Looking for happy scents

[Smelly_Swede]

Tried the search bar but couldn't find anything similar, but please let me know if somebody else already asked this 😀

 

I am pretty new to Bpal and scents in general, and did not realise how much scent can improve your mood. One of the scents I tried is Shango, and it makes me so very happy. I already heard about Aunt Carolines joy mojo making people happy, so now I will have to try this scent as well, but I wonder (And I realise this will mean different things for different people): Are there any scents you have tried that make you extra happy?

 

For me, I think the pineapple scent note is what does it, but it could also be the sweetness of Shango in general, I am not sure. I just know this scent has been improving my mood a lot and I have had lifelong anxiety (Long story), so anything that makes my everyday life happier and more relaxed means a lot.

 

(I know I could just continue using Shango, but I also like to try out new things, so I just want to know what scents makes you happy and why you think it makes you happy).

 

Thanks 😄

[sudenmorsian]

Ah, happy scents ❤️ 

 

I think my happy scents are most often sweet,  a bit tropical or candy like and usually "summer scents" - light, fruity and airy. For example just naming few, Pink Moon 2024 (sugar-swirled strawberry milk with frothed marshmallow cream), Machu Picchu (sweet tropical fruits burst through deep, wet rainforest boughs, enormous steamy blossoms, over thin mountaintop breezes, mingled with the soft, rich golden scent of Peruvian amber), Stoned Bunny Blow Mold (a sun-faded, plasticky shell of rice milk and marshmallow illuminated from within by 420 watts of weed-wafted glowing green amber) and The Serpent in the Berries (strawberry-infused Snake Oil with a froth of marshmallow fluff and a hint of vanilla sugar).

 

ETA: Oh, how could I forgot about Kobold Barista (freshly brewed coffee with ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, black pepper, cloves, cinnamon, and cream)! It's definitely for the cold season, but it's a true mood booster for chilly autumn or winter days when all you need is a hot cup of coffee and a snuggly, spicy coffee perfume.

Edited Thursday at 06:24 PM by sudenmorsian

[leptonpyr]

I love this question! And I love that Shango is doing that for you---that is so, well, lovely to hear! I've only just started getting into fragrance this summer, and perfume has done a lot for my mood too. It's really nice to get to watch it having a similar effect on others too 

"It depends on what makes you happy" is an unhelpful non-answer, so don't worry, I'm not going to leave it at that, but if it's fruity scents you've identified as ones that make you particularly happy, BPAL has a LOT of really excellent fruit scents, and I'd recommend trying their fruit imp pack (which happens to be the very first selection of BPALs I tried), or just exploring some of BPAL's many, many fruit notes, whichever ones sound most enticing to you!

 

Bon Vivant is another that's guaranteed to lift my mood. It's a simple one, champagne and strawberries, but to me it's just SUCH a happy, giddy scent! (I get more soda than champagne, so YMMV.) Pumpkin Sparklers is an LE from July that's going away soon, but it's another that I think of as really fun and happy (pumpkin splatter, blood orange, white ginger, champagne, gunpowder, and calcium chloride accord). To me it smells exactly like ginger cookies, except also BUBBLY! I guess something to keep in mind is that while aldehydes clearly make me feel happy, they may not be for everyone. I think you've said you're new to fragrance too, so I'm not sure if you've experienced them yet, but they literally do feel sort of bubbly and fizzy in your nose in a way that mimics champagne or soda! It's something I think is very fun, but others might find unpleasant. 

 

Old Woman with Cat (sweet roasted pumpkin rind, raw wool accord, polished oak, baked bread, cocoa absolute, and kitchen herbs) is not an aldehyde. It's one I find delightfully warm and comforting, an excellent autumnal or winter scent imo. My partner says it smells exactly like spiced ginger-molasses bread baking.

[Smelly_Swede]

17 hours ago, leptonpyr said:

Bon Vivant

 

I have been thinking about this one actually, for next summer. It has the same notes as a LE deodorant I tried from Wild and that scent worked really well on my skin. I would love to try it out as a perfume.

 

I almost bought Fruit Moon 2005 from Etsy, but realised it would be an unwise decision money-wise for me at the moment 😂 Of course it was gone in like five minutes as well haha. But will probably look for similar blends. Maybe the imp pack could be a good start to try out some new fruit notes. I will be saving up for the next purchase anyway so I might have to think about it for some time and can plan accordingly.

[leptonpyr]

@Smelly_Swede In that case I doubly recommend Bon Vivant! Let me know what you think if you do end up ordering it, I really do love it. And I'm curious what you decide to order next, whenever that will be! The "happiest" scents out of the fruit imp pack to me are Cheshire Cat and Yemaya. Croquet became one of my favorite fragrances ever, it's just soooo beautiful on me, and Poisoned Apple was the first scent I tried that really made me go "oh shit this is what perfume can do, this is cool as fuck." (It starts off smelling SO strongly of apple, then ends up smelling nothing like apple on me, it becomes something dark and balsamic and spiced. Get it, 'cause it's *poisoned*...) So it ended up being a great first purchase for me. 

 

And ugh yes BPAL doesn't exactly encourage wise financial decisions...I FEEL THAT lol. it's a struggle. I'm trying to calm my FOMO down by telling myself that there are SO many new scents all the time, there'll at least always be something new to try. Something to keep in mind with older oils is they *do* age--some of them age very well and some of them age poorly, so you never know quite what you're going to get (unless you ask the person selling it, I suppose!). I've been told that oils in bottles age a lot better than oils in imps, generally speaking, and I'd be willing to believe it--I have some older (like a decade+) imps that are deeeefinitely shall we say past their prime. 

[Smelly_Swede]

Edit: I wrote in the wrong window by accident. 😂

@leptonpyrI can try to remember to update you, but this might take a while 😆 Christmas is coming and my money need to go to other things, this thread is a bit like me window shopping with new friends. That said, I looked into Yemaya and since it is the mother of Shango, I think it's made with similar thought behind it, so it will probably be perfect for me. And I will probably buy Bon vivant since it is one of the less expensive ones.

 

I have now made a Happy list for myself with scents I want to try out in the future.

Edited yesterday at 06:44 AM by Smelly_Swede
Still learning how to tag people correctly

[sunshinedaisybliss]

I’m sure you’re going to find many lovely things to add to your ’makes me happy’ list, there’s so many to choose from!

 

Since you’re new-ish to BPAL, I would recommend sticking to the ones with less notes at first, so that it’s easier to identify what you like / love (and don’t like so much!). 
 

Some suggestions for you, from the General Catalogue so available as imps:

 

- Seconding Aunt Caroline’s Joy Mojo – it’s a good one
- Mouse’s Sad and Long Tale, gorgeous sweet pea + vanilla

- Twinkle, Twinkle Little Bat

- High Strung Daisies (like a perfect sunny day)

- Fae

- Schrodinger’s Cat

- Twenty One

- Katharina

- Tamora

- Titania

And if you want to look at bottles, check out the Fraggle Rock collection – I think you would like Wembley and Gobo 🙂

 

https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/product-category/fraggle-rock/

 

Edited to mention that you’ll find people selling imps at very fair prices in the For Sale section of the forum 💛

 

Edited yesterday at 01:20 PM by sunshinedaisybliss

[Failmingo]

A big one for me was Every Sweet Thing, which is also a fundraiser scent: honey-dripping plakous, rose petals, caramelized hazelnut, and goat’s milk.

 

https://blackphoenixalchemylab.com/shop/activism/sorores-genita-nocte-aigles-kharities/every-sweet-thing-perfume-oil/

 

Truly just a wonderful combo of so many wholesome, enticing, beautiful things! The inclusion of rose adds to the gourmand instead of diverting from it, almost like a sticky rosewater-infused baklava.

[Smelly_Swede]

3 hours ago, sunshinedaisybliss said:

sticking to the ones with less notes at first

 

 

This is one of the things I have thought about, but since Shango was my favourite from my first order (Long ingredient list...), I'm not so sure any more, I might just act on vibes. 😂

 

@sunshinedaisybliss Now I want to try Wembley, I really like banana. I should perhaps try the classical scents out first, like snake oil or something, but then I find something like Wembley and can't stop thinking about it. This could totally be one of those scents I might go for just for the adventure of it. And I like the thought of his happy little face looking at me when I open the drawer.

 

@Failmingo I have looked at other scents from this collection, and it's interesting, but I have never tried anything with a milk scent in it. I like roses though, so perhaps I will give it a try 😀

 

I'll just continue to add stuff into my happy list 😄

I might get into buying things from other people, but I get so confused because they all sell loads of limited editions I don't know anything about and I actually feel it's easier for me to just navigate the webpage at the moment 😄

[leptonpyr]

On 10/24/2025 at 2:33 AM, Smelly_Swede said:

Edit: I wrote in the wrong window by accident. 😂

@leptonpyrI can try to remember to update you, but this might take a while 😆 Christmas is coming and my money need to go to other things, this thread is a bit like me window shopping with new friends. That said, I looked into Yemaya and since it is the mother of Shango, I think it's made with similar thought behind it, so it will probably be perfect for me. And I will probably buy Bon vivant since it is one of the less expensive ones.

 

I have now made a Happy list for myself with scents I want to try out in the future.

 

Lol no worries! Either way, I'm interested in whatever you remember/feel like sharing with us  I too have an absurdly long wishlist, with many many more items than I could ever actually afford to procure, but it's nice to dream... (and you never know what might come your way on the forums!)

As for sticking to fewer notes as a beginner or not, I'd say definitely just go with vibes xD. I very much did not do that, and have spent some happy hours googling like a dozen unfamiliar notes at a time so I could try and puzzle out what I was smelling when trying more complex scents, and I've been having a wonderful time. It also means that sometimes I'll recognize a note in something else later on and be like "oh okay, that must be x!" It's been fun to get to go back to fragrances I tried earlier on and be able to pick out many more notes than I could at first. Follow your heart for sure  (I feel you on the forums being overwhelming for a newbie and sticking to the website. I was also rather determined to do that at first...)