Charles of the Ritz was a prestige beauty name — five owners made it worthless

Charles of the Ritz was born in 1926 when Charles Jundt, a hairdresser working at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in New York, created a prestige cosmetics line carrying the hotel's name. The brand grew into a major beauty house, launching iconic products like Jean Naté body splash, Enjoli perfume, and the Forever Krystle fragrance inspired by the TV drama Dynasty.

In 1971, pharmaceutical company E.R. Squibb & Sons bought the brand. Fifteen years later Squibb sold the division to Yves Saint Laurent for $500 million. YSL invested heavily in a new men's fragrance, Jazz, which failed — and the October 1987 stock market crash erased any hope of recovery.

YSL sold Charles of the Ritz to Revlon later in 1987, but Revlon treated it as a back-burner brand. The company repositioned it for mid-price stores like J.C. Penney and targeted 'mature' customers — a death sentence for a name built on Ritz-Carlton prestige. Attempts to revive the brand with celebrity endorsements failed, and when Revlon tried to sell the line, no buyer wanted it. Analysts noted that the name 'Charles of the Ritz' no longer meant anything to consumers.

In 2002, Revlon discontinued Charles of the Ritz. The fragrances lived on under the Revlon name — stripped of their own identity, selling without the history that had once made them desirable.