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Happy Clinique 1997 Perfume

6.6 / 10 361 Ratings

A perfume by Clinique for women, released in 1997. The scent is fresh-floral. It is being marketed by Estēe Lauder Companies.
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Main accords

Fresh

Floral

Citrus

Fruity

Sweet

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Grapefruit Mandarin orange tree

Mandarin orange tree

Bergamot

Laurel

Heart Notes

Jasmine

Orchid

Boysenberry blossom

Base Notes

Mimosa

Lily Hawaiian wedding flower

Magnolia

Perfumers

Jean-Claude Delville, Rodrigo Flores-Roux

Ratings

Scent

6.6361 Ratings

Longevity

6.3274 Ratings

Sillage

5.9261 Ratings

Bottle

6.3269 Ratings

Value for money

7.3115 Ratings

Submitted by Sani · last update on 01/24/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

The fragrance was awarded the Fragrance Foundation’s "Fragrance of the Year – Women's Prestige" prize in 1998 and was inducted into the "Fragrance Hall of Fame" in 2014.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Happy Solid Perfume

Happy - A Hint of Citrus Perfume

Happy - A Hint of Citrus Solid Perfume

Funky Flower

Fruity Orange

Aqua Universalis Eau de Toilette

Reviews

28 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/08/2021

3Scent 7Longevity 6Sillage

Kurai
388 Reviews

Kurai

Top Review 6

Balloons

Frolic, cheerful, naive girlie scent. That comes to mind the moment I spray it on. Mild citrus followed by a colorful bunch of flowers.

Sadly this feel-good vibe does not last long, not sure if it’s my skin or just due to the poor quality. Pretty soon I get a plastic-y or actually a rubbery smell: balloons or rubber gloves. That spoils it for me. Too bad, really.

Updated on 07/08/2021

02/27/2013

2Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

Sherapop
1239 Reviews

Sherapop

Very helpful Review 6

I regret to report that my sister was right

It took me years to muster up the courage to test Clinique HAPPY. It's possible that I finally did it only because of my conversion to true love for AROMATICS ELIXIR--against all expectations. I had no specific reason for believing that I'd hate AROMATICS ELIXIR beyond the flagrant contradiction that a fragrance-free skin care company should produce a notoriously powerful perfume, but I had read so many songs of praise written by so many perfumistas whose opinions I respect, that I finally tried that creation and feel shortly thereafter in love. I now own two bottles, one made in the United States and the other made in Switzerland, and both of them smell great, once one gets past the bitter chamomile opening.

With HAPPY, I had some serious baggage to deal with and barriers to surmount. Several years ago my sister sent me one of her generous gift packages filled with ceramics (she's an artist) and various snack items and usually a couple of random and unpredictable "things". In this particular package, she had also "thrown in"--just in case I might want them--about five or six Clinique HAPPY minis which she had accumulated from gwps but did not use. She warned me that, in her view, the true name of HAPPY should be MISERABLE.

I stowed the minis away among a bunch of others and swiftly forgot about them. When I began reviewing perfumes in December 2009, I noticed that the Clinique company does a pretty good job of distributing samples of HAPPY, because I always seem to be finding them, and each time they remind me of the minis, and each time I remember why I never really want to sample this perfume.

On this historic night, with a hot bath on the horizon, I took out one of the fresh samples of HAPPY and sprayed it on. In a moment's time, I realized that my sister was right. This is just horrible. It smells like orange cleaning products to me, not all-natural orange-scented cleaning products, but foul-smelling orange Windex.

Based on the reviews I've seen, HAPPY seems to be a fairly polarizing composition, with people generally lining up in either the love or the abhorrence camp. So I am aware that this fragrance has its fans, and my guess is that this particular combination of chemicals is quite compatible with some people's physiological constitution, and according to them, HAPPY is an excellent citrus scent. To me and those of my ilk, this smells like the emanations from an organic chemisty lab and so off-putting that I just want to wash it off.

My sister and I are similar in many ways, and I have to say that I agree in this case, that wearing Clinique HAPPY is not a pleasant experience at all. I cannot say that I feel miserable, but unhappy might be a fair assessment of the effect of this fragrance on me.

Now It's time for that bath...

01/04/2012

5Scent 5Longevity 5Sillage

Missk
1350 Reviews

Missk

Helpful Review 2

Popular citrus fragrance

I tried Happy for the very first time in a large department store whilst on holiday in Melbourne. I instantly loved it and quickly added Happy to my perfume wishlist. I was shocked when I heard how many negative reviews this perfume had been given and I found it extremely hard to understand why... until today. I entered that same department store, (except in a different location), where they had a Happy tester bottle waiting to be sprayed. I tried it, and was utterly shocked! I now know what people meant when they said that Happy smelt like burnt rubber and licorice.

Happy does not have a very long shelf life. It has been known to go off in as little as 8 months. Many tester bottles are kept out in the open, exposed to light and heat which will naturally see them deteriorate faster.

My advice to you, is if you have had a similar unpleasant experience, I suggest you buy from a trusted dealer, especially a place that sells Happy at such a rate that they have to renew their stock every 6 months.

07/08/2012

4Scent 7.5Longevity 7.5Sillage

LadyRogue
166 Reviews

LadyRogue

Helpful Review 2

Moderately Happy

A happy fruity floral scent with a faint note of lily-of-the-valley and a hint of musk in the drydown, but only a hint, because the oranges, mandarines & other assorted citric-fruits drown everything else out.

I love orange notes in happy summer scents, but for my taste there are too many heavy fruit notes going on in this fragrance. I couldn't wear it everyday and I find I can't wear it the whole day long either. A scent for those that love orange enough to smell it all day long. I would say this is a day wear scent only, and would be great for a summer holiday. Silage is "I can smell fresh oranges all around me" and the longevity is 5+ hours. Definitely sample before purchase.

To satisfy my orange need in a perfume bottle I prefer Cacharels Liberté far more. It has just enough fruity orange to give me that happy feel, yet is mixed in such a way that other lovely notes -like patchouli- help the orange to find some balance and stop it from feeling too overpowering on the fruit front.

01/16/2025

8.5Scent 9Longevity 9Sillage

KenyettaC
43 Reviews

KenyettaC

5

A Timeless Beauty

This was such a fan favorite when it was first released back in the day. I must say....I was one of those fans. Time has gone by and I just had to buy myself a bottle to have in my current collection.

A coworker of mine wears this every day and I love it on her. I forgot how well this performs... It's strong initially.... But not offensive.

That's the one word I would use to describe this classic... INOFFENSIVE.

The perfect citrus fragrance

Edit- I have fallen IN LOVE with this all over again. I need to go ahead and order my back up bottle, lest these folks start tripping and discontinue it. This fragrance is SO PLEASANT!!!! I love the perfume cloud it forms around me.

Updated on 01/23/2025

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