Tarheels & Tonic

Here's my final review of the OSM fragrances that I received in the discovery set. This fragrance, 97 - Tarheels & Tonic is my second favourite, after 84. I love aromatic and spicy fragrances, so 97 is right up my alley. As a European, I had no clue what the word 'Tarheel' means, so I had to google it. Apparently it has little to do with 'tar' - it's a nickname for people from North Carolina, and the scent itself is supposed to evoke the area surrounding the town of Chapel Hill, NC. Well, if Chapel Hill really smells like this, then I definitely need to visit it! The opening is slightly weird, with an ash smell (perhaps that's the 'tar'), but less than five minutes later, it settles into a fresh aromatic summery cocktail. The list of notes seems pretty accurate: grapefruit, petitgrain, juniper, fennel and oakmoss. I have no idea what hinoki wood smells like, but apparently it's a kind of cypress, so you get the idea. All in all, this is a citric-aromatic-woody fragrance. It's the most fleeting of the bunch: it lasts 4-5 hours and quickly turns into a skin scent. Just like the other three fragrances from this collection, 97 leans masculine. Don't get me wrong: as a woman who loves aromatic fragrances and currently owns several specimens (Sylvaine Delacourte Helicriss, L'Occitan Eau de Bavx, MFK Petit Matin and Cologne pour le Matin, Nasomatto Blamage, Diptyque Volutes etc.) I find 97 to be perfectly enjoyable; however, consumers who prefer mainstream fragrances marketed at women will find little to their liking in the OSM collection, since these scents do not contain anything floral, fruity, gourmand or powdery. To sum up, all four OSM perfumes are fun and smell very natural. The collection is not aimed at kids, but at people aged 25+ who have had enough of boring mainstream perfumery and want to try something a bit more creative, but not in-your-face challenging. These scents are not powerhouses, hence they're perfectly wearable anywhere. Finally, kudos to the designer of the beautiful and evocative packaging.

I purchased the OSM discovery kit, so testing from my 2 mL sample. These samples are so cool, they even each have a tiny lid! I have lived in the area surrounding Chapel Hill for about 7 years, on and off, and have recently been back in town. So I thought I would pull out 97 - Tarheels & Tonic for a test; I mean, how often is there a fragrance inspired by a small city that you happen to be in? I even walked around outside, smelling leaves and trees to see if this perfume smelled like the outdoors here. First spray, definitely get the smokiness. I'm not too familiar with the scent of fennel, but the charred nature I do smell. I also smell sweet citrus, which is the grapefruit. Within a minute or two, I was hit by this very familiar smell, from childhood. I got excited, thinking, does this really smell like Chapel Hill? It hit me: I was smelling Lever 2000! If any of you are familiar with the soap brand, I really feel like 97 is the perfume version of their original white deodorant soap. Please don't take that as a complaint about this fragrance. We used that soap all the time when I was younger; I love that smell. Smelling this perfume reminded me of huffing the wrappings of each new soap bar. So yes, 97 smells like soap. But it also doesn't smell like soap. It doesn't smell soapy - it just has the same scent as a very particular, unique, green, fresh bar of soap does. 97 is green forest and clean air, never too heavy or dense - it's the top of the mountain when you've finished hiking. It's the smell of wood burning far away in the winter. And the smell of clean skin. Hinoki is a cypress, which does grow here in North Carolina. I wouldn't naively expect the air here to smell as good as this fragrance does, though (which I kind of did...) but the more I smell it, it does bring back memories of college here for me - grass and bonfires, nighttime with friends and little sleep - the scent memory here has been accurately depicted. It was a real pleasure to sample this one :) I can't wait to try the rest!

My third sample from the OSM discovery kit is a freshly showered gentleman sipping on a gin and tonic. In humid climate, pipe tobacco smoke is emanating from his clothing. He’s the kind of man who uses a money clip and gets his car detailed on a regular basis. And he’s extremely well put together, he stands tall. That’s what this scent smells like to me. Tarheels & Tonic is what I would classify as traditionally masculine. Since I’ve always loved masculine scents, this is not a deal breaker even though it’s also not a scent I would wear. Quality ingredients make this scent smell natural. Post review thoughts: it’s a sexy scent. I would love to smell this on my husband. If I can convince him to wear it I will update my review.

OSM has cued up the beach music and asked you to dance the Carolina Shag! Noran Zorigt's excellent Fragrantica article in Oct. prompted me to get OSM's Discovery Set. Their 97 was a 'must smell' for me since I grew up in Virginia, and my high school sweetheart went to UNC in Chapel Hill . . . making him a Tarheel! Wonderfully evocative and complex, he would have loved this! 97 is impressive. For the great aroma, and for the considerable talent that went into its concept and execution. It's hard to describe the scent b/c the notes blend so well together, forming an accord that is refreshing, sexy and party ready. There are small progressive transformations as the perfume evolves from a super crisp open through the heady drydown. I can pick out grapefruit and lemony hinoki wood . . . plus a little of the gin and tonic. The citrus enlivens all the other accents, so that it stays fresh. OSM has also captured an 'East Coast-Southern' flavor with touches of magnolia and pettigrain. Leans slightly towards masculine, but anyone can wear this. Smells completely natural with no chemical overtones. Sillage and longevity both good - ready for a pavillion on the dunes and an evening of shagging!

This one is very hard for me to describe so please take my review with a grain of salt What I imagine the brief could have been: Turpentine, burnt woods, rubber, and touch of pine sap. Then dilute this heaviness in the cool air of a forest at night. This is dark woods and moss covered in dark green mosses, sprinkled with juniper berry. The only thing I’d emphasize is that there’s a cool breeze effect to it, or like cool damp earth that feels nice to lay on. There is a hint of sweetness, like tonka as it dries down, it’s minimal but essential so that the scent doesn’t become astringent. Definitely not a vintage smell despite aromatic dark woods idea, neither is it modern, but rateher something like dreamy, atmospheric, and natural

I got this in a sample set, and I found this to be the most "elusive" of the 4. Another word might be "effervescent." Very light and fresh. The only other hinoki note I have smelled is Hinoki from Comme des Garcons, and I found that one had the same quality. I can smell the hinoki and grapefruit notes for sure, and I do get an impression of gin and juniper but they aren't quite as sharp or in your face as in some other perfumes. For me this would probably be the lightest and maybe most summery or office-friendly scent of the bunch.

This perfume is like driving through winding mountain roads late at night, after spending the evening around a campfire with friends. The gin is present but it's overlaid by smoke and leather and something else, not quite wood and not quite rain. This is my favorite OSM scent and I could see it working for either men or women.