price is also great, running way less than your average CDG fragrance at 50-60 dollars. I wouldn't reccomend this to someone who fears smelling..well shal we say 'different' or does not want to stand out. My only concern with this fragrance is that I'm not confident with its sillage or its lifespan, as I often forget I'm wearing it, however this may be perfect for a more intimate occasion; a scent someone will definitely remember you for. If you're a fan of strange, unique, yet sophisticated scents like I am, you'll find great joy in a bottle of Comme Des Garcons Synthetics:Tar.

Another CdG fragrance that is amazing. And really hard to describe offcourse... Love it, love it, love it! It is like sitting at the sidewalk in a big and busy city, it is summer, hot, crowded but right across the street is a green and flowery park... But I think I ́m to lazy to leave my place in the shadow. Close my eyes and imagine that I am in New York or maybe Buenos Aires... My biggest problem with this fragrance is that it ́s smell almost better on my husband! It suites him terrific, when he wear it I get all soft and weak... He smell dangerous, sexy and just about to take a ride on his HD. Please let me follow! It isn ́t hard to wear, actually it is really likeable and in a way easy.

I finally get a bottle of Tar. Tar is definitely not a mainstream perfume but more a ''statement'' perfume for an urban girl like me. I always had the frantic habit to smell everything...vinyle was no exception and I like that smell.The beginning of Tar really smell like new and ''fresh'' rubbber/vinyle. Tar is very special but the presence of bergamot make it more wearable and less strange. For me,Tar is far more wearable compare to some sirupy cheap perfume that are often sold today in drugstore. Tar, it's the beauty of urbanity in a botte.

I would call this more of a smell than a scent, as I doubt the typical passerby would recognize this as a deliberate choice of fragrance. That said, it really is evocative of tar. I also recognized a liquorice/anise note that played with the industrial notes in an interesting way. I would imagine that a very subtle application of the scent would work more effectively than a normal spray routine. In any case, this is highly situational and not really suitable to common fashion choices or environments.

Tar and Dry Clean are my favourite in this range and both very wearable. This is similar to Odeur 71 but not as sweet and much more rubbery. You get a lovely fake rubber opening note that settles into very soft and slippery leather scent. It lasts well and is never cloying or overpowering. I would recommend this to anyone who has a thing for leather fragrances but wants something velvety soft (and doesn't mind a good dose of rubber).

yes, the entire Synthetic series (and Tar is surely the best of the series) has been discontinued for some time, and now the deadstock is also running out, but I think you can still find it. WoodWood in Copenhagen still had a decent stock a few months ago -- they are quite unusual in always carrying the entire CdG line, more than even Dover St Market in London. They don't do online sales, though (as a point of principle).

I was really curious to smell the perfume's of the synthetic line and I was also expecting to dislike a perfume about tar. At first sniff it smell really unusual and quite strong. I was not sure to like it.After a while Tar's really calm down and become a nice scent with lemony and leather notes.

I remember the summers of my child hood when me and my friends, were digging with our naked big toes in the melting tar strips of the street in the hot sun...sticky, gooey, glooey! ROARRR...god, I love it when u mix with my summer perspiration, Hot - Hotter - Tar

Keeping it very brief, the 2017 reissue of Tar smells identical to the original version - upon doing a 1:1 comparison ... keeping in mind the massive throughput difference of the spray of the 75ml bottles vs. the much tamer 2017 spray top.

although I haven't smelled it in a long time this reminded me a lotttt of akro ink. This is slightly more pleasant I think though. Maybe it's the floral notes but something in there is a little gucci memoire esque.

walking by the mechanic shop, walking through cabelas, shots of mezcal wearing designer leather shoes. cdg tar makes you the coolest in the room and a freak of nature all at once. all i know is im fucking into it.

Wonderful photorealistic tar opening. Smells like a hot summer asphalt - but it dies down into an almost floral/sweet smell pretty quickly (within 15-30 min). I do wish it would hold the asphalt for longer.

Sticky, weird, and deliciously addictive. If anyone in the Americas wants offload theirs, I’m in the market so PM me! Mine is al used up :(

To my untrained nose it’s... a SCRUBBER. Highly nauseating come down. Reminds me of the synthetic smell of amphetamine.

Perfect tar/asphalt frag... I got a sample but ugh it's discontinued sooooo idk what I'll do now lol.

the perfumers that created Tar are: Haqif Molla and Myftar Bubullima!

a tar-inspired fragrance indeed, cool but not obsessed

Please help me on this: Who is the prfumer of TAR?

micavana's review pretty much nailed it

Linear on me. Not tar. Very plastic.