Cristobal

I was really young, on my first real job, the year was 2000. There was a thing we did back then called "reading glossy magazines". The amount of crappy articles and ridiculous advice one could get from those things was equaled only to the delight of going through hundreds of thousands of colorful pictures about fashion, beauty, style and perfumes. The old version of scrolling, you might say. I still remember it was an evening after a long day at work, just home with the latest issue of Cosmopolitan. Got to an article (very deep stuff...) about "what kind of perfume each of the stars of Coyote Ugly would wear". For Piper Perabo, they were going with Cristobal. The notes and the bottle made me very curious, I've never thought about perfumes in terms of anything but three kinds of flowers and that's about it. To have fig leaf and carnation and sandalwood and in such an incredible bottle, I was transfixed. I got the perfume within the week, and the smell was everything I had hoped it would be and then some. The high of that exquisite pleasure has been the thing I've been looking for with every new scent I've smelled, never to be found again. I've had just two bottles over the years, it was expensive for me even back when it was in production and was hard to source in my country in the later part of the 2000s. It was my signature and my most prized perfume, it was mine in a way in which no other perfume ever was, and I was secretly happy that nobody else I've ever met ever wore it. I still have the last bottle with the last drop of brown juice in a corner. The last time I've worn it was the New Year's of 2020. I knew then that it was the end of an era for me, finishing up my last drops of Cristobal. Oh, so little did I know, really. There is NOTHING out there like it. Nine simple notes, an incredible experience. It will be forever missed.

I bought Cristobal on impulse on a very dark December day in Copenhagen while roaming the xmas-fuelled stalls of ILLUM BOLIGHUS searching for a scent to envelope myself into. This fragrance has captured for me the essence of Xmas magic: the butterflies in the stomach from that feeling that everything is possible at this time of the year, that most secret wishes are just about to come true and a miracle is just around the corner.The flickering of milliards of decoration lights all over town, the currant aftertaste of gluehwein lingering for hours on the pallet, the anticipation - it's all bottled in there under the ornate golden cap. It has indeed a "fizzy" note in it, which for me is a direct association with champagne, and the drydown settles into a complex vanilla-based slightly powdery aura that makes the scent sound solemn, almost pompous, slightly conservative ( there's an unmistakeable grownup note in there somewhere ) and lnto -the-late-hour-festive. Perhaps, since my memory of the settings of my first sniff is so strong, I can hardly imagine wearing it at any time of the year: will be repurchasing exclusively for wearing it in the last 2 weeks of December for as long as the bottle lasts: and it really does, in spite of me being a rather generous sprayer. Hope to find a parfum extrait that is under 400 EUR ( currently the only existing Ebay offer ) -that*ll be on my Xmas wishllist this year!:)

Cristobal is a sweet floriental, not a scent profile I'm partial to, but it is a cut above other similar offerings that were in fashion at the time of its release. Perhaps it is the fig note in the opening -then an unusual inclusion in perfume - that sets it apart, but Cristobal is pleasant throughout and nicely composed. Cristobal opens with the aforementioned fig note. Green and fresh, it provides a nice counterpoint to the vanilla that permeates this scent. The vanilla is not syrupy - instead it is somehow airy, giving a light, whipped sweetness to Cristobal. Floral notes follow, sweet and clean, getting increasingly powdery as this scent develops. It is mostly peony with a clove-like edge thanks to the carnation. The drydown is woody, complementing the vanilla beautifully. The soft florals remain as it fades, becoming a powdery, dry vanilla skin scent with remnants of carnation and peony. Sillage and longevity are moderate. A really decent, slightly unusual vanilla-floral scent, Cristobal is another underrated gem from Balenciaga (I recently was blown away by Cialenga). A transeasonal, breezy feminine scent, this is an easy reach for everyday use. Effortlessly excellent. 4/5.

Oh Gillie, thank you! You gave me Cristobal with your review! I always liked the smell, but than I never could figure out, when to wear it. It was bold, elegant, feminine, rich and mature. I thought the opera might be the right occasion? But than I see myself always wearing something different. It was strange. When I read Gilies review, I thought: Bollocks, comfort scent, pah, that is a big expensive night out frag. Cashmere, no, never, pure silk night gown. But for sure, Gillie was right! I sniffed it with her review in mind and it all felt in the right place. Cristobal is a perfect comfort scent! Since I know that and got it's purpose, I love it dearly. Now I need to stock up, I fear. The perfume itself is mostly fig and lots of patchouli to me. Creamy vanilla. Smells very expensive. Doesn't develop much.

The opening of Cristobal is one of the most beautiful I have ever come across-bergamot and carnation and fig? I'm not real familiar with fig but if this is it, I am hooked! Cristobal has a spiciness to it that must come from that spicy little flower, carnation. It is deliciously smooth with a really classy vanilla base-in other words, it's vanilla but it doesn't scream VANILLA. The patchouli is almost non-existent on my skin, showing up only faintly in the tail end, which is fine by me since we don't always get along. Here it adds an earthy dimension to the sweetness in the drydown. All in all, this is a very sophisticated and classy autumn scent. A real wrist-sniffer. The sillage is moderate and longevity is good, lasting about 4-5 hours. Although I wish that beautiful opening could last forever!