84 - Youth, But Not Innocence

As one of the lucky winners of the OSM discovery set, I promised that I would write detailed reviews of these new fragrances. So, here’s my second review. The name of this fragrance, 84 - Youth, But Not Innocence, is supposed to evoke young love and the first exploration of sexuality. Obviously, everyone’s recollections of that crucial formative moment are quite different, hence I don’t want to read too much into this name and, instead, I’ll assess this fragrance on its own merits. My first impression is that 84 is an absolutely beautiful masculine fragrance. I’d love my man to smell like this all the time! And I wouldn’t mind borrowing a few drops for myself once in a while. The list of notes might suggest that this is a leathery-smoky skankfest, but it’s not - quite the opposite, actually. The opening is dominated by a fresh lemony patchouli: upon first sniffing it, I was like ‘ok, bergamot plus patchouli’, but after checking the list of notes, I realised that it’s a combination of vetiver, neroli and patchouli. Either way, it’s gorgeous. After some time, I can smell a very realistic, slightly indolic jasmine, on a soft green base of vetiver, hay, cedar and patchouli. As I’ve mentioned, the notes of leather and smoke are almost non-detectable, and thank god for that, because they would totally ruin this magnificent herbal-mossy symphony. 84 projects strongly for the first hour or so, and then turns into a skin scent. It lasts 6+ hours and remains fairly linear throughout. It’s definitely more office friendly than the OSM fragrance that I reviewed yesterday (28). In spite of its name, this scent is not exactly youthful - I believe that it requires a mature, confident wearer. It smells posh and expensive. 10/10.

This reminds me of dim lights and hallways and a sense of foreboding coupled with the thrill of the dangerous freedom of sneaking into a bar underage ... but just to see the band, not to drink. It also reminds me of the smell of a used book store I used to frequent. Nothing of its books, but the incese and leather couches, and the old wooden shelves. The over-all impression is mustiness, dirtiness, and bad intentions. The Jasmine doesn't brighten but makes this dirty scent more palatable. I can't say that this smells like youth so much as doing something forbidden coupled with inexperience. For those who like vetiver and incensey fragrances, this is absolutely lovely. If one would like to wear this as a femme fatale scent, just know anyone, male or female, will see you coming from a mile away. This scent projects that whatever is about to happen is going to be morally compromising.

This is such and amazing fragrance and I find that @brightflashes review before mine is spot on, and on par with my experience with it. I find this very sexy and feminine, although I can totally see any man wearing it too, the smoke, leather and Jasmin combo really works on my skin and this fragrance is so well blended I don’t detect Vetiver.. if I did I would run for the hills. This is why I’ve kept and treasure my Olfactif subscription. I would’ve never picked this fragrance to try and now I’m in love and must have my own bottle. Total love. ❤️

I received this in a sample set tonight. I was curious to know if any of these would prompt a scent memory for me. This one came the closest. This reminds me of ... a classy, confident, rich person's house! Rich materials, leather and wood, everything clean, fresh cut flowers, a little bit of smoke from an old fireplace. This and "28" were my favorites of the set. I would say the notes listed are accurate.

Great fragrance! Highly wearable and original. Reminds me a lot of one of my favourite fougeres, Roja Scandal pour homme.