Series 6: Synthetic - Tar by Comme des Garçons

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Series 6: Synthetic - Tar Comme des Garçons 2004

7.0 / 10 96 Ratings

A perfume by Comme des Garçons for women and men, released in 2004. The scent is synthetic-smoky. It is being marketed by Puig.
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Main accords

Synthetic

Smoky

Leathery

Spicy

Resinous

Fragrance Notes

Fuel

Cigarette

Bergamot

Perfumers

Nathalie Feisthauer, Givaudan

Ratings

Scent

7.096 Ratings

Longevity

7.477 Ratings

Sillage

6.876 Ratings

Bottle

6.476 Ratings

Value for money

7.324 Ratings

Submitted by Sani · last update on 10/28/2025.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

In 2017, the scent was re-released as part of the series Olfactory Library.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Bvlgari Black

Reviews

12 in-depth fragrance descriptions

12/28/2024

CloudsAround
33 Reviews

CloudsAround

Addictive in a weird way

Tar by Comme des Garçons smells a lot like asphalt or car tyres, although I must say I wanted it to be even more realistic. However, it does evoke the feeling of walking past a garage and trying to inhale as much as possible without looking like a freak.
I love wearing this just to sniff at it once in a while, and get this feeling of a car workshop where people know what they are doing.
The 'sister' of this perfume would be Series 6: Synthetic - Garage , which I also love, but Garage a bit lighter, let's say more in the WD-40 area. Tar is a perfect anti-perfume, I wish there were more perfumes like this.

08/10/2013

7Scent

Terra
646 Reviews

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Terra

Top Review

Why only 48%?

I sometimes don't understand this community. When a fragrance is named "Synthetic - Tar," like "tar," what do you expect? A floral-fresh scent? A delicious gourmand? Well, I at least expect something tar-like - and not a fragrance tailored for wearability ;).

The promise is fully kept. It smells as if you are walking past a freshly tarred road, perhaps a bit softer and more floral. Asphalt, oil, gasoline - that's what comes to mind with this scent. So it's simply described, but I think it's great. I can also imagine wearing this fragrance. It's exciting, different, and quite pleasant - in the right dosage.

I can understand that some people might not like this fragrance. However, I can't understand how someone could consider it poorly made. Because the goal was executed superbly - and many others fail to achieve that. From a purely craftsmanship perspective, it's really well done, and I also quite like the scent.

11/25/2017

8Scent 4Longevity 4Sillage

loewenherz
917 Reviews

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loewenherz

Top Review 23

Yayoi and Me

With many perfumes - not all, but at least most of the ones I own - a more or less vivid association accompanies the scent - equally an idea of how I personally categorize the fragrance, what it means to me, ultimately: what I wanted it for. I have scents to sit with friends in the golden evening sun on the shore of a lake on a dock in the reeds. I have scents for Italian operas and for French restaurants. I have scents to get unexpected raises, and scents to make the sheets messy with scratching and biting (the last two are still quite full). None of the fragrances is exclusively intended for just this one purpose, but for each of these 'occasions,' I could immediately think of one from my collection. Until now, I had no scent for a vernissage of installation or object art.

Comme des Garçons fragrances often possess something more or less artificial - you can like it or not. In my entirely subjective perception, it fits better with some than with others, and with those, I then remember that 'artificial' comes from 'art,' meaning 'man-made' and 'not-natural.' With this one, Tar from Comme des Garçons' synthetic series, it fits particularly well, as it is almost thematically inherent. Tar is a conceptual fragrance and therefore - of course! - not a pleasing nose-pleaser. It fascinatingly embodies the essence of its name - tar - as an olfactory conglomerate of workshop smell and damp asphalt after a summer rain. It is highly synthetic and as such challenging, but not disturbing. And even during its trial wear, I knew I wanted to have it. For vernissages. And for myself.

Conclusion: I discovered it by chance in the Scent Bar in Hollywood, one of only two offline stores of Luckyscent, the leading U.S. niche shop. I wasn't actually there for perfume, but to see the exhibition 'Infinity Mirrors' by the Japanese Yayoi Kusama at The Broad Museum - absolutely wonderful! And now I have the perfect fragrance for it with Tar. Let's see how often I wear it...

02/15/2011

1Scent 5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Hasi
130 Reviews

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Hasi

Top Review

The Alibi Scent

F. peels himself out of the sheets and sits on the edge of the bed putting on his socks. His gaze falls on the wristwatch. Shit, he mutters, already a quarter past eleven. And now the drive out of the city. By the time I get home, it’ll be close to twelve. What am I supposed to tell B.… Hopefully, she’s already asleep. A last glance at the naked, sleeping woman in bed, and he rushes down the stairs.

While driving along the country road, he feverishly thinks of a credible excuse. He rummages through the glove compartment for a cigarette when he comes across the sample of TAR that he had thrown in there in disgust after the test yesterday. As he looks at it, an idea strikes him.

B. waits with tearful eyes, where anger and fear are battling. His phone has been off for hours. Glad to see him safe, anger nevertheless prevails. Because if he isn’t at least bleeding or has a leg in a cast, it can only mean one thing. With a wild look and claws extended, she runs towards him when suddenly the biting smell of HILTI GREASE and burnt rubber hits her nose. She registers the dirt and oil stains on his pants and shirt, and he raises his hands in regret and says with a Saint Bernard look: Darling, I’m sooooo sorry! The car broke down right in the middle of the country road. No phone in sight and my phone’s battery is dead. I couldn’t call the roadside assistance and had to fix it myself. It took forever, and just look at how I look….

Yes, but how you smell is even worse!, B. replies. She then relievedly wraps her arms around him.

F. breathes a sigh of relief and mentally notes: Order Full Size TAR!

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C. is a mechanic. Initially laughed at by her male colleagues in the workshop, she now enjoys the reputation of being able to get her hands dirty like a man. Her friend N. appreciates this, thinking that C. often has to work overtime. But C. doesn’t do that at all. No, after work, C. prefers to run over to L.’s place, take a quick shower, and throw herself into L’s freshly starched feather beds for an hour. After that, she slips back into her old work overalls, dabs a bit of perfume on her neck, and drives to N.’s home.
C’s favorite perfume is TAR.

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E. is a craftsman. He earns extra money after work with odd jobs. But sometimes he just doesn’t feel like working more after his regular job. He would rather have a beer or two, three… in his local pub and play cards with his buddies while puffing on a cigar. His wife M. doesn’t like that at all. She despises his friends, and alcohol, tobacco, and card games are the devil’s tools. And E. doesn’t like to argue.
So after a lively night at the pub, E. always quickly goes to the garage, retrieves TAR from its hiding place, and covers up all the telltale odors.
E. and M. have been happily married for 25 years.

01/28/2011

10Scent 10Longevity

CdG
39 Reviews

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CdG

Top Review 13

Comme ci, comme ça, Comme de Garçons.

Ah, it’s quite amusing how many people are getting worked up over an anti-perfume here, that is, a perfume that doesn’t even claim to be one. One should not forget that the manufacturer deliberately labeled its five-scent Synthetic line as “socially incorrect.”

As for “Tar,” I consider it along with “Garage” to be the best scents in the series. “Garage” is more intense and masculine, while “Tar” is almost a bit too feminine for a unisex scent. Scent-wise, “Tar” reminds me of a mix of baby powder, PVC, and birch tar (the latter is known, for example, from some Tauer perfumes).

It is a heavy, powdery-aromatic fragrance of the strangest kind, thoroughly artificial, phenolic, and plastic-like. When dosed carefully, “Tar” is quite wearable, like any other perfume in the series. It lasts all day and has no classic fragrance pyramid, although it does change a bit towards the drydown.

On some days, it’s definitely “too much” for me, and then again, there are days when I really crave it. Comme ci, comme ça.

Some of my friends really like the scent, while others find it impossible, without being able to say exactly why. The most common response is: “You just don’t smell like that!” … An interesting point. What are you supposed to smell like? Ha, gotcha! I believe that’s exactly the question Kawakubo-sama poses to the wearers of her Synthetic scents.

Anyway: I love the stuff! It’s a shame that the entire series is now sold out almost everywhere. … It apparently didn’t go over so well. ;)

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