I’ve had this decant for almost a year now and just never reviewed it, so let’s all pretend this is my first time smelling it, cool?
So this is what all the teen TikTok influencers are hyping up? This?? I can’t wrap my head around why. I would never peg a teen boy as the target audience for a fragrance that smells so… alcoholic. And not in a sexy or good way. More in a "your father's stash of empty rum bottles under the couch cushions" kind of way.
I mean it’s not flat-out disgusting. But I really don’t like this scent profile. And I think if you grew up around alcoholism, this would probably be triggering to wear. It’s that on-the-nose.
Pop open a bottle of rum and you’re basically 90% of the way there. Maybe sprinkle in a touch of saffron and tobacco to round it out, but that’s it. It gives off “40-year-old musty man downing his third glass of whiskey in a cigar lounge” not TikTok frat king. I genuinely don’t know why that crowd has latched onto it.
That said… I’ll give Side Effect its flowers where they’re due: it projects like a monster and lasts forever. If you want people to smell you from across the room, this will absolutely get the job done.
