The temperature was frigid (low 20s) which is very cold for us here in Pensacola. With temps that low I decided to go ahead and try Happiness Oud from French Avenue.
Happiness Oud is an uplifting take on oud (not real oud) that balances warmth with freshness. It opens with a very bright and noticeable citrus and spicy ginger, which makes it feel kind of energetic with an almost sparkling start. The opening almost makes me think of a fresh fragrance and this definitely isn’t, although I think this could be worn in warmer weather by being easy on the trigger.
As it settles, you start to get some of the smooth woods and the sweetness (not sure if this could be from the licorice but it’s there.
During the dry down you actually get a lot of the vanilla, herbal notes and the musk. All there and all very discernible even to my untrained nose.
The oud here is very wearable, it’s not harsh at all, It actually leans slightly sweet and woody with a very comforting vibe. Performance is very good! And projection in the first few hours is strong. The longevity is also very good as well. It was still prominent 8+ hours later when I showered and washed it off.
All in all this is a very good fragrance and from what I can remember from the decant of the OG that I had a couple months ago this gets very very close but I think that the OG was smoother all the way through. Thanks for the recommendation !