Our take
What does Happy smell like?
Clinique launched Happy in 1997, and the name tells you the whole plan. Rodrigo Flores-Roux and Jean-Claude Delville composed it together. It opens on freshly squeezed zest: bergamot, grapefruit and mandarin, with a bay leaf adding a green thread. Delville has said he pushed the dose of a Hedione isomer, the molecule that gives jasmine its airy lift. You can smell it in the heart. Orchid and melati jasmine stay sheer there, almost wet. The base keeps to flowers instead of wood, with mimosa, magnolia and white lily. Nothing heavy, nothing woody. Happy belongs to the wave of fresh scents from the late 1990s, next to CK One from three years earlier. It is fruitier than CK One and far fizzier. Time has dated its soda-pop side a little. Its good mood is still hard to argue with.
When to wear it
A daytime scent for spring and summer, at work or on weekends. Three sprays are fine, since the citrus fades fast.
It belongs to the Floral, Fruity family. Happy is one of 4 creations by Clinique in our encyclopedia.
