Halston Classic

Halston is elegance in a bottle, effortlessly chic and impossibly gorgeous. It’s the beautiful people that went to Studio54, not to show off like everyone does today, but to have fun, do drugs, dance till early morning and go home with a stranger or not. What turns me on about Halston is how perfect the melon/mint freshness is achieved. It smells like fresh breath. Like a rush of air. Wearing it I’m transported to a mid 70’s apartment, complete with shag carpet, palm trees and mirrored walls. Oh, and track lighting. Disco music is playing, people are gettin ready for a night out, the clothes are laid on the bed, and there’s a window open, letting in some cool breeze. Cristal (both Chanel and champagne), Azzaro, Opium, Michelle, Fidji, Paco Rabanne pour Homme, Pierre Cardin...that’s the kind of fragrances you find on the vanity table. But it could very well be Jean Naté or Jovan musk. Beautiful people, beautiful fragrances, a party ahead and some fun. That’s what Halston feels to me. Halston is mossy, woody, soapy. Soapy as in the smell of a fresh bar of soap. Fresh, like kissing someone that’s been chewing mint gum. Fresh like the new melon cocktail that’s all the rage and that you’re going to indulge yourself with. On me, the flowers take a back, unidentifiable seat. It’s all about the herbal marigold, inky oakmoss and woody cedar and sandalwood. Sometimes I get incense and amber, bringing it closer to a dark corner where everyone fabulously reeks of Opium. The richer crowd. But most times it’s about the green tapestry. Every time though it’s all about class and elegance. The kind of expensive perfume you use on special occasions. Like making a line outside Studio54, hoping that tonight you’re the lucky one. The one that Steve (Rubell) will pick to come inside and dance the night away with Bianca Jagger, and Elizabeth Taylor, and Jerry Hall, and Andy Warhol. But even if you don’t get chosen, the night is young and your friends will take you somewhere else. You’re in Manhattan, it’s the 70’s, you can do anything and go anywhere! Well, maybe not Studio54! Halston has little to no similarities to other fragrances. It could be, maybe, Ivoire, if Ivoire wears Ultrasuede and smokes menthol cigarettes. Halston, just like the fashion of Roy and the magic of decadent New York nights, is unique. It took something familiar, modernized it, and made it new again, complete with a sculptural bottle that fits it to a T. It screams optimism, elegance, all while shining like a disco ball. It’s not just about the beautiful people that made it famous, it’s about the feeling of letting go, having the time of your life and mixing with the crowd. Famous or not. Although it might appear as a nighttime scent, Halston, like most chypres, can be worn in any occasion. The vintage, mid 80’s bottle I own has intense sillage and longevity that lasts the night. I don’t know how the current formula fares but looking at what chypres have become, I have little faith. I think modern Halston wouldn’t be taken by the hand of Steve Rubell to go into Studio54. Adding: the vintage extrait (now own a 70’s bottle) has the same formula, amped up in a luscious animalic green. That night out at Studio54; well, it just moved to a dark corner. 🔥🔥

I bought a large bottle of the current formulation of Halston Classic after falling in love with the Netflix miniseries. I certainly wasn't alone, as it took three attempts to successfully procure a bottle online. One out of the five "Halston" episodes is dedicated to the story of the creation of this fragrance, a rare treat for perfume enthusiasts. Elsa Peretti's iconic teardrop-like bottle design features; from the flea-market necklace that provided the initial inspiration, to the prototype design, to the difficulty in convincing the corporate overlords to agree to it. While this gave an interesting insight into the design process, the real beauty of the episode was the focus on the creation of the juice itself. Creative licence is taken here, but Halston's scenes with Vera Farmiga's perfumer from IFF reflect the power of scent, the personal memories it evokes, and the craftsmanship that goes into perfume creation. Halston's three scents of choice are Lady of the Night orchids (a scented breed), cigarettes (sweet as well as smoky) and, infamously, his lover's unwashed jockstrap, gamely smelled by Farmiga. The scent itself, or at least the modern incarnation does not really smell like any of these, however, it can be argued that there is a smoky-musky-leather notes in the base are perhaps indicative of cigarettes and a used jockstrap. The opening is surprisingly cool. I associate chypres with warmth and richness, but Halston is notably a cool chypre. It is green and fresh, briefly minty, and watery in the vein of cucumber. The green notes smell natural, moist and leafy, reminiscent of springtime growth. There is a hint of fruity freshness, but it is not at all sweet. It is very bright and very soapy, refreshing yet not entirely clean. Woody floral notes emerge as it dries down, and the base develops, giving it warmth and earthiness akin to a traditional chypre. It is smoky and mossy, but it somehow remains lighter and clearer than other midcentury chypres, which are often dense and dark. Clean, non-indolic jasmine and powdery rose dominate the floral notes, as well as a brief sour note (marigolds?) that thankfully doesn't last. The oakmoss doesn't smell too synthetic, as it is nicely balanced by the patchouli and vetiver as well as the woody notes. Some spiciness creeps in, adding a welcome warmth and some depth, and it becomes quite balsamic in its middle stage. It remains pleasantly soapy. It fades to a woody, earthy amber skin scent with some sweet musk also evident here. Sillage is moderate-to-strong and longevity is pretty decent, lasting for over six hours on skin. A vintage-style chypre with a difference, this inexpensive reformulation is surprisingly decent. Best worn as an autumn/winter day scent, and as is the case with many chypres from decades past, it is unisex by today's standards. I would love to compare this to the original version that contains real oakmoss. Green, earthy, smoky-yet-soapy goodness. 4.5/5.

I came by Halston in a very unique and oblique way. It was the Christmas season in the early 90's and I was still in my teens. My father took us to the mall to get some holiday shopping done. Already a perfume enthusiast at that age, I stopped at a kiosk selling designer dupes and started sniffing away. God bless my dad...he never knows what to get a girl for a gift. :) He asked me which ones I liked best. Discerning where this was going, I picked out a couple and expected one to end up under the tree in a few days. Sure enough, on Christmas morn, I spotted the wrapped perfume-sized box and with anticipation of being transported into floral rapture, I eagerly open the package and found....Halston?!? Obviously, this was an epic misunderstanding! Adolescent Agnes would never choose to smell like industrial fumes, which was my unfortunate first impression. Still, I thanked my father and kept my mouth shut about this cosmic blunder. A Christmas miracle happened that year. I kept sniffing that bottle of Dupe d'Halston. Again and again, like an addict returning to huff a bottle of glue. Then I summoned the courage to spray some on my wrists and...well... I couldn't get enough of it in the weeks and months following. While all the other girls were wearing aquatics, I was wearing an ersatz disco era chypre. This was during a time when the 70's aesthetic was held in high disdain by my age group. I guess I always was a bit of a misfit. :) That bottle is long gone, but now I've got the real stuff, a vintage splash from the 70's or 80's. Adult Agnes continues to wear Halston occasionally during the year, but it's become my default Holiday perfume. When I smell Halston, I don't smell cocaine and discotheques; I smell Christmas. Thanks Daddy! BTW, that dupe was a very worthy facsimile of the original. If you're reading this hoping to gain some insight on whether Halston is for you, be aware that it has a HUGE capacity to grow on you, even if you're a chypre virgin as I was. I can't speak for the stuff on sale today, never smelt it; but the vintage offerings and that one bottle of Halston Faux Eau is and was mysterious and earthy. This would be very glamorous on a daring young woman who wants to stand apart from the gourmand gang. There's also that cozy and comfortable aspect to it that makes it so easy to wear at Christmas time. Is there anything I don't like about Halston? Yes, the bottle! It's disco-ugly and vaguely obscene and I don't like it hanging out on the shelf with all my other lovelies. There, I said it. Happy sniffing, Folks!

Hi RDfaerie, I think I may know the answer as to why you smell bitter chemicals in Halston Classic, when so many others like myself just adore this fragrance. It could be that Halston has an unpleasant personal association for you, but it might literally be the chemical makeup. I'm about to go all Perfume Nerd on you, sorry. I suspect that the culprit is Calendula Officinalis or English Marigold (also known as Pot Marigold). In Australia, English Marigolds are called Stinking Rogers. Nuff said. The scent is different to Tegetes, another plant which also goes by the common name of Marigold. That is sweeter and is also used in fragrances. Halston Classic for Women has English Marigold as a main fragrance note. As an experiment after reading your review, I sprayed Halston on my skin. It was awful. I couldn't believe it, because this is in my fragrance top ten. I've never experienced this before and thought my bottle may have turned. I then tried two of my other marigold fragrances. Yep - Stinking Roger. That's when I wondered if it was the weather. Today at my place the weather is humid and rainy, and the sharp bitter marigold note completely overwhelmed the other sweeter notes in Halston (and the other fragrances I own), and I had to scrub it off. Most of the time though this fragrance is very well balanced. So, before you toss your bottle away, please give it another try in different weather. Maybe Halston will turn out to be your personal Kryptonite, but if it works for you in the right weather, you might just love it too. So, in conclusion, I figure after my overspraying experiment today, that on a good day, Calendula gives a sweet fragrance an edge. On a bad day, Calendula reminds me of nursery rhyme my mother used to sing to me about a little girl who had a little curl. "When she was good, she was very very good, but when she was bad she was rotten". Not sure what my mother meant by that.

I simply adore Halston! These past few weeks I have been in dire need of retail therapy and have emersed myself in a world of perfume. Halson classic has been the stand out purchase so far. It was a partially blind buy relying on only your reviews to seal the deal. I give major kudos Bernard Chant for creating such a gorgeous well rounded chypre. I agree with many of the other reviewers that this is vaguely reminiscent of Aromatics Elixir, but much creamier as if you sanded down all its rough edges. Don't get me wrong I freaking love AE and wear it often in all its incarnations, heck I own the perfumer's reserve soild and fluid. But it's no secret that AE can be sharp. When I wear Halston I feel naturally sexy if that makes sense. I do smell the mint in the opening, no melon on me but I'm not sad about that. The heart is stunning, so floral and semi-sweet, this is where it gets creamy. It finishes as a woody amber, oakmoss and incense skin sent that will have you sniffing yourself for hours. I picture the Halaton Woman of 1975 in her leather halter romper, hair, stunning hair long and wavy golden shimmering. She would have smelt so sexy and alluring, a trail of creamy moss and incense following in her wake I picked up a gift set with a full sized body lotion for under $25 CAD. The lotion is to die for, it's the base notes and not much else. This makes it ideal for layering. I often wear it under other less mossy or green fragrances to give them a bit of base. This has made it into my tight circle of signature scents. I'm on the hunt for a vintage bottle. From what I read the older juice is much better, as it often is. If you see this at your local drugstore this Christmas buy it! You will be pleased you did.