Initio Parfums Privés Oud for Happiness Eau de Parfum

What It Smells Like

Initio Oud for Happiness is a fresh, green oud fragrance with ginger, licorice and vanilla. It is the bright member of the Black Gold Project, and it treats oud in an unusual way: as something light and uplifting rather than dark.

It opens with ginger and bergamot, sparkling and zesty. The ginger is fresh and slightly lemony, like the cut root rather than the dried spice.

The heart is licorice, oud and cedar. Licorice is the surprise: sweet, cool and a little herbal, with an anise-like character that changes how the oud reads. The oud itself is used gently, as a smooth woody background, and cedar keeps the structure dry.

The base is vanilla, herbal notes and musk. The house describes a puff of freshly cut grass, and there is a green, aromatic quality in the drydown that sits beside the soft vanilla. Fragrantica's community ranks fresh spicy as the leading accord, followed by citrus, soft spicy, vanilla and green, and rates it 3.88 out of 5 from about 2,000 votes. That is the lowest score of the four Black Gold Project fragrances we carry, which is common for a scent with an unusual note at its centre.

Who Made It

Initio does not name the perfumers behind most of its fragrances, and neither Fragrantica nor Parfumo lists one for Oud for Happiness. We would rather leave the credit open than guess. The house presents its fragrances as the work of a collective, with the materials and their effect on mood placed ahead of any individual signature.

Who It's For

Oud for Happiness is for people who want an oud that does not smell like a typical oud. Fragrantica lists it for women and men.

If you love licorice, anise or fresh ginger, it is well worth trying. If you want the full, dark, spicy experience, choose Oud for Greatness instead. It is the easiest of the four to wear casually, and the one most likely to surprise people who think they dislike oud.

When to Wear It

The Fragrantica votes are fairly even. Fall and winter lead, spring is close, and night is only a little ahead of day.

It works as an everyday fragrance in cooler months, at the office or out in the evening. Parfumo's community rates its longevity as above average.

About the House

Initio Parfums Privés launched in Paris in 2015 with an unusual premise: that scent acts on mood and attraction before we consciously register it. The fragrances are built around materials chosen for that effect, such as musks, woods, resins and the jasmine-like molecule hedione, and they are grouped into collections with a stated purpose: The Absolutes, The Carnal Blends, The Black Gold Project, the Hedonist collection and Supercharged.

The bottles are heavy, square-shouldered flacons with a metal medallion on the front, and the compositions tend to be concentrated and long-lasting. Initio is a boutique-only house at Redolia. It is sold at our perfumery at 92 West Main Street in Somerville, New Jersey, and not through the website. Read how our boutique-only houses work, then come in and try it on skin before you decide.