Elizabeth Arden • Halston • Fragrances

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*TOP REVIEWER* Therealslayergrrl on 1/4/2013 9:43:00 PM more reviews by Therealslayergrrl

Age: 36-43   Skin: Combination, Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Hazel    

I think this is where I got my love for chypre's came from. Someone in their infinite wisdom gave me a bottle of this when I was in 6th grade.. Yikes! It was super strong and WAY too strong for me then. I think I probably killed my poor classmates sense of smell with this. (sorry guys) It was so bad my Mom took it away from me and I got a lesson on how to properly wear perfume from my Grandmother. Just one whiff and I fall in love all over again.

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*TOP REVIEWER* cjenn on 2/9/2012 5:28:00 PM more reviews by cjenn

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Hazel    

The bottle is so classic, so reminiscent of Studio 54 and the heyday of disco what with Halston himself holding court at the bar of the original New York discotheque. That said, I always remember my mom had this bottle on her dresser and it just screamed 1970s! It's very powdery on the top notes and is ultra sexy and made for the confident woman!!!! LOVE THIS classic fragrance.

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stayce on 6/28/2011 9:39:00 PM more reviews by stayce

Age: 25-29   Skin: Acne-prone   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Hazel    

Well, this is really two reviews: maybe three years ago I came across a bottle at Marshall's and tried it. At the time, it felt too adult and too heavy for Southern California, and I discarded it.
Last year I was seized with curiosity and got a travel size bottle at the fancy Rite Aid. And... yikes. I don't know if the first bottle I bought was older stock or whether they rolled out a cheaper reformulation for the mini bottles, but it was an unbelievably harsh blast of artificial rose warring with Chlorox, with no base notes. I hope it was a fluke.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Shadow_Witch on 2/11/2011 8:03:00 PM more reviews by Shadow_Witch

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium, Cool   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Fine   Eyes: Hazel    

I read a lot of reviews about the evils of perfume reformulation here on MUA. I too, have contributed one or two but it would appear by the reviews I am reading lately that every second review of any fragrance that has been around at least 10 years dismisses all that is not the original production year as REFORMULATED. And to perfumistas, reformulated = the devil. Just like food and wine, even if you follow the same recipe to the letter every time, there is always the occasional "not so good/bad batch" as well as the superlatively good batch, no? Sometimes when you're cooking, you may be missing an ingredient and need to substitute.... often, it comes out tasting the same, no? Back to this review: I am a self-proclaimed '70s fragrance freak. All my favourite fragrances were produced and first released within the years 1970 and 1979.


I mourned the day I finished my original bottle of Halston from the late '70s. The reviews here on MUA and fragrance boards/blogs throughout the internet had me convinced that the current Halston "formulation" was nowhere near the original. So much so that I didn't bother replacing my bottle for years. Then last week, I broke down and bought a bottle at the cheapest price I could find.


This brings me to my review of Halston. I received my little bottle of Halston with the Halston printed on the bottle which, according to noses who know is not worth the bother. I opened the box with mixed feelings of impending disappointment and cautious optimism, I sprayed it in the air. Oh my how wrong they were! My little bottle of Halston is pure oakmoss-y, green, incense, musky chypre goodness!!!


This makes me think that perhaps we sometimes "remember" the fragrances of our past/youth... wrong? Also, our body chemistry changes too. Hormones, diet, smoking, medication, etc, these things and more all affect how a fragrance develops on our skin every time we wear it.


If you have loved Halston since the seventies like I have or, if you've never even sniffed it. I recommend you do. This baby is a little powdery and very, very, sultry. This is ultra femme with a capital confidence. This is not the fragrance of a woman who needs to smell like fruity florals or dessert to feel attractive. Halston is the fragrance of women who feel good in their skin no matter how old/young they are. I'm happy to have my Halston back. Will definitely repurchase. The bottle design is legendary.

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*TOP REVIEWER* Chamuda on 10/25/2010 8:20:00 PM more reviews by Chamuda

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Halston, where have you been all my life?
Love the feminine softly curved bottle, and love the juice even more.
It's the perfect green, mossy, oakmoss, incense musky perfumey scent. It sprays on nice but dries down even nicer. I actually find it calming when I smell it - as if it has aromatherapeutic effect.
The lotion is nice too, a bit more mildly green in scent, will go well with the cologne.
Both are highly recommended!

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*TOP REVIEWER* youdroppedabalmonme2 on 10/15/2010 11:49:00 PM more reviews by youdroppedabalmonme2

Age: 36-43   Skin: Very Oily, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Brown    

This review is for Halston **before** it was acquired (and reformulated, and cheapened) by EA Fragrances. I tried some of the Halston now being sold in drugstores and discount stores, and while it retains some of its original character, it falls absolutely flat in comparison to the original. My advice is to get this on eBay-- someone is always selling vintage stock.

SO, to return to my point: Original 1975 formulation of Halston is a magical chypre on my skin. Warm, woodsy, and clean, it has some of the best sillage I've ever experienced in a fragrance. Elegant, yet subtly sexy... it reminds me in the drydown of more assertive chypres like Aromatics Elixir and Paloma Picasso, but where those scents can be aggressive and difficult, Halston is just plain lovely. At first spray, it does smell a bit "dated," if only because it employs real oakmoss and is not the faintest bit sweet. But give it 10 minutes, and it will steal your heart with its gorgeous unfolding. I can see why previous reviewers have equated Halston with the glamour and excitement of the disco era. Still, it is timeless.

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*TOP REVIEWER* rsmuskie on 10/15/2010 4:20:00 PM more reviews by rsmuskie

Age: 44-55   Skin: Normal   Hair: Black   Eyes: Black    

For all you sweet young naive things out there who think that anything made in the 70's or 80's is granny or old lady, have I got news for YOUZE: this fragrance is a man slayer. Period. Doesn't matter if the guy is 19 or 90. This is the fragrance that wins them all - hands down! I hadn't worn it in years, but recently wore it to the bank, and a 20 year old teller was fawning all over the scent. "I don't know what you're wearing, but you smell really great!" I hated to tell him that not only was he not even born when the fragrance was in its first heydey, but that his parents were both probably still in grade school and hadn't even met yet... And yet, the kid knows what he likes! CIndy Crawford in her Halston: enough said. If you're bold enough to try it, do so.

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*TOP REVIEWER* crickett85 on 2/25/2010 9:36:00 PM more reviews by crickett85

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Green    

I haven't worn this scent for years but recently got a bottle while feeling nostalgic.
I think the scent has changed. While I used to think of this as a pleasant mossy-woodsy scent, it now smells chypre but with a cloyingly sweet undertone (that I don't remember it having before). Somehow I think that it is less oakmoss and more something(?) else, more of a cloyingly sweet scent.
This REALLY has sillage....tremendous lasting power and a little goes a long way...so use lightly.
And, while it's recommended for daytime use, I find a scent this heavy more appropriate to evening wear.
Overall, I still like the scent but not as much as I did when I was in college back in the 80s. I really think that is because the scent has been reformulated. I STILL just love the bottle though.

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*TOP REVIEWER* highrise on 1/26/2010 10:30:00 AM more reviews by highrise

Age: 36-43   Skin: Other, Fair, Cool   Hair: Other   Eyes: Brown    

I loev the deep satisfaction of something living up to - and surpassing - your expectations. As a chypre-lover I was holding out for Winners (equivalent to TJ Maxx in Canada) to get some Halston in before buying it on ebay. Sure enough, this week $7 got me a sweet ounce of a gorgeous, smoky, grownup scent in the fab Peretti bottle that is a happy companion to my Cabochard and Cristalle. Halston has a fascinating minty edge that lightens the whole composition. For an EDC it is remarkably long-lasting. Better get me some more!

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*TOP REVIEWER* chayaNY on 12/23/2009 8:09:00 PM more reviews by chayaNY

Age: Unknown   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium, Warm   Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium   Eyes: Brown    

like a reviewer said below, this seems a little changed from my h.s days, and as she said, "stronger, not as pretty." but that could simply be my memories telling me it was great then and now i just like it less. i knew someone who wore it and i loved it right away. its not subtle, but when it wears down over the day, i think it really does get soft and imo smells better. it's got to be one of the most long lasting scents i have ever tried. if you are unsure you like this, do not sample this if you have somewhere to go cause its not gonna be gone anytime soon.

i don't love it the way i once did though i found myself sniffing my wrist all day when i sampled it again last week (walgreens had it on sale recently). it really must be worn slightly, do not full on spray, do not douse head to toe. its true what others have said, this is not a case of, "well if a little is good then a lot will be better!" it smells a lot more mature than i recalled and cannot imagine a bunch of h.s girls today running around wearing this as we did in the 80's. Instead it has more of sexy/glamorous vibe to me. i'm not good at describing scent notes (unless they''re obvious) so i cannot say more about that. funny enough instead of growing more attracted to stronger scents as time goes by i instead gravitate to the sweeter, softer, more powdery fragrances. If not for that i'd go buy a bottle of this today.

Edit, I think I will try this again. Whenever I see a new review it makes me want some!

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*TOP REVIEWER* ellizam on 11/5/2009 12:57:00 AM more reviews by ellizam

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Brown    

First, I have Halston parfum, edt, and "natural" spray (i.e. w/o alcohol) and they are all lovely. The parfum is the most lovely, the edt next most lovely, and natural spray not great but once you get to drydown it gets beautiful.


Second, on my skin Halston is all about vetiver. All vetiver, all green, all the time. Smooth, smoky, elegant, classic vetiver.


Third, this fragrance is kind of a ticking time bomb. You see, it's so beautiful you'll find yourself wanting to spray, then spray a little more, than dab, then spray just a bit more.... up to a certain point, it's all glory. But if you go just a smidge beyond where you should, Halston turns into a toxic bitter cloud of green/woodsy horror that nothing can erase. You know this, you know it well, and yet... oh, just ONE more spray, just one TINY one.


This takes either serious self-discipline or a friend with a lock on her purse. But heavens to betsy this is gorgeous. I adore the bottle.


BTW Halston Sheer is NOTHING like Halston. It shouldn't even be presented as a flanker and liking one has nothing to do with how you'll feel about the other.

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*TOP REVIEWER* rp1017 on 2/6/2009 2:22:00 PM more reviews by rp1017

Age: Unknown   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

Ahhhhh Halston, this was my first "grown-up" fragrance which I began wearing as a teenager during the late 80's ..... this was my signature scent for several years until I started experimenting with other fragrances and forgot about good old Halston ...... I loved the sharpness and woodsiness ..... this is a very pleasing fragrance with receiving compliments from both males and females ....... the other day I happened to be in a store and there was Halston (for some reason I thought that it had been discontinued) ..... I did not pick up a bottle but next time I am out, I will. I have such good memories of Halston and glad to see that after 20 years, it is still around ------ a true classic!....... man, I really need to get me a bottle! I saw that someone below mentioned that it smells differently now ..... I hope that they did not reformulate and ruin it. Edit: 2/8/09 ---- I picked up a bottle yesterday at Walgreens and paid I think $22.99 and glad to report that it is still slightly the same scent but has changed, although now it seems more stronger on my chemistry and not as pretty. The original was a 5 and the latest version is a 1, so I give this a 3 as my final rating.

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rebeccabuendia on 2/3/2009 12:12:00 PM more reviews by rebeccabuendia

Age: 44-55   Skin: Combination, Fair   Hair: Red   Eyes: Hazel    

This perfume may be an acquired taste, and boy am I glad that I acquired it. I remember when this first came out; I was in high school and thought it was too spicy to be a "girl" fragrance. I rediscovered it last summer by way of an encounter with a half-full bottle in an antique store, and the smell transported me back to the sensual 70s. It is warm and spicy and womanly - a perfect winter scent.

Everybody probably knows by now that Halston insisted on the Elsa Perretti-designed bottle and devised a specialty spray mechanism to make it work. The bottle is ergometric and feels wonderful in your hand. It allows a person who is totally right- or left-handed to spray with either hand (I apply perfume to inner elbows, so this quality is helpful to me).

I layer this perfume with cashmere oil at the pulse points and a spritz of spicy-chocolate scented Urge perfume from Modern Atelier in my hair. The total effect is sensual and multi-faceted.

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sauce62 on 1/24/2009 9:39:00 PM more reviews by sauce62

Age: 44-55   Skin: Dry, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

Feeling nostalgic for my high school days, (when I still had hope), I recently decided to revisit some favorites from then and the eighties. I had beautiful memories of Halston and how fresh and magical it smelled. I was really infatuated with that smell back in the day. Well, I couldn' t resist a bargain at TJ Maxx, so I got a cute little bottle. Yikes, does this stuff reek. I don't remember it stinking like that!! I'm sure the formulation has changed, because it did emphatically not smell so strong, It seemed almost Aromatics Elixir-like. (Another old favorite that now makes me sick, but I like to use as a room spray.) I also ordered K de Krizia on ebay, since that was my signature in the Eighties. Holy Hell, no wonder I always felt like crap!!! I got sick instantly and was completely self conscious that I was making others ill as well. Not Good. But that's another review.
Its funny how your tastes change as you age. Now, I want subtle and fresh. No headaches, please. I've had enough of those.

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truffle_me on 1/23/2009 10:36:00 PM more reviews by truffle_me

Age: 25-29   Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium   Hair: Blond   Eyes: Blue    

I have to admit, I'm a sucker for the bottle when it comes to Halston. Its lines remind me of a stylized version of a neck, tilted at an angle and gazing adoringly up at some gorgeous man. Inside the bottle is a sweet baby-chypre with a sweet Wrigley's gum spearmint note permeating a white rose heart and ever-so-slightly mossy base. Closer to Chanel no. 19 than Mitsouko, Halston in its current formulation has an unfortunate tendency to smell a bit like it can't make its mind up whether it wants to be a supersweet green floral or a chypre.

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MissRubyJones on 1/13/2009 2:56:00 PM more reviews by MissRubyJones

Age: Unknown   Skin: Very Oily, Fair, Neutral   Hair: Red, Curly, Medium   Eyes: Grey    

After reading the rave reviews for Halston here at MUA, I decided to give it a try. I'll admit that at first, I was underwhelmed, but considering I only paid $10 for it, not too upset.

But then... hours later, I discovered that the the dry down on this is fantastic. I couldn't stop sniffing my wrists, lol. It's unlike anything else I've ever smelled. A sophisticated, altogether lady-like scent that is nothing like most of today's fruity-sweet scents. If you like a deep, layered, and again, SOPHISTICATED scent, you'll love this.

I only gave Halston 4 stars because at first spray, it's definitely in the perfumey, old-lady category. However, once it's spent a little time with you, you'll find that it's well worth the wait...

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*TOP REVIEWER* sunshine824 on 11/6/2008 7:03:00 PM more reviews by sunshine824

Age: Unknown   Skin: Combination, Tan   Hair: Black   Eyes: Black    

Pros: Easy to find, amazingly long lasting, affordable, unique(very few people are wearing this), interesting.

Cons: Opening can smel "perfumey" until it dries down.

On me this is extremely floral with a woody base. It borders on masculine but never quite crosses over that line. It's amazingly long lasting. And that's not just for a cologne. My skin eats up most edp's and parfums. So the fact that this fragrance lasts on me all day(from 6 a.m. until bedtime - 10p.m.) is nothing short of a miracle.


I've read that this is supposed to be a chypre, but I can't detect the oakmoss in it. It doesn't have that fuzzy, musty smell that oakmoss has. It's pretty "clean." Not powdery at all. Just florals and wood.

I absolutely adore the bottle! And the colour of the juice inside. It's a beautifully executed classic.

Would repurchase.

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*TOP REVIEWER* barnycat on 9/23/2008 9:54:00 PM more reviews by barnycat

Age: 36-43   Skin: Acne-prone, Fair   Hair: Brown   Eyes: Hazel    

My mother wore this when I was a girl. I've smelled it as an adult and still don't care for this scent. It's heavy and strong. The only redeeming quality is that it reminds me of my mom.

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Casafras on 9/23/2008 7:48:00 PM more reviews by Casafras

Age: 36-43   Skin: Normal, Fair   Hair: Brunette   Eyes: Blue    

youdroppedabalmonme below hit this just right. Halston is beautiful. It's warm and woodsy, creamy in the drydown. Definitely a "woman's" fragrance. Reminds me of a wide, deep, slow-moving river or a deep forest--mossy, and quiet, with underlying depth and grace.

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Rocki on 7/13/2008 10:45:00 PM more reviews by Rocki

Age: 44-55   Skin: Other   Hair: Other   Eyes: Other    

I too, wore this in the seventies. I was a singer in a Rock band, and my guitarist, fell hard for this stuff, (and me). He said, he always smelled it on his sheets when I left, and thought of me. It WAS a very sexy scent, I bought some a couple of years ago, and to me, didn't smell exactly the same, but it was still good. Alot of companies, are taking the old classics & tweaking them, they still smell similar, but not as breathtaking as they once were. Better than some of the stuff that's out there now!

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