Halston 1-12 Halston 1976 Cologne

Bottle Design Elsa Peretti

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7.6 / 10134 Ratings

Halston 1-12 (Cologne) is a popular perfume by Halston for men and was released in 1976. The scent is spicy-green. The production was apparently discontinued.

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Top Notes	Basil Bergamot Galbanum Green notes Mandarin orange Lemon
Heart Notes	Carnation Jasmine Lavender Pine needle Juniper berry
Base Notes	Amber Oakmoss Labdanum Musk Tonka bean Vanilla Cedar

Ratings

Scent

7.6134 Ratings

Longevity

6.996 Ratings

Sillage

6.4100 Ratings

Bottle

7.7112 Ratings

Value for money

8.718 Ratings

Submitted by TVC15, last update on 10.12.2021.

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Reviews

05/27/2021

8
Scent 7
Longevity 7
Sillage 8
Bottle

Taurus1967
3 Reviews

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Taurus1967

Top Review 19

Halston on the Zenith

As far as men's fragrances are concerned, the American fashion label Halston was indeed at its absolute peak in 1976. In that year, two colognes with the strange numerical designations Halston Z-14 as well as Halston 1-12, both in similar dark round, almost shapeless flacons by Elsa Peretti, were launched on the market. Both fragrances are still present today, even if they are no longer produced. And both creations thrive on the '70s zeitgeist, with a generous spiciness, though Halston 1-12 is more the one with the green-fresh twist.

Especially in the top note, it reminds me with its slightly metallic sharpness of sunscreen and allows me associations with beach holidays and / or outdoor pool season with hot days under blue skies, as well as refreshing swims.

A little later, the cologne becomes far greener with tentative traits by means of a little lavender and garden carnation, but also with increased woody to herbaceous aroma of pine needle and oak moss plus cedar.

In the course of the drydown is still worth mentioning some musk added, which altogether underpins the fact that Halston 1-12 is intended to appeal more to the masculine wearers and underline their attitude. In addition, it is clear that the cologne with its spiciness is just as suitable for spring and autumn, but less for winter, although a few vanilla / tonka bean molecules greet at the end.

I mean, quite a few years ago, but especially in its time of origin, Halston 1-12 was even more herbaceous and spicy - and I mean even the longevity was more exorbitant. I could be wrong about that, but the reformulations do take a lot out of the original over time. Nevertheless, this Halston belongs to one of the truly pioneering creations of the 70s - even still current.

13 Replies

04/30/2019

9
Scent 6
Longevity 6
Sillage 10
Bottle

Elysium
547 Reviews

Elysium

Bringing back the 70's days of disco and decadence

When CBS began marketing the building in 1976, various parties in the art and fashion world expressed interest in seeing Midtown Manhattan's Studio 54 converted into a nightclub and discotheque. That was the era of daytime Fiorucci Italian designer, Le Freak song by Chic disco music, together with many other hits such as You Should Be Dancing, Get Up and Boogie, Disco Inferno, Dancing Queen, Could it Be Magic, Best Disco in Town, I Love to Love, and Don't Leave me this Way just to mention a few...
At the same time, once dubbed "the premier fashion designer in America" by Newsweek, Halston was synonymous with the 1970s and the era of Studio 54. His strong connection to pop culture was evident by his friends and clients, which included Andy Warhol, Bianca Jagger, Elizabeth Taylor, and Anjelica Huston. Halston went on to create one of the best-selling fragrances of all time in his signature tear-drop shaped, sleek, pinch, and dark flacon designed by Elsa Peretti: Halston 1-12. This masterpiece was released in 1976, is clean, crisp, and fresh, as opposed to its sibling Z-14 that is more sparkling, warm, and sexy and was launched in 1974. I bought this blind so that I could have both Halston Z-14 and Halston 1-12. What a bizarre name for colognes, a sort of formula's code numbers!

My scent of the day that I just picked up recently. I am absolutely in love with this fragrance. And now, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Halston 1-12, an outdoorsy woody fougére to me, luminous, fresh and dark, unusual American fragrance, not smooth, not playful, maybe not a crowd pleaser, nobody seems to talk about. The cologne opens up with a big blast of hilly and natural citrus notes, sweet mandarin orange, which always rounds or softens most fragrances it opens and an arrangement of fresh, green leaves, really strong to be a cologne. The aroma is very good, it has a green vibe with a very nice mild citrus, very unique. Right off the bat, I get a tight connection with another cologne of the same era, GB Grey Flannel, without the dominant violet note. Perhaps, because they share similar notes in the top such as wonder green galbanum, lemon, and bergamot, having Halston 1-12 more greenish and herbal.

Middle notes of sweet red carnation, nearly discontinued in modern scents, plump juniper berries, night-blooming jasmine, relaxing lavender and crisp pine tree needles create the sensation of wandering through a densely-wooded forest. This smells like laying beneath a large oak while each note appears like sunlight shining through the leaves above you. The middle is where 1-12 shows first prospects of its true power, with lavender ushering in pine, then juniper, jasmine, and carnation before the floral warmth peaks and the base takes over.

The drydown on this continues in a powerful way but is more subtle than the top or heart. A heavier cedar base note alongside the pine note middle keeps this crisper even in the final stages than it's a muscular twin, but oakmoss, amber, musk, and tonka keep it in familiar territory with the surprising touch of vanilla in the finish. If that was not enough, a touch of floral and resinous labdanum completes the scene resulting in a compelling and intoxicating cologne. The warmth of tonka beans and smooth vanilla mellow it, as does the oakmoss and musk gives it just a hint of natural attractiveness.

All fragrances have their own real personality and suit a certain target of people, and I am happy to have both 1-12 and Z-14 in my collection. Longevity is about 7 hours on me, and projection for about 2 - 3 hours is good. Despite many people say that the reformulation of this and its brother Z-14 don't do the originals justice, meaning that the originals of these were probably killers, I don't mind, what I get amuses me completely.

Not for clubbing, yet perfect for daily use, no matter if you go to the office or go out for a stroll, I personally highly recommend this for spring and fall days. Ultimately, to me 1-12 by Halston is excellent. Strong enough to be noticed, not rude and obtrusive enough to be offensive. Besides, the 125ml is so unusually cheap and plentiful it almost begs to be tried.

-Elysium

1 Replies

12/28/2014

7
Scent 5
Longevity 5
Sillage 10
Bottle

GothicHeart
86 Reviews

GothicHeart

Top Review 8

Stopping at 3...

My best friend since high school has become unintentionally the cause of both one of the best and one of the worst moments in my perfume life. Here's why...
During the '80s he moved to London to study optometry. When I saw him again some six moths later, I was blown away by the fragrance he was wearing.
"Gee man! This is absolutely breathtaking! What on earth is it?"
"These are exactly the words I used the other day." he replied. "It's Halston 1-12."
As it turned out, he had encountered a fellow student wearing it, and he was as flabbergasted too.
And when he showed me its gorgeous bottle, I was about 95% sure that this was going to be the one.
Cause 1-12 was everything I could wish for.
Green, earthy, warm, absolutely heady and overly masculine. All in all a stunning fragrance in a bottle so beautiful that I couldn't get enough of handling it.
Oh, and girls loved it.
What else could a twentysomething ask for?
And so, 1-12 became a staple in our perfume wardrobe for a few years, until for some reason we couldn't find it anymore. And thus it was gone but not forgotten.
...
A couple of months ago my friend dropped by my house for an afternoon coffee, as he does regularly. Only this time he had something special in his pockets. Two brand new 125ml bottles of 1-12 having been just delivered to him. One of them was a gift for me. Excited beyond words, we made our coffee and sat on the couch in full anticipation, ready to enter the memory lane, with the two bottles about to serve as our time machine. We sprayed our wrists and waited for the miracle. It never happened. We stood in silence exchanging long stares. What we were sniffing was a ghost, a pale remnant of an once mighty presence. As if the bottles contained 25ml of the 1-12 we remembered, with the remaining 100ml being water. But even the quality of the fragrance seemed to have been dramatically changed for the worse. If 1-12 was to be considered a scale, what we were sniffing would hardly reach 3, and even reaching that low would have it panting. We gradually turned from disappointed to angry. It was such a letdown, that for a couple of minutes my friend tried to convince us that it was Z-14 the one we remembered and not 1-12. But then I reminded him of the little debate we had back in the days, about whether its name was 1-12 or I-12, and thus stopped him from flogging this long dead horse and gave his remaining futile hopes a coup de grâce. To say that we nearly mourned as if someone had died that evening, would not be an overstatement. Cause something had died indeed. Wows, originality, forwardness and balls. Along with a piece of our past. And this kind of loss is always a great one, no matter how often it's suffered.
So all I can do after this fiasco, is to stay true to my perfume guerilla tactics and try to spare you the frustration by shouting it from the rooftops. "Good people of the '80s, don't let this swindler fool you! Go for the vintage splash!"
...
I guess I owe a huge thanks to the "luminaries" running Elizabeth Arden, Inc. for being so full of inspiration and love about perfumes. Great work guys, please do keep doing it. Oh, and if you feel like sinking some other vessel of our memories with all hands, please go ahead and sink it. After all who needs memories when cash is flowing, right?

2 Replies

07/15/2012

jtd
484 Reviews

jtd

Very helpful Review 6

Fragrance/gender equation.

1-12 is proof of two truisms in perfumery: 1) fragrance doesn’t need to be expensive to be good, 2) men’s fragrance = (women’s fragrance – the more interesting parts) x 0.75. Forget the fact that Halton’s 1-12 preceded Balmain’s Ivoire by 4 or so years. As a notion, an exercise, take Ivoire. Walk it back, strip it down, and you’ll have 1-12. Ivoire is a definitive soapy white/green floral with an oddly edgy creaminess and a drydown arc of days. 1-12 isn’t as dense as Ivoire, but it is green and musky with a pinch of sharpness as well.

Their shared characteristic is green soapiness with a bite. Well, actually, for you dog people, where Ivoire has a bit of a terrier’s bite, 1-12, more a bird dog, has a soft mouth. Ivoire’s bite is an extremely peppery carnation that fits perfectly with its dense white/green floral sensibility. 1-12’s sharpness is a mild dose of moss and gives 1-12 its light green chypre quality.

1-12 comes only in edc concentrarion and after a strong opening, doesn’t have great endurance or projection, but because of its chypre drydown remains comfortable and coherent.

1 Replies