Halston Z14 by Halston

jazz444

A scent doesn't last 30+ years by just being average. Z-14 is one of the most immediately recognizable scents to my nose because it is so orignal. It was one of my scent triad as a teenager (along with Bowling Green and Pierre Cardin Musk), and boy how I loved it. Let it get away from me for years, until I picked up a bottle last year on a whim. Damn--good to have you back in my life!

Lemons and leather and some animalic accords make this a definite night and colder weather wear. I rock it with pride!

ObsessionForMen

Deep boozy leather scent. Strong at first but dries down to release underlying florals and musk. The bottle I use is vintage so not sure how new juice stacks up. Definitely not for the boys. Only for mature men. I do like wearing this on a special occasion evening. Great sillage that only an 80's powerhouse could produce.

Fred Maple-Hill

Smells like an old armchair in a bottle- very nice for winter wear.

Glassmeow

My roommate in college wore this. His mom bought him every trendy cologne that came out in the late 70s/early 80s. I borrowed it from him and always thought it smelled better on a girl - if lightly applied.

ShiseidoTactics

Por dos decadas casi, fue mi fragancia favorita, pero en los ultimos 15 años, dicha colonia ha desmejorado en calidad. No se porque.

rviacava

This is one of my favorites. I don´t care if I smell like an old man.To me HZ14 is the scent of Fall, like a walk in the park all leaves on the ground...a classic!

andy

very outdated 80s mossy chypre unpleasant to my nose

pansylady

the best men's cologne... hands-down! I love darlingbud's description of the blood cell-shaped bottle, and the image of the guys on one knee singing "Mammy"-didn't get the association on the latter but loved the description all the same! :)

cassio

I earned this fragrance a long time ago, and I don´t like it. Kind of grandpa smell.

Castor

Mr. Chypre found its gentlemanliness boring.

So he got dressed, headed to Studio 54 and had a terrific night. He enjoyed it so much that he returned, made some friends, enjoyed the excesses offered to him by his new set of acquaintances - known as the 70's and the 80's - and, according to his former friends in the Upper West Side and Greenwich, CT, finally dissapeared. Well, of course they did not know neighbours of the Time Square Area have seen him clad in leather heading to, well, "places".

Why a chypre? Because it opens with hesperdic top notes and dries down in leather. However, it is qualified as a leather scent. Is it a chypre? IMHO, yes. But amped up, so forget the classic gentlemanliness that are characteristic of men's chypres. This is on the vein of Quorum, however more subdued.

Why the metaphore? There was a time Haslton's Z-14 and 1-12 were a high-end fragrances sold in high-end department stores at fairly high prices. But Halston's mismanagement and final demiss and death killed his fashion business and turned his fragrance brand into a drugstore scent owned by Elizabeth Arden.

However decadent, Z-14 is enjoyable.

gucci

this perfume was very popular in the 90's i still love it it's very manly that's what i love

darlingbuds

Mmmmmm! I love everything about this fragrance. From its bad-boy associations right down to its cute-as-a-button, dark brown blood-cell shaped bottle. I agree with Knightz that it's probably nicer to wear during the colder season.

Z-14 starts out bold and fresh -- slides right across the stage on one knee singing "Mammy!". Although the top notes listed say bergamot and lemon, those citruses simply add a crispness to the main event, which to me is the cypress.

As it calms down, Z-14 squeezes behind the wheel of the Knight Rider car (KITT?)and cruises along in leathery lasciviousness. Yeah, there are flowers here, but they're the flowers he seduced you with, now tossed into the backseat as. . . . well, I'll spare you the raunchy details. The leather-benzoin ride lasts and lasts until the almost tar-like finish. A good tar -- like Grandpa's Pine Tar soap(marvelous soap!)

Say what you will about its datedness, but I would trample my own mother to get to any guy wearing this within 50 miles of me. It's damned sexy, and as far as I'm concerned, irresistable. I sometimes wear this to bed at night after a shower to maybe provoke some racy dreaming.

Guys: wear it! Call me! ;)

Stefan

Compare to Valentino Vendetta. The same thing basically, but the VV is actually sweeter and not as harsh of the senses thoughout the day.

knightz

I was on the fence about Halston Z-14, and maybe even it's brother Halston 1-12. It seemed I once liked 1-12 better, though. I tried both of them for the first time early this year, when the Spring was starting to warm up into Summer. At that time, the Z-14 smelled just as heavy as it was sour to me. I put it aside, wrist-testing it many times throughout the summer, it always seemed too sour.

Today the weather outside is fully into Fall, cool days, cooler nights, and there have even been a few brief, light snowfalls. I tried the Halston Z-14 again several times this week and, to my complete surprise, it was nice and sweet, spicy, and has some nicely aggressive florals. I'm smelling it now on my wrist and it's almost approaching gourmand. The lightest note of benzoin is detectable. As the dry down softens, the florals fade in and out just as the spices do. What I once thought smelled like cough medicine now bears it's true colors for the Fall Season. A beautiful and complex blend of notes, each and every note contributing to every other note in some way. I love it.

I am amazed at the reversal of senses, based just on the season. I didn't know why I couldn't like a scent that has been around for almost 35 years. No other cologne has ever smelled so different, to me, depending only on the outside temperature. Something else that surprises me is that I liked Halston 1-12 more than Z-14 in the Spring/Summer, and now it's 1-12 that doesn't agree with me this season. These are not only 'try before you buy' scents, but ones that should be tried in different seasons.

A very nice, cool/cold weather scent, excellent for the holidays. Above average projection and average longevity. I will get much use out of this now, if it proves as good through the Winter as it is in the Fall.

ThePerceiver

I know why it is nearly 35 years old and still around...it is a classic yet intriguing scent.

However, I would not use it as an 'everyday' or 'casual' type cologne. It is more special than that.

I should add that, even though I disagree, my girlfriend says I smell like an 'old man' when wearing it.

Aiona

My mother collects minis, and she had about 3 minis of Halston Z-14. So I appropriated one. It would be a shame to let this sit in a bottle unopened because it really does smell nice. It smells like celery seed to me, even though I see no celery seed in the notes listed above. It's distinctive. Not a cool aquatic. Not really a gourmand, despite the celery seed. Just a nice greenish scent.

LuvWarrior

Fond memories of 1-12 & Z-14. My first adult job in 1978 (right out of high school) was at a Hudson's dept. store and I purchased both of them. I used to wear both at the same time. I haven't smelled or worn this fragrance since the mid '90s, but remember it as a nice masculine scent, esp. mixed together.