Description
Eau de toilette Cristalle was created in 1974, by the famous Chanel perfume creator Henri Robert. A perfect and pure fragrance composition reminds of an ideally lined crystal. Clear green notes reveal a wide spectrum: from green spicy basil to sweet petitgrain, a perfect beginning followed by exuberant eruption of lemon and bergamot freshness. The green note of galbanum unites the citrus notes and extends their glorious melody. The heart is composed of hyacinth and jasmine, but their luxuriance is subordinate to the perfect lines of the entire composition. The base includes oak moss and wood.
The perfume belongs to the floral-chypre olfactive group. Eau de parfum Cristalle was created by Jacques Polge in 1993. While EDT is mysterious and astringent ‘chypre’, eau de parfum is sweeter and richer. The verdure of the top notes is significantly moderated, and bergamot is replaced by sweet mandarin. Juicy peach and melon repel the dark notes characteristic for EDT, and bring out the whole composition to the daylight. Exotic luxury of ylang-ylang and jasmine contrasts the soily nuance of vetiver and oak moss.
Andersen11 – :
A little update.So I decided to give this one a full on focus because I was having the benefit of the doubt that I need to love this.It felt like it’s an obligation of mine for Cristalle to be loved.
Mine was indeed old and turnt,hence the vinegary smell.I made a full on test of only this perfume and my goodness.MY GOODNESS!!Once the vinegary smell subsides for about 30 minutes,it turns into this clean floral.A sophisticated white scarf on a summer day of a classy lady type of smell.I get nivea creme vibes to it too.Its just plain beautiful.
Very simple yet it states and provokes class and elegance.
I just needed to give it some time and love and understanding for mine was an very old and the juice had turnt.I only have about 25-30 percent left on the bottle that I got out of the 60ml so I’m saving it for really special occassions.
SKYWALKER36 – :
Passed down treasure review #3:Cristalle
I don’t know how old the bottle of cristalle that was handed to me is.It probably is turned buuuuuut after a few sprays of getting the bad juice out.It finally smells good.
The bad juice:Smells like vinegar and a mix of some spices you put on rotisserie chicken.
The good juice:It still smells that without the vinegar.It smells really citrusy.Like lemon slices put on water without sugar.A bit peppery-spicy in my opinion.Then you get the smell of some thin-white petal flower.A floral which I simply cannot pin down of which flower it smells like.But this one smells like the flower itself with the leaves of it in it.It’s citrusy,woody spice and that white flower.A bit incense-y too on the dry-down.Mine is probably turnt.
I strangely like it but I feel like it’s not right up my alley.I will keep it,still.
sandro7715 – :
Love it.
In a perfect, beautiful, luxurious, dream world, they’d offer Cristalle soap and body lotion so that I could layer this gorgeousness and reinforce it a bit. I wonder if they used to do so-?
hlg730JeomiWogkig – :
An amalgamation of every canon of elegance a single perfume can siphon, “chanelesque” almost to an umpteenth. It has a strong chypre spine, it is fresh but not limpid, radiant but not elusive. There’s a certain sensuality under its aloofness and stringed pearl composure, like one of those cold but far from frigid Hitchcock blondes. High noon elegance carried with an easy smile, austere in temperament but substancial in character, abstract and harmonious in its zingy freshness, an affirmation that sometimes that which we perceive as elegance is actually a serenity of spirit. Great.
pumanvitxxx – :
Ooooo I love this one. I fell in love with this one back in 1994. It’s a fresh green explosion of sophisticated gorgeous. Personally I find it so uplifting and renewing. If it was visual it would be green (obviously!) but also silver and clear quartz. It has a metallic note but the soft oakmossy pillow and delicate flower middle balances it out beautifully. It’s very well balanced. I call it a backwards perfume because on me, the middle floral notes stay longer than the base notes of vetiver and oakmoss. I always thought it had cedarwood in the mix because I am very attracted to it but no! Still, one of my all time favourite scents. The price has sky rocketed since I last bought some back in the 90s!
sergeyka00 – :
One of my favorite scents. Men would be dumb not to grab a bottle of Cristalle EdT, a deranged citrus chypre. Crisp and almost clean without being too polished.
barbys – :
I was given my first bottle of Cristalle by an older boyfriend. I loved it instantly…
Almost 40 years later I am still wearing it, still loving it, despite many liaisons with other fragrances and other men.
It is an under-appreciated classic. Cool yet tender, fresh without being biting, can be worn at any time of day in any situation. I have get to meet someone who dislikes it and still get asked about the “lovely perfume you’re wearing”.
As close to perfection for everyday fragrance as you can possibly get.
UntorkDognoro – :
This is one of my favorite fragrances. I’m not a fan of chanel fragrances. I’ve owned several and this is the only one I wear. It’s a bright green citrus scent that is very refreshing. It’s very hard to find now and expensive also.
saxa235 – :
Cristalle is an oddity: light yet dark, clean yet dirty, otherworldly yet familiar… All of these contradictions make it such an outstanding creation that is as organic and uninhibited as it is meticulously constructed, like the perfect jewel. It evokes really peculiar imagery for me: its mossy and soily textures make me think of the cool and damp relief an ancient underground tomb would provide a vigilante explorer like Lara Croft or Indiana Jones from an overbearingly hot and arid desert landscape. It’s as if Cristalle is a relic hidden deep within such a tomb that is meant to be discovered only by those brave enough to seek it, who in return for uncovering it are rewarded with a blast of radiant (and fragrant, of course) beams of light that powerfully cut through all surrounding darkness, yet soothe and caress the person who unearthed it.
It’s interesting to read that some people are completely put off by the opening, because for me it is the most heavenly opening of a Chanel fragrance—it’s fleshy, humid, and subtly green, mixed with crumbly textures of dark, fertile soil and moss-covered pebbles. And the hyacinth is more vegetal than floral, and it’s simply divine. For once I opt for the EDT concentration of a Chanel fragrance over its EDP counterpart because the composition impresses me more, and I’m happy to say the performance on my skin is outstanding as well (which is typically NOT the case with Chanel EDTs); the EDP—while long lasting—gets muddy and overly gauzy and rosy on my skin. The EDT is truly breathtaking.
adrenalin110 – :
I have been dying to try this and I finally found the EDT at the airport today an sprayed it! Wow sooo baaad! I was so disappointed I logged into my Fragrantica account then and there to remove it from my list. Five minutes later… Wow, what is that beautiful smell? Lovely hyacinth sweet and perfect oakmoss to give it maturity and strength and a touch of class. You have to give this one a few minutes to relax into your skin and then it’s pure magic!
The oakmoss is warm and soft and reminds me of the oakmoss in Cartier La Panthere EDP.
Back on my to-buy list it goes!
kisliy – :
this was my first EVER fragrance. At the age of 32 haha. It sparked my obsession with fragrance. I really had no interest in perfume before cristalle and now I own an embarrassing 150 bottles of fragrances. A legit addiction. But Cristalle is mesmerizing. My first thought when I sprayed it was honestly “American Psycho” the film. Beautiful and sick. I imagined cristalle perfuming the whole movie for some reason. Anyway it is fresh, metallic, and like no other scent. It’s the most magical and in my top 5 forever. I wear it in the early mornings. In the rain. To the gym and to sleep. I like the eau vert, but the original can’t be beat.
rooncealo – :
Nice and classy but also unisex and green.
Fresh. Oldschool as well. Hard to describe. Respect for longevity. Not my cup of tea thou.
artetskaf – :
This smells carbonated. Except that i don’t think i’ve ever had a soda that smells this good. Is it unisex? I’ll have to get people’s opinions. I’m a man and want to wear it, but i also don’t want to smell like a girl
Blackman – :
Have just received a miniature EDT today. Don’t know when from. It is strong & I think will be quite long lasting.
It is gorgeous. It does remind me of Diorella which is one of my faves and also slightly of Eau du Soir.
Have not tried the EDP, but will update if I do.
I am not going into the notes just going to enjoy.
ser176141 – :
Can anyone explain why I soemtimes get a hint of tobacco here?
This is my cup of tea. Wish it smelled stronger and lasted more.
dr. drugs – :
The most sophisticated citrus-aromatic scent in this planet. I Keep purchasing it since the 90s…
ege275speagoessenda – :
I’m really enjoying this fragrance. Very crisp and work-appropriate, and could easily go unisex. Even though it’s light, there’s no creaminess, aquatic, and very little sweetness from the fruit or floral compared to more current “crisp and cool” fragrances. Big herbal lemon up front (might call it soapy), but the woody notes are apparent throughout on me. I get the jasmine a lot more than the honeysuckle, and the dry down is a little deeper. I find it interesting that on the Chanel.com website, the only basenote mentioned is jasmine- do they think “Oakmoss” sounds unappealing? My only gripe is that the staying power is pretty short, definitely less than other EDTs I’ve tried using the same amount of sprays. However, in Chanel’s defense, the description does straight-up say that the EDT is for “generous use all over the body”, and I typically am not an exuberant sprayer.
Crusader – :
I bought this as a back up as a change from my O De Lancome and I almost regret it. I couldn’t find O De Lancome online or anywhere at the time so I bought this instead. While I love everything about O De Lancome I actually kind of don’t like this on first spritz. But then I like it after it’s been on awhile OK and I’m sure it makes me smell very clean and fresh so I’ll try not to regret buying it on that basis but not smell my wrist too much because there is just a touch of something I don’t quite like. Maybe it is too much Oakmoss.
All that being said it is a little jewel of a fragrance. It is as fresh and clean and luminous as a crystal. It’s certainly a lot nicer than that awful Light Blue, and the toilette is fairly inexpensive for a Chanel perfume. It’s always been cheaper than the other Chanels.
I’m still excited about having it. But I guess you really need to use moisturizer or something because this doesn’t last long on me at all which is quite disappointing for a Chanel perfume. O de Lancome lasts longer Even CKOne which is today so inexpensive seems to last longer than Cristalle I’m afraid so to be honest it’s probably not worth the money when you could buy CKOne or O De Lancome to get the same kind of effect.
erurlertyr – :
Cristalle dates from a time in the 70s when green was good. The fragrances I wore then were of a green color – Emeraude, Charlie, Chanel 19. This is a beautiful clean soapy green scent with minimal notes and quite easy to wear as a day to day inoffensive office work scent or a signature scent. It’s definitely one of the most cleanest and unisex of the Chanel’s women frags. This is quite simple that it makes for a good intro into mature green chypre scents for beginners. I remember when I first wore it I was quite blown away only because it was so simple and no nonsense a conservative sans frills unisex toilet water.
Opens with icy cool cold citruses of a medicinal kind with a touch of both sour and sweet notes. The lemon is dominant but there’s equal parts orange, bergamot, and citron. The fresh orange scent is invigorating and like inhaling actual lemon juice. Very nice. The citrusy scents turn slightly floral with an aquatic air. Smells like watery hyacinth in the morning dew or rain. Smells like cristal raindrops. Perhaps that’s why they call it cristalle French for crystal It smells of cold crystals falling from the air like ice particles or pellets. It’s cold and so it is definitely suited to warmer hotter weather in the summer.
The rest of the time this fragrance is green. Not floral green. Just green. It’s concentrated grass somewhat like No 19 but far less complex and more linear. Smells of big moss lots of oak moss and vetiver, like walking barefoot on grass or a forest covered in green moss. This is also suggestive of rain or mist falling over a green forest landscape. There’s a calm serenity to this fragrance which I like but it’s colder than I normally like my green chypres. This is as cold as Givenchy II or Y Yves Saint Laurent. I prefer warmer muskier green scents like Charlie by Revlon. This is a very polished elegant scent, soapy and pristine, womanly but unisex. I believe the man who can wear Chanel Pour Monsieur can wear this too.
tronrettangub – :
“lemon perfection” says the previous reviewer. um, no. that’s too simplistic for such a sophisticated perfume. this is chanel at its best. a glorious, crisp, clear, green fragrance. it’s not sweet, common or easy to describe. i do smell hyacinth, but otherwise find this a rather abstract fragrance. cristalle is a good name for something so translucent and luminous. love it!
Teimuraz60 – :
Lemon perfection. This is my favorite perfume for the summer season. The name is appropriate – crystal fresh perfume – citrus and green.
ribis – :
There is something wrong with my nose. I cannot smell this perfume, for it feels like watered-down cologne. I get the citrus note, and perhaps the bitter, crisp woodiness… but that is all. The perfume dies on me. An hour after spraying it on, all I can smell is a trace of alcohol on my wrist. It is as transparent and flimsy as the name suggests.
But hey, do you know what really gets me every time? The black plastic cap. I take it off to give the perfume another try, and its Bakelite stink jumps at me like one of those barmy toy clowns hiding inside a box. I am afraid this is the most memorable thing about the perfume. Sad, because I actually bought a bottle; I wanted to treat myself to a Chanel scent but I was intimidated by N.5… I wish I had not been so stupid.
vampas666 – :
1974 was a good year. It was the year Cristalle EDT was created and the year I was born.
My husband gifted this to me as an early birthday present (b’day not until next month) and I chose this scent as something to have in my wardrobe from my birth year.
Cristalle is bright, uplifting, yet calming. This scent is understated and rather quiet after the initial opening. The welcoming notes deliver strong oakmoss — fairly dry like lichen growing on a rock in a wooded forest.
The lemon and bergamot notes are bright and pungent, fresh and mouthwateringly sour with the sweetness of citrus and a hint of salt.
As the citrus burns off the earthy mustiness of vetiver rises, also fairly dry like parched soil. Along with the dewiness of hyacinth a static crackles and reminds me of petrichor.
The floral notes are pale and ghostly and add a sweet, crisp whisper to the fragile balance of Cristalle. The fragrance finishes as a bleached green with light astringency and subtle aloof earthy bitterness.
This scent is really a huge love for me, however the sillage is soft, adding to the shy and elusive allure of this gossamer scent.
EDIT: Ooohhh, hey… I guess this wasn’t an ‘early’ present. Hubs came home and took my bottle away and said I wasn’t getting it until October 4th :
ship65 – :
34GHY – :
Back when I was 15 I discovered Chanel Pour Monsieur and fell in love with its gentle lemony vibe. It became my signature smell and one have bought regularly in the intervening decades. From the start, on becoming aware of the effects and importance of scent on my sense of self and wellbeing, I have never made much of the distinction of gender, of this being for women, or that for men.
I wore Dior’s Dune for women for much of my 20s. I found and fell in love with Chanel No 5 only two years ago. I own a teeny 15ml parfum bottle with a small amount of perfume left which I bought on EBay for £25. It is stunning. The tiniest dab releases a huge bouquet of scents from roses to laundry.
Now, in my 58th year another revelation, Cristalle EDT. It takes Pour Monsieur and amplifies it, refracting the lemon and oakmoss in its own inimitable way. Cristalle really is a fragrant jewel. First I am hit by a sharp critic facet, then the hyacinth plane, then a hint of rose. Now 12 hours after application I am getting a gorgeous oakmoss and vetiver fug when I sniff under my t-shirt. I am guessing that the oakmoss is a chemical recreation but hey, who cares if it smells as good as this.
I realise that this reformulation is probably very different from the perfume created over 40 years ago by Henri Robert. Perfumes evolve over time as houses walk the line between making a scent relevant and modern and the cost and quality of ingredients as well as make them fit within regulations over the use of natural sources. It does not matter to me whether the vintage Cristalle is better or worse. This pale juice is my Cristalle for today and for me it is love ❤️ all over again. Thank you Chanel for scenting most of my life.
alguss – :
Love, love, love! I get goosebumps just by smell inside the Cork on the bottle. It may not smell as when it originally came out on the market but I hope it will not change as it is today.
Michman – :
Layering this with Trésor in Love is heavenly!
Stavr-dark – :
Cristalle, en EDT uniquement, c’est mon petit bonbon acidulé pour l’hiver. Un plaisir d’enfance, quand on croque une pastille citronnée ou mentholée et qu’on ouvre la bouche pour aspirer l’air froid.
C’est complètement subjectif et anecdotique, je le reconnais. Et je le porte rarement, sauf quand j’ai besoin d’y voir clair dans ma tête ou que je veux aprécier la neige autrement.
Sinon, tout comme le Diorella (et dans une moindre mesure le N°19, plus strict et couture en EDP/extrait), c’est un très beau parfum mature, de jour, pour le bureau ou un premier dîner avec la belle famille. Il est “là”, sans faire nunuche ni agresser les autres.
Merci de lui éviter les clichés, communiantes, dames patronnesses et vieille prof de maths.
😉
Gorgeous chypré, fresh and citrusy but I do LOVE it in the winter with snow. I’m more into orientals in summer, You can say that I’m fighting againt heat with some extra heat. And this how I handle winter too. With some extra bright fresh air, wainting for the end of the “dead” season, and the return of light and colours.
Essential – :
I love chypre’s. Cristalle edt is no exception. Today it reminds me of the bottle I had in 1980. It opens with an amazing brisk vodka, bitter, tinged with bergamot. The heart is subtle floral. It must be the galbanum that gives a distinct green, herbal quality. The closest to sweetness in Cristalle is the dry down smelling of new wood. Owning my first bottle, I felt soo grown up wearing it, and I liked that it was unidentifiable and unlike the mother of all Chanel, No 5. Sillage is soft. Doesn’t last all that long on me these days, but a truly remarkable fragance I’m still in love with. Nostalgic clear, sunny days in Los Angeles with a promise of a bright future ahead.
svmm – :
This is one of the first fragrances I owned when experimenting with better fragrances. I purchased a very small bottle when it first came out. Although I could not afford bigger bottles and moving on to other fragrances this stayed in my mind all these years. I recently discovered it again and remember how wonderful it was. It was the first fresh, clean fragrance available. Vey citrusy. Mant have tried to capture the ‘ fresh, clean’ scent over the years but not to compare with this. It is my 2nd go to fragrance and I get lots of compliments on it. I hope it is around a very long time.
mitos33771991 – :
Cristalle is a
clean crisp chypre,
citrus cold and austere.
Yet, its floral is
delicate and dewy,
a heaven fit for a lady.
and for its earthy green,
so temperate, yet so sturdy
thus, is a must have for a dandy.
Moctovi19 – :
I’m amazed how clear and strong the hyacinth note comes through straight from the bottle/on application here. I expected a clear, bitterish green citrus but I’m getting a floral that I would call ”clean” if the notion of ‘clean floral’ has not been destroyed by modern insipid sport aquatics.
So, unexpectedly lovely and soft.
ksv170572 – :
On me, very bitter, very dry green woody oakmoss with something almost dusty that may be the vetiver.
So good! Completely unisex, reminds me of dry tree bark. The feeling it evokes is of calm energy, like a stroll in the woods. Sharp but not aggressive.
I would enjoy having it.
—
I own a sample.
xnvk – :
BEAUTY!!!!
One of my top scents…there was a time in my life that I only used Cristalle…I have to go back to it again…
Cristalle is for a woman that wants to smell fresh, sporty without lose the class and sophistication.
A classy sport scent.
zsd038elipseskism – :
Cristalle makes me think of early Spring when the first flowers start filling the air with their sharp zingy fragrance. It stuns the senses back to life after the long, cold Winter of deprivation. It’s magic.
olia.mazay – :
Instantly attractive , vibrant and young, I’m drawn to it whenever I smell the bottle. However I once passed by a woman whose perfume I didn’t warm to, and then realised it was the same as mine: Christalle.
I gave it to my mum and decades later she is still wearing it, the same bottle I bought in the late 80s! It’s charming on her, a classic charming smell. But still not as appealing on the skin as in the bottle. Perhaps just a bit too crisp to be human. And when I took it on holiday to Greece, it didn’t last at all on my skin. It was a waste to use it in that heat, it just disappeared.
azamat.1979 – :
A sweet lemony/leafy daytime fragrance that I would only wear in the summer. It’s fleeting, too, for better or worse. I’d spritz this on before/after an aerobics class or after cooking an oniony/garlicky dinner. An elegant scent that will cover your bases, but not at all sensuous.
anton 77 – :
I no longer have this scent it was one of the first i ever purchased. It is now too ‘sweet’ for me which may be due to the middle note of hyacinth but a little does goes long way so if you like this scent it won’t disappoint you with its staying power.
studentlstts – :
This one is very sensual and mysterious perfume, despite its sweetness, the leather and wood (jacarandá) scent still present. Don’t underestimate this “eau” power: just an extra pinch will make it unbearable.
pld266JeomiWogkig – :
Im not sure about this one…It’s very linear and to me smells like a lemony house cleaning detergent. Theres just no depth to this at all…I feel like its missing something important that would have made it AMAZING.
Its just so underwhelming.
patap2008 – :
A wonderful must own and one of my signatures!
Galbanum,citrus lemon,hyacinth,Vetyver and oakmoss infused chypre, I adore it,and so would of Gabrielle Chanel herself,she loved woody chypres over anything else.
Tomorrow would have been her birthday I might just wear it as she would have done,despite this being released 3 years after her ,death….
However maybe she started to have a helping hand with the perfumer who did this,as perfumes take several years to develop.
Well done Chanel,you created a green crystal heavenly wonder piece!!
vashregru – :
I just purchased the vintage 8oz bottle. 8oz. I have never seen it in the size. The seller seemed trustworthy and the condition and the circumstance of how the seller got this bottle were believable. It could be manufactured in 70’s. It was sealed with rubber like material under the square cap.
The liquid is much more darker amber. I am not sure if it was due to the formula or aging.
The scent compared to the current one….the cold, sharp lemony opening is not there. It’s citrusy but earthy. less metallic. creamer. aged wood scent remains with me afterword. very minimum. could be unisex.
I like both the vintage and the current Cristalle edt.
I know there are still 6.8oz bottles available among Chanel collection. Does anybody know when the 8oz bottles were available?
alkacheli – :
This perfume really flies under the radar. I was browsing the perfume department when a French sounding woman eluded me to it. I was a bit sceptical at first, as I never really liked the green woodsy type perfumes but this one was so much more unique than the others. Strangely, this perfume really works best on my skin in winter. It is so fresh and sparkly but modest. It brightens a dreary winter day. It lasts all day but you’re not conscious of it being on you, it seems to blend in perfectly and become one with you. This is my boyfriend’s all time favourite perfume on me. I wear it during the day only.
Brand – :
Simply beautiful, extended top note, summery heady intoxication. Simple and complex ….stunning.
vovan007 – :
It smells like fresh cut grass, spring rain, limeade, soft flowers, wet moss…and…*drum roll*…luxury face cream! Stored in the fridge so your skin can feel all cool and silky when you smooth it on. That expensive face cream note in Cristalle gives this crisp-green-floral (and otherwise simplistic) scent a feminine, sophisticated touch…it’s what sets it apart and makes it a ‘Chanel’. I don’t really get much lemon…lime, yes, but it’s subtle (I guess it’s the bergamot)…there’s a chilly and lightly sweet limeade nuance to it. It makes me feel pampered and soothed rather than sporty or tomboyish. Lovely and wonderfully refreshing, perfect for the hottest of days. This is wearable even for the younger set…any lover of light and crisp green-florals should atleast try it. Unfortunately it does not last very long, and sillage is abit too polite for my tastes. I wonder what the EDP smells like…must test soon.
woody – :
Cristalle was one of my mother’s perfumes. She wore the EDP but I am wearing the EDT. Fresh, refreshing, sweet and spring time floral fragrance and with more subdued woods. I remember the oak moss and the woods in my mother’s perfume. This has it too but it’s softer. The hyacinth dominates. At times it reminds me of lavender and heliotrope. It’s clearly a purple scent. The dry down is clean like soap. Great stuff to wear in hot weather. The citruses are fresh and delicious. This could even be called aquatic. If you like fresh florals this is the very definition of it.
IdeadyJak – :
I personally like the EDT version far better.. It is strange but I don’t even like the EDP version !! I consider the EDT is far more original and fresh and could be considered UNISEX too…
Diffassedyday – :
Along the lines of Aliage by Estee Lauder and Ivoire de Balmain, a simple green chypre. This has a light touch because it’s an Eau de Toilette and for me it’s less intense than the EDP. Chanels really smell better as toilettes. This is a fresh out of the shower scent. It does not pretend to be anything other than what it is. It’s elegant and ridiculously simple almost linear as if it didn’t follow the top middle and base note formula. It opens with citrus fresh and invigorating a tad like a man’s after shave but not unpleasant. The rest of the time the fragrance is full of oak moss. The hyacinth flower is very clearly there but this is the only floral note in it! As such it’s all woods and moss. It’s aromatic but not heavily aromatic and it becomes a clean skin scent. I loved it very much and bought two for my mother who loves chypres. These kind of fragrances always smell great in winter time as they blossom in cold weather or in the late fall. If you walk around air conditioned homes and buildings (including where you work) the scent is lovely not overpowering just nice and wafts up into the air quite nicely. I recommend it to fans of chypres. Chanel herself preferred woodsy chypres and not floral fragrances. She would have rocked this. It’s unfortunate that she was already deceased at the time of the launch of this frag. During Chanel’s own lifetime she knew that No. 5 was the best seller and she never wore No. 5 and didn’t like it.
aibqukakml – :
Cristalle is like No.19 L’eau would be if Chanel had made such a flanker with a lemony aquatic twist. It still has that old fashioned chypre feel but unlike the austere No.19 it is delicate and fresh. Diorella is insulted. In no way is this light perfume a dupe for Diorella, the Queen of Green.
Siviren – :
Insipid and apologetic. Yes it is green, but think of a light pastel green not a fresh grass green. Try the Verte version, much better.
Kibiaquarry – :
Cristalle is like a quirky little girl among the class of Citrus Chypre cologne (70’s), standing aside alone, watching the 2 popular classmates O de Lancome and Eau de Rochas dancing and laughing aloud in the party. For me, the green galbanum inherited from Chanel No. 19 (1970) is the touch that makes her so different from her contemporary fellows. She can be quiet or loud, sexy or abstinent. It all depends on the mood when you put her on your skin.
mihaprop – :
Ah this brings back fond memories of a very close aunty who sadly passed away some years back. She gave me a bottle of this she had lying around and I was very pleased to receive it. Its very fresh and crispy, not that shower fresh or clean laundry , no, its more outdoors like cut grass in the summertime with just the right amount of sweetness, I think its rather 70’s kinda a sporty woman wears this. I still like it very much & when I use up some of my other fragrances I will definitely buy myself a bottle.
solang77 – :
Green and earthy, it evokes the smell of a freshly cut grass. It’s a minimalist perfume and it suggests the symmetry of a crystalline structure, its cold vibe invokes the ice crystal geometry. On the other hand, there is a deep sophisticatication of a silky kind that adds some warmth probably due to its woody and aromatic segment. The result is a feminine and elegant scent with an “office like” simplicity and at the same time a dark and sexy complexity. An Ice Queen among the perfumes created in 1974 by Henry Robert. It has a masculine personality resulting to be ambiguously feminine as a woman dressed in a menswear, tie and tuxedo black and white suit, is. Effortlessly elegant and typically French à la Chanel in character. A melancholic scent, mature and unique.
draft48 – :
This review is long overdue. I bought a bottle of Cristalle in EDT several years ago, and admired it for its icy cold persona, sharp citruses over woody mosses, it was herbal and cold and citric all at the same time, and reminded me of a frosty day in early spring.
Fortunately, or unfortunately, an extremely generous swap partner added a vintage 15 ml spray bottle of Cristalle to my box. It totally ruined me. It was so much better than the new bottle I had! When compared side to side, my new bottle felt comparatively flat and hollow, it felt like there was a lot missing.
I figure that the most important/expensive components of perfume are the natural extracts, say the rose petals or iris roots or cedar oil, or what have you. I find vintage perfumes have better and more assertive florals, and this is the case here. My vintage bottle has a beautiful jasmine note, and a long lasting, green hyacinth compliment to the perfume. The citruses last longer, too, and the woods in the base are more velvety. I think that to cut costs, most perfumers take out the florals, or at least lessen the concentration. In my ‘new’ bottle of Cristalle, I hardly smelled any florals, they were fleeting at best, and the whole composition is a little screechy in comparision, and now that I’ve smelled Cristalle the way it is intended, the reformulation does not make due at all. Instead of a frozen spring day I smell a new spring day, with greens and florals about to burst forth.
I swapped away my newer formulation of Cristalle, but thinking back, at least that one still had Oakmoss listed in the ingredients. Once they take out the florals AND the oakmoss, what’s going to be left of poor Cristalle?
PS–The sillage/lasting power are about the same, that didn’t change.
pavelb – :
I finally have a bottle of this (July 2014 batch code) and I had to say, this strikes me as the quintessential Chanel. It’s perfumey, in the most elegant of ways, earthy and beautifully green, somehow aromatic and herbaceous, abstractly floral, imperceptibly sweet. No wonder it’s still in production after all those years.
as40 – :
Chanel Cristalle EDT is a simple, but not plain at all, beauty. It’s green, but I don’t get the cut grass note that some reviewers have mentioned. It’s green in the sense of the green smell floating about a nice garden, or a tame forest. I get some lemon, dry oakmoss and woods, something fruitily sweet, which makes me think maybe melon is present in the EDT formulation, and not just the EDP.
This is light, so maybe it would be best for summer. It’s airy but has substance, and it would be great if more people wore this instead of the dreaded