Chaz / Ciaz
Eau de Cologne, Revlon (1975)

This is a really interesting one. On first spraying, it's sweet, spicy, and somehow meaty. It feels flowery, but not feminine. There's a lot going on, but it all seems to be supporting a strong patchouli that's the main focus.

Chaz, as a whole, is sweet and has that leafy green sillage you get from some patchoulis. It's also got a sneezy soapy musk and really metallic lavender. I keep wondering if the meaty quality is because Chaz reminds me vaguely of barbeque sauce charring on a grill, or if it's just taragon, which can impart an oily meatiness.

Hours in, I'm left with a patchouli-heavy chypre base. The base is fairly weak, but I suppose that's to be expected from a cheapie like this.

Chaz hits a weird irony in that it smells like it's made of classic ingredients that were popular in the past (clove, carnation, taragon, oakmoss, and of course the patchouli) but it doesn't really smell classic to me, as its utter strangeness feels modern, like something a current indie perfumer would mess around with.

I think I'm going to rate this a neutral, as it's not bad, but parts of it (the metallic lavender and the meat, especially) just don't work for me.

This came on my radar after a fellow posted it as their #SOTD on Basenotes. Intrigued, I made a deal with a seller for a vintage gift set (cologne and aftershave) by Revlon - Chaz Division. If there's a clear distinction between masculine scents of the 1970s and 1980s, Chaz makes it. This has an older classic vibe which I'm guessing is a result of the musk note in its base. It's very nice and I very much like it. Recommend. 👍

Ahh, the Revlon rugged blast that is Chaz, "fragrance that's almost as interesting as the men who wear it." This was the slogan that appeared in the ads that featured Tom Selleck in 1979 donned in a tux, cowboy hat, and cowboy boots. The Marlboro Man made room for the Chaz Man as this was the peak of numerous hairy-chested macho juices on men's dressers, next to their Right Guard, Barbasol, and Kiwi shoe polish.

Essentially the male's answer to the wildly successful liberated lady's Charlie from Revlon, Chaz could very well be considered the liberated man's cologne, if you catch my drift. It was produced by Revlon until the grave robber of dead perfume brands, Jean Phillipe, launched their own hollow, sad zombie resurrection (pictured above). To fully appreciate Chaz, one must grab a Revlon-produced bottle and take in all of its musky, spicy bravado. One may argue this is a descendant of the IBQ mob of leather chypres like Aramis, Azuree, with the musks turned up to 11, and a big, oily, muscled carnation "insert your choice of onomatopoeia here." It's low baritone utters "who's your daddy?" and will bring you to your knees.

This daddy is in tight jeans and a white tank, dancing amongst writhing bodies to the Passengers' "Hot Leather": "you can make it, honey can you shake, baby they can walk we can run..." This almost makes me want to grow back my moustache. Yow.

I have a original set of aftershave and cologne splash and still love it, it's one of my go to's for winter. This is not a millennial clone sweet smell, it's very masculine . Opens citrus and cedar, dry down is cedar with a hint of musk. Last several hours. This is a sent you put on after chopping wood and sitting by a open fire wearing flannel shirt.

My experience is very similar to ccritic's: a girlfriend gave me a bottle of Chaz EDT for Christmas 1977 during my senior year of college. I only wear fragrances I like myself, and I wore Chaz almost exclusively the rest of my senior year. Because it was strong, I tended to wear it only at night for going out. Chaz always received a great response from my girlfriends and my friends' dates and girlfriends. It has a deep, almost musky woody-citrusy affect that suited that era extremely well still evokes great memories, and remains relevant today, so I wear it occasionally even today. I take advantage of the fact that you can still find Chaz via web outlets.

I was given Chaz by a girl I was dating in college, back around 1976. That's really all the recommendation it needed (although having Tom Selleck as its spokesmmodel probably didn't hurt). Once it started to disappear I grabbed the last bottles I could find and still guard what is left. The scent ... 40 years on ... still makes women crazy. (Probably because they don't recognize it anymore but, still, anything that works, works).