Happy in Paradise

This is Liz Clabornes Mambo for women in a bottle

Clinique has some gorgeous summertime perfumes for sure. I have tested in store today four of them and I think I will get them all. The Happy range is focused mainly on summer florals, with tropical nuances and some leaning more into gourmand territory. Happy in Paradise is as expected by the name, a beautiful, bright citrus, tropical floral with a soft, well rounded woody base. The stand out notes here are passion flower and ylang ylang. The opening, which is very citrusy fresh, thanks to the combination of bergamot, mandarin orange and lemon last for very short time and than the tropical floral heart is revealed in full bloom. An intense passion flower is mixed with creamy ylang ylang and subtle hints of orange blossom. That’s what I get for the most of the fragrance’s life on my skin, stunning tropical flowers. The cedar and sandalwood are not noticeable smell wise, but most likely were added to prolong the life of the scent. I think Happy in Paradise is a great fragrance that highlights well the passion flower note. I don’t have many fragrances that focuses on this note in my collection, so I might decide to get myself a bottle of this. Mediocre performance as with the rest of Clinique’s Happy range. This is an exceptionally beautiful summer scent perfect for temperatures above 25°C, with moderate intensity and moderate longevity

I enjoyed the fruity and bright opening. It is a fun take on Happy, and notably different from the rest of its line. I get mostly mandarin and a tropical fruity note (passion flower?). But the perfume did not sit well for me after this. The ylang ylang is challenging in this perfume. It is waxy, thick, and a tad rotten, as ylang can be. I noticed most of the reviews on Ulta are favorable to this scent, so I may be in the minority. I enjoy ylang in some perfumes and not so much in others. I can't think of a similar perfume. It is unique. If you enjoy tropical florals, it is worth checking out!

This perfume has been instrumental in teaching me that I do not like ylang ylang [see also Method shower spray😁] and probably passion flower [which i also, irrelevantly, find quite a scary looking bloom] so not an entirely wasted endeavour... dry-down is perfectly inoffensive after the cloying [to me at any rate] middle notes have dissipated. Test, wander around a bit and then decide on purchase would be my strong recommendation for this, but that's true of most fragrance purchases isn't it?!😂

This is beautiful. A bright and sparkly citrus opening. Think citrus spritzer. The middle gives depth with tropical ylang ylang and fives it a vacation or holiday vibe. But almost a spa experience because it's a soft floral. The dry down is more cocoa shells than anything and it gives it a gorgeous soft woody like base. When I wear this I take the bottle with me to refresh during the day it I need it. It's like taking a sip of a refreshing drink when it's hot outside. The soft woody dry down is my favorite. The cocoa shells give it such a softness that is so pleasant. I layer it with BBW Champagne Toast lotion as well. Definitely a great designer perfume that no one talks about enough.