Initio Side Effect sample: a 3ml wear test and 4 originals to try next

How Side Effect opens, develops and dries down

Side Effect is an Eau de Parfum from Initio Parfums Prives, launched in 2016 and listed as unisex. The notes are short, which makes it easy to follow. Rum is the only top note, so the perfume starts on one boozy note instead of a crowd of fresh ones.

The heart pairs tobacco with cinnamon. Tobacco gives the middle a dry, leafy warmth, and cinnamon adds spice. Together they explain the warm spicy and tobacco accords in the catalogue.

Sandalwood is the single base note. It settles the composition into a soft woody finish, and the listed accords finish with woody and sweet. Put plainly, the perfume runs from rum to tobacco and cinnamon to sandalwood, in three clear steps.

A short note list does not mean a quick judgement. Rum opens the perfume and the tobacco heart follows it, so a paper strip taken straight from the shop tells you about the opening only. For the wider style, our guide to tobacco perfumes compares many of them, and our guide to Initio's perfumes covers the house.

What the community votes say

For longevity the votes lean long lasting, with eternal next, and for sillage they lean strong, with moderate next. Those are voters' impressions, and your own skin can read differently.

Community voters most often pick Side Effect for winter and autumn, and for evening and night wear. Going out is its listed occasion, so the votes describe a cold-weather perfume for after dark.

Because the votes lean towards a noticeable sillage, a modest first spray is sensible. A decant gives you room to learn how much you need before you spend on a bottle.

A five-day wear test with a 3ml Side Effect sample

With around 60 sprays in a 3ml decant, you can repeat each step without rationing. Judge Side Effect on skin after an hour, when the opening has passed and the heart has arrived, and not from paper.

1. Day one: wear it alone. Spray clean skin once on a forearm and keep every other scent away. Write down the rum opening, return after an hour for your first real verdict, and record what is left in the evening.
2. Day two: repeat it exactly. Choose the same spot and a similar time. Compare today's notes with yesterday's and ask whether the tobacco and cinnamon heart is something you want to smell for hours.
3. Day three: change the weather. If you can, wear it on a colder or damper day than before. The votes favour winter and autumn, so a cooler day is the fairer test.
4. Day four: wear it for an evening out. Evening and night are the votes' favourite times, so use it for dinner or a night out. Notice whether the sandalwood base still reads in the last hours of the day.
5. Day five: decide. Read all your notes. Choose a 10ml decant for regular wear, move on to another original from the list below, or conclude that rum and tobacco are not for you, which is exactly what a sample is for.

Using one patch of skin throughout keeps the results comparable, because perfume behaves differently on a wrist, a forearm and the inside of an elbow.

Choosing between the 3ml and 10ml decant

The 3ml is for finding out. It holds enough for the full five-day plan and a few repeats, which is plenty to decide whether you like how rum, tobacco and cinnamon sit on you.

The 10ml decant is for living with the perfume. At around 200 sprays, it suits weeks of regular wear after the sample has convinced you.

Our perfume samples page shows the sizes, and what a perfume decant is explains how decanting works. Looking for other houses' lower-priced bottles instead? Initio Side Effect Dupes 2026: 7 Clones vs the Original covers them separately, and this page stays with originals.

Four originals to sample after Side Effect

Each of these lists warm spicy and sweet accords, as Side Effect does, so you can compare directions rather than guess. They are originals from other houses, each with its own published notes.

Angels' Share by By Kilian

Angels' Share is a 2020 unisex Eau de Parfum credited to Benoit Lapouza. Cognac is the only top note. Cinnamon, tonka bean, oak and hedione form the heart, and vanilla, praline, sandalwood and candied almond make up the base.

The accords are warm spicy, woody, sweet, vanilla, cinnamon, amber and powdery. It moves from cognac through cinnamon and oak into praline and vanilla.

Long lasting is the clear longevity vote. Sillage votes lean moderate, then strong. The season votes are led by autumn and winter, and the time-of-day votes by night and evening. Choose it when you like Side Effect's cinnamon but want a sweeter, vanilla-rich finish.

Tobacco Vanille by Tom Ford

Tobacco Vanille is a 2007 unisex perfume credited to Olivier Gillotin. Its opening is tobacco leaf with spicy notes. The heart gathers vanilla, cacao, tobacco blossom and tonka bean, and the base lists dried fruits and woody notes.

Its accords read vanilla, sweet, tobacco, warm spicy, fruity, woody, cacao and powdery. The tobacco is there from the first minute, then sweetened by vanilla and cacao.

Voters lean towards long lasting for its staying power, then eternal. For projection their votes lean strong, then moderate. Winter and autumn lead the season votes, with night and evening leading the times of day. Choose it when tobacco is the note you want to push further, with vanilla and cacao around it.

The Blazing Mr Sam by Penhaligon's

The Blazing Mr Sam is a 2018 Eau de Parfum for men. Cardamom and cinnamon open it, black pepper, saffron and cumin form the heart, and tobacco, vanilla, cedar and patchouli make up the base.

The accords are warm spicy, tobacco, woody, fresh spicy, vanilla, cinnamon, sweet, aromatic and patchouli. It is the only one of the four with black pepper, saffron and cumin, and its tobacco sits in the base.

On staying power, voters lean long lasting, then moderate. Projection is the clearer vote: most rate it moderate. Winter and autumn lead the season votes, with night and evening leading the times of day. Choose it when you want tobacco and cinnamon with a spicier opening and a moderate sillage vote.

Tony Iommi Monkey Special by Xerjoff

Tony Iommi Monkey Special is a 2021 perfume for men credited to Chris Maurice. The opening pairs rum with passionfruit, bergamot and geranium. Next come Singapore patchouli, cinnamon, leather and Bulgarian rose, and the base lists caramel, vanilla, tonka bean, sandalwood, labdanum, ambergris and musk.

The accords include warm spicy, woody, sweet, rum, patchouli, vanilla, amber, caramel, cinnamon and balsamic. Rum shows up here too, but in a much longer note list with fruit above it and caramel below.

Both of its main votes are clear: long lasting for longevity and strong for sillage. Winter and autumn lead the season votes, with night and evening leading the times of day. Choose it when you want rum and cinnamon in a richer, more layered setting.

Which decant should you choose?

Stay with Side Effect if rum, tobacco, cinnamon and sandalwood are the combination you came for. Try Angels' Share for cognac and praline, Tobacco Vanille for tobacco with cacao, The Blazing Mr Sam for a peppery spice, or Tony Iommi Monkey Special for rum with caramel.

Begin with the 3ml, judge after an hour, and pick a size only once you know. 10ML is not affiliated with or endorsed by Initio Parfums Prives, By Kilian, Tom Ford, Penhaligon's or Xerjoff.

The bigger picture: Best perfume for women 2026: 23 picks, classic to new and Best perfume for men 2026: 23 picks, classic to new.