Charlie / Charlie Blue (1973)
by Revlon

I have a vintage dab-bottle of the perfume concentration of original Charlie, and it does not smell cheap to me at all. It begins with a fresh, exceedingly cool burst of green + citrus, then evolves into a nice jasmine and rose floral before revealing a base of cedar, animalic nitro-musks, and oakmoss. It really is a beautiful perfume, I wear it quite often although I don't have a "past" with it. I was born in the late 70s and my grandma did have a large bottle of it on her vanity, but she never wore it and i don't have any scent associations with Charlie. I love vintage perfumes - at the moment I'm obsessed with 70s drugstore scents - and if the cologne version of Charlie smelled as good as my perfume concentration, then I can completely understand why Charlie was such a beloved and successful scent. It is very lovely if you're into vintage scents, but if you don't enjoy old-fashioned, pre-80s type scents you may find Charlie to smell unappealing.

2nd December, 2011.

A forgotten '70s drugstore classic, Revlon's Charlie harkens back to the days when women smoked filterless Chesterfields while ironing and watching daytime soap operas. Do any women still do that? Doubtful.

The scent opens with a blaring lemon/orange zest, then quickly transitions into a somewhat spicy and chemical combination of white rose, lily, and half-hearted carnation on a very dry chypre oakmoss foundation. You can smell the florals distinctly between the tang of the opening and the moistureless base because they're decidedly "white" and lack any coherence amidst all the oranges and browns. I suppose that's a minus for Charlie, as a darker rose and more robust carnation might make the scent flow better. But all things considered, Charlie isn't bad, and is not the blobby peach and musk nightmare I find in so many reformulated drugstore feminines. She who remembers her soap opera and pack-a-day Chesterfield habit probably still hold onto this fragrance, but it lacks relevance in today's world for today's women.

21st February, 2011.

I used to wear Charlie as a teen, then didn't wear it for decades. I tried wearing it again in my 30s and 40s and gave up, thinking it was overpowering. Now I'm in my 50s, and tried it again just yesterday. Now it's a green floral with a powdery drydown that is refreshing and different in this age of fruity gourmands. Time changes my perspective of certain perfumes.

28th July, 2010.

Hah, a drug store fragrance and I think it's AMAZING in all regards. One regard is its boisterous attempt at being something "expensive" smelling. It's really potent and sometimes could be called "vile". Now something this cheap and old would mean that everyone probably wore it "way back when". Honestly, I don't remember in my youth a single women ever wearing this. Of course, I wasn't paying attention to such.

I bought a vintage bottle from an elderly lady and I told her why and she was ecstatic that I was collecting bottles.

13rd July, 2010.

I adore Charlie! For the price, its incredibly long lasting. To me, Charlie is a classic fragrance. Charlie Blue is too sweet for me, and I haven't tried any of the other Charlies. The original Charlie from 1973 is the one I love!

26th May, 2010.

Many people talk about Charlie and i can't believe this fragrance was a FiFi winner. For me Charlie is like the poor unglamorous cousin of Chanel N5.

Please revlon working womans deserved a better fragrance! This doesn't even have own identity..

Cheap perfumes shouldn't smell horrible..

20th May, 2010.