Reviews of Cristalle Eau de Parfum (1993)
by Chanel

Once again in my search for the perfect summer fragrance, I purchased this, untried, from the Chanel website. My first reaction was TOO strong, a sentiment that I rarely express. Immediately I put this in the "give away" box. Curiosity got the better of me, so I tried it again. Nope! Back to the box. (Will I ever grow into anything but No 5 from Chanel?) On the third try, I began to understand. This is like some people...hard to love. Yet there is something that keeps me coming back. Cristalle is definately a chypre but it lacks the beauty of Mitsouko and the complexity of Diorella. However, anyone who is serious about perfume should try this once...maybe three times.

I tried Cristalle EDP and nearly bought the bottle on the spot - on me, the scent is green but with a floral note that is nearly identical to what you smell when you put your nose right in a flower. It lasts quite awhile, as well.

While not marketed as a "male" scent - a man can pull this one off easily - and if one is looking for a good floral that can be masculine, this should be near the top of the list as it is quality, floral, but green enough for that "non floral edge" that helps a man wear a floral.

Cristalle EdP is a little "warmer" than the EdT, more suitable for colder days. I haven´t found any notes for Cristalle EdP, but I find some similaritys with this fragance and JPG Fragile EdT, and I wonder if it perhaps is Bergamot or Tubéreuse I am smelling...? (I would like to have a better nose, so I didn´t have to make so wild guesses...)

The EdP is getting harder to find, and it is a pitty, it is really bottleworthy! I do hope Chanel continues to produce both the EdT and the EdP. Both are of great quality.

Cristalle does not particularly agree with my chemistry, the green notes seem to take over and smother the scent. I would prefer a more defined floral on top, or some sweetness in the base, in order for me to be able to wear it well.

My sister, however, wears it very well, and has worn it often since it was launched. I bought a bottle the same day she bought her first, and gave mine to her almost immediately.

I will say that this scent is very long lasting, my sister applies modestly, yet her entire home smells faintly of Cristalle. I love to smell it on her, and it IS a Chanel, so it gets a thumbs up from me!

Along with the No. 19 EDP, this is my favourite Chanel. I rarely wear either, though, and very recently realized it's because bergamot makes me melancholy. That is a very apt description of this particular fragrance--perfectly balanced, achingly beautiful, warm like the late afternoon as the day moves away from us: Unbelievably melancholy. A Tennessee Williams heroine would have worn this.

I loved this version of Cristalle from the very first time I smelled it soon after its early 90s launch. Strangely, I've never tried the origianl EDT, which seems to be overwhelmingly preferred to this version, but that's okay. Cristalle EDP is perfection in my opinion - gorgeous citrusy, green and herbal topnotes moving into soft and suede-like florals and undertoned with a ribbon of tangy leather, the source of which is a mystery since leather's not an "official" note in the composition. Must be that magical House of Chanel alchemy. Perhaps for that reason, I reach for the Cristalle whenever I want to feel chic yet puzzling, happily paradoxical; wearing it with jeans and a cartoon-character t-shirt is one of my own little "inside jokes" to myself!