Happy feat

Shopaholics like to boast that nothing beats the adrenaline rush of a designer purchase, hard-earned money squandered on an impulse buy that soothes the Prada-wearing set’s addiction to anything new and fancy. Their fashion-savvy, label-conscious compatriots liken the feel of zipping up a pair of red-soled Louboutin boots to something close to ecstasy. Who knew joy (and I’m not referring to your mother’s perfume) was so expensive? 

Now hedonists — and their credit cards — can rest easy. Smiley, dubbed the very first antidepressant perfume, is here. Sold at Rustan’s, the fragrance is reputed to be modern man’s answer to malodor and melancholy.

One whiff of this unisex scent and the makers of Smiley assure users of a feeling of wellbeing. After all, the bottle is marked with a smiley face and a statement in small script stating, “Psycho-tonic perfume with micro-nutrients to activate happiness.”

Made from the combination of theobromine, a mild stimulant, and phenylethylamine, which, according to Joanna Millward of the Bristol School of Chemistry who penned a short treatise on the effects of chocolate, “is a chemical related to amphetamines and raises blood pressure and blood glucose levels which results in a feeling of wellbeing and contentment and is believed to work by making the brain release B-endorphin, an opioid peptide which is the driving force behind the pleasurable effects,” the formula is comprised of elements derived from products of the cocoa tree and are present in all chocolates, which explains why people the world over have self-medicated depression with sweets since the birth of Hershey’s.

“Phenylethylamine is to passion what endorphin is to love. It sets off a feeling of joy, excitement and euphoria,” reads the Smiley literature, while “theobromine blocks the receivers of adrenalin and thus decreases the effects of stress by a comfortable feeling of wellbeing.”

The fragrance-makers also didn’t fail to account for another thing in the joy-inducing department: the scent itself. A sparkling-fruity essence infused with spicy and woody-musky notes, Smiley not only renders its wearer happy and content but also anyone close enough to get a whiff.

With top notes of bergamot and orange, which brings energy to the scent, cocoa and praline as the heart and a base note with hints of patchouli, the perfume boasts a bouquet as seductively complex as it is unique.

The packaging, with its bottle modeled after atypical chemist’s containers, is bold enough to draw eyes and cheeky enough to elicit a laugh. Designed by Ito Morabito, a Frenchman who gained notoriety when, at the age of 21, he composed fake products for the likes of Louis Vuitton and Mac and debuted them online, which drew the attention of the brands he’d satirized who quickly sought his services and launched him as one of the most celebrated digital artists of his generation, the round-bottom flask of the eau de toilette has a pump, which serves as the spray release, while the eau de parfum possesses a tongue-in-cheek dropper, meant to imply a medicinal value each time users dampen their wrists with the mood-altering fragrance.  

With happiness now packaged in a quirkily-wrapped jar, hedonists will have to look elsewhere for their fix. Our suggestion? Share the joy and pass on the secret to your loved ones.

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The Smiley line also includes all-in-one washing solution, body gel, deodorant treatment, rubbing friction and is available at Rustan’s.