Omnia Crystalline (2005)
by Bulgari

Is it too insulting to call Crystalline an inoffensive scent? I don't dislike it, but I don't find much there to make me say "wow" or to reach for the bottle in preference to others I like better.
It makes sense that it's designed for the Far Eastern market; I got mine secondhand at a Japan Relief fundraising party in Tokyo. So someone else wasn't that impressed either.
To me, it smells as if someone has tried amazingly hard to make the perfect perfume for a Japanese salaryman's wife, one that won't offend anyone, is polite and genteel and pleasing and goes by almost unnoticed.
Before I'd read about the notes s contains, I'd have said sweet orange to start with, followed by synthetic flowers of no particular variety and a really light wood. I guess balsa wood is a light as you can get, but I've no idea what it smells like. Nashi fruit is a pear that looks like an apple, but I don't pick up either of those; the bamboo in my garden smells only lightly of green, general purpose plant. It's hardly known for its defining aroma, is it?
So I'd sum up Crystalline as a light, airy, pale perfume that fades into the background and prefers not to challenge the status quo.

10th November, 2011.

This fragrance for me was very different after I spent the day smelling many fragrances that were partcularly 'perfumey'. Omnia Crystalline is more watery than anything. It's refreshing, light and oceanic.

I'll start by saying that floral aquatics don't suit my skin chemistry nor my personality, but with that being said, I can appreciate them and in some instances, I do rather like them.

I'm on the fence in regards to Omnia Crystalline. It opened nicely on my skin with a delicious pear note and watery lotus, however the tea note is particularly strong which doesn't agree with my nose.

Throughout the transformation on the skin, Omnia Crystalline becomes ever so slightly soapy and clean. I must admit that if this fragrance was overwhelming or heavy I'd probably detest it, but in this case, seeming that it is so delicate and light, it is very pleasant.

The lasting strength is pretty good, excellent for such a light scent. The warm weather I've heard really brings out the beauty of this fragrance. I'll be interested to see how it fairs in Summer at the end of this year.

5th July, 2011.

Omnia Crystalline is extremely popular here in Seoul, along with Omnia Jade and Omnia Amethyst. (Quick research reveals that these fragrances were designed for the Asian market specifically, and Crystalline was #1 in sales in South Korea and Japan.) I decided to try it out on a recent evening walk that took me past a cosmetics shop, and I spent the whole way home sniffing myself, seeing how the fragrance developed. I didn't like the opening particularly--the nashi pear smelled kind of foggy and funky in the beginning, reinforcing my dislike for anything pear (except actual pears.) In the drydown, Crystalline was extremely clean and sheer, a unisex watery floral, but--as other reviewers have noted--not an extremely full-bodied scent. It didn't captivate me, particularly. Though it wasn't offensive in any way, it was just so light and clean that it smelled more like it belonged in a shampoo or deodorant.

2nd May, 2011.

There isn't one even bland Omnia creation, and this one is just another look to perfection. So beautifully crafted in every single way. Bulgari has one of the most impressive scent portfolio, and the sparkling and subtle quality of their feminine editions particularly deserves a lot of praise. Crystalline is a beautiful girl, full of life but also slightly elusive at times. There is something polite and well-mannered about her, but also something a bit un-bridled and ethereal. She is a wild child maybe, but she knows that she has a box of priceless Bulgari diamonds waiting for her in her room, whenever she feels like reaching for them.

This is a perfume while wearing a woman should fall in love with someone. It is the kind of perfume that should create and paint significant moments in life.

It is that precious.

28th July, 2010.

Omnia Crystal & Shi (Sung) are among the few florals that I can wear before they go sickly on me. Both are very light fragrances that just become me ... not offensive, not obtrusive, clean, light, simple. I like it very much ... went through one bottle in about 6 months, which is very rare for me. I will be getting another very soon. Not one of my top 5 but definitely in my rotation.

28th April, 2010.

VERY strange stuff! Highly ethereal, yet wildly persistent and somehow cloying in that modern 'clean' way. I like it a lot for five minutes, but then I'm so so sick of it, and it will not LEAVE! I can't say a word on notes, I can't seem to pick up what this is meant to be doing on my skin. I love original Omnia, but this scares me. The smell seems like some industrial fluid that smells surprisingly pleasant, yet is clearly toxic and straaaaaange.

7th December, 2009.