Description
“When sideshows were still performed throughout the United States, tattoos were a real attraction in 19th century circuses. While tattoos are considered an artistic statement today, at the time, they were the subject of curiosity. This parade of scents brings to mind carnival sweets and treats. Cotton candy and candy apple blend with the fantastical smell of hyraceum and leather, evoking the exoticism of the traveling circus. A freakishly attractive enchantment.” – a note from the brand.
Sideshow by Gri Gri Parfums is a Oriental Vanilla fragrance for women and men. This is a new fragrance. Sideshow was launched in 2016. The nose behind this fragrance is Anaïs Biguine. Top note is sweet notes; middle notes are cotton candy and candy apple; base notes are hyrax, tolu balsam and leather.
Booxboxydap – :
SUPER sweet. Like, over-the-top candy sugar sucrose sweet. One spritz will give you a toothache. Projection is intense.
There is something here that is instantly recognizable, but I’ve yet to put my finger on what that is. It’s not a single note I’m recognizing, either – this perfume as a whole smells exactly like something I’ve experienced before.
Thank goodness for the leather accord, or I’m not sure I’d find this wearable. It’s already bordering on questionable, but there’s something about it that keeps me coming back for more. . .
It just hit me: It’s Parfums de Couer “gummy bear” body spray that I’m smelling, mingled with the iconic scent of a BMW’s worn in leather interior. No joke, this smells EXACTLY like the tween perfume I’d spray to cover up the smell of the Parliaments I chain-smoked while driving around in my ‘91 Beemer!
UPDATE: This has really grown on me. I didn’t intend for my initial review to come across so critical, I just thought it was funny how much it reminded me of gummy bears and BMWs. The more I wear it, the more I crave it, and it always makes me smile. If candy frags are your thing, this is a must try. The projection and longevity are next level!
Romank7 – :
It smells a lot like Redbull
TattyS – :
Sexiness in a bottle. In the opening it smells unapologetically artificial with notes of bubblegum and cotton candy. Seriously? But wait. Some musky leather makes an entrance. And this tension between notes that have nothing in common becomes surprisingly fascinating and meaningful.
Innocent yet dangerous.
Not a safe blind buy.
On the feminine side of unisex.
Potent. Two sprays are more than enough.
AzEsmi – :
All of Gri Gri perfumes are inspired by some tattoo technique. Sideshow is based on the ‘old-shool’ anchors and mermaids, romantic, colorful and a bit kitch. Opens with a very lighthearted bubble gum accord but surprisingly proceeds to a very animalic and sensual leather made with one of the few material of trully animalic origin: hyraceum.
e2rd – :
Sometimes I think that as much as we have advanced in several areas of society, perfumery continues to be one of the most caricatured. Although with the rise of the niche the concept of unisex has taken on even greater strength, we still see the perfumes as masculine or feminine, or even as directed to a certain public and belonging only to them. And it’s a difficult paradigm to break completely and I found myself stuck with it when I discovered that the Gri Gri brand made perfumes for tattooed skins.
What I did not realize, however, is that such perfumes are not exclusively intended for this audience, much less the brand uses the theme lightly to be detached. Perfumer and owner of Jardins d’Escrivan, Anaïs Biguine was curious about the universe of the tattoo and decided to delve into it to understand it and develop an olfactory narrative that told the story of the tattoo throughout the ages and in different places of civilization. Sideshow is the fourth perfume of its brand and it’s dedicated to 19th century circuses, in which tattooed people were seen as extravagant attractions. The perfumer wanted to capture this exotic aspect amid the playful side of the candies sold in this environment, especially the green apple and the cotton candy.
What is more interesting is that Anaïs Biguine did exactly what she describes, something rare in terms of the narrative of a perfume. Sideshow is an extravagant aromatic attraction and at the same time playful, an exercise of the animalic with the sweet and childish. At the opening, a strong aroma of acetates creates the bright, green and sweet impression of an aroma that is a blend of apple with chewing gum and strawberry. At the same time, there is a colorful floral illusion, something like a pixelated and vibrant version of an ylang. Mixed with it is the most extravagant side of this circus, an animalic accord that for me starts with touches of cumin and cardamom and grows towards the aroma of animalic leather and ink nuances of castóreum, a perfect choice to represent the tattoo aspect. As time goes by, Sideshow transforms its more exotic side into an amber aroma that unfolds gently in woody touches. Accompanying this act is always the sweet and sugary aroma of cotton candy and vanilla.
What surprises me most about Sideshow is the combination of worlds so antagonistic to me. Is it possible to imagine the sweet aroma of ethyl maltol, so used to create gourmands perfumes, to be combined with the more avant-garde andaroma of Castoreum? Anaïs shows that not only is it possible, that both together can tell a story and also be very sexy on the skin, just the effect that a good tattoo causes.
vent – :
Apple Juice mixed with copious amounts of Strawberry Furanone and Ethyl Maltol
It’s Pink cotton candy dipped in apple juice concentrate
Super artificial smelling and very hyper sweet.
There is a subtle smooth brown leather suede in the background
It smells very juvenile and young, it would be better suited to a female celebrity scent marketed at teenagers