Cristalle Eau de Toilette

Cristalle - Edt - Henri Robert & Edmond Roudnitska Vintage early 80’s or possibly late 70’s bottle. Bergamot, Petigrain, Galbanum, Lemon, Cumin, Basil, Hyacinth, Honeysuckle, Peach Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Narcissus, Cyclamen Oakmoss, Vetiver, Sandalwood, Musk, Patchouli, Civet, Ambergris Official notes for the original vintage edt. Taken from syllektikaaromata.gr, a veritable encyclopedia for anyone who speaks Greek. A crystal echo... Cristalle is (or was?) the bitchy ice queen Chanel, a title usually given to N°19 unjustly. But underneath the cold façade, there are hints of darkness and grit which may be undetectable most times, but give the fragrance its beauty. They anchor it -vintage Cristalle has a good tenacity- and at the same time they serve as a backbone and counterweight for the rest of the notes to shine. Not every animalic note has to be front and center all the time! I love them and can’t get enough of them, but let’s remember that half a century ago, they were also fixatives. And any proper perfume that was proud of its worth had them. Cristalle is a member of the fresh Eaux family that reigned supreme in the late 60’s to late 70’s. Every house had them, all displaying various commonalities and more differences. I don’t find Cristalle icy cold, but cool. Grey with specks of emerald green. There’s raspiness but also gentility. The greenness is offset by a gentle floral embrace to soften the edges. The freshness of the citrus is not tart or bright, but slightly fermented. Every fresh Eau of the time made allusion to freshness, drops of carefree youth...a burst of invigorating vitality that none the less was a prelude to a perfume underneath it. It’s not about a light and ephemeral sensation. It’s about a fragrance that sparkles because of its jovial opening. The icy bitch side, for me, it’s the reveal of its tease. Under the green canopy of galbanum and moss and vetiver, under the gentle nectar of honeysuckle and the raspy woody base...that’s were you find a spicy cumin tease not too dissimilar to the heftier Eau d’Hermès and a gentle salty naughtiness that like a good salad dressing, enhances the explosion of flavor. This young Mademoiselle Chanel has the naïveté and the fresh sparkle of an endless spring day, the grey of an early sky before the sun comes out, the bloom of a Parisian garden...but she also has a reservedness, a distance. A slightly dark mind perhaps, when said distance becomes close distance. A Chanel rigidness that never becomes frailty, but familiarity. She’s not the carefree laughter of Diorella, Eau Folle, Y, Eau Vive..she’s not the Ô de Lancôme or Eau de Roche (and Rochas) tomboy. She’s the serious and intelectual one, the one that makes you wonder what happens when the glasses go and the jacket falls...what’s underneath??

Paintedtrillium......You do realize that Fragrantica is a perfume review site and not a YouTube review site don’t you? Why would you criticize a person on YouTube tube for making long form videos? That is what YouTube is about. If you want 10 second videos stick to tik tok. Some of us want in-depth reviews and to know the history behind a product and brand. Dacob delivers all that and delivers it with style ! Regarding Cristalle......Dacob was letting us know that the current version of Cristalle was being discontinued so that people that loved the current version would have a chance to stock up on it. He was right. He also mentioned that there was a chance that Chanel would re-introduce Cristalle in new packaging. He was right. He also mentioned that sometimes when a fragrance gets re-packaged they change the formula. He was right. I think a lot of people would benefit from Dacob’s extensive knowledge of perfumes and especially Chanel perfumes. The kind of knowledge you can’t find anywhere else. His collection is museum worthy. Also.... Dacob is a polymath and his knowledge in several fields is extraordinary. Every one of his livestreams is like a Masterclass. I think if you took the time to get to know him through his videos and livestreams you would find out what a kindhearted person he is and how generous he is with the knowledge and experience he has gained through decades in the fashion industry. But that requires an attention span longer than 10 seconds so pour yourself a cup-a-tea and sit back and enjoy a few of his videos....he has several excellent ones on all those Chanel perfumes you love so much. Tip: Save the No.5 one for last....it’s long but so worth it. Paintedtrillium please consider editing your Cristalle review so that it’s just comments about the fragrance. Also .... if you would like to talk to Dacob about Cristalle you can just call in on one of his livestreams. He usually does livestreams on Wednesdays and Saturdays. He is probably aware of your post on here but he would speak to you with the utmost respect and kindness...and I guarantee you will learn something new from him that would make you appreciate Cristalle even more. For context....I have no connection to Dacob other than just being a subscriber on his YouTube channels.

Today I tested both EdT and EdP and I do find them to be rather different. The Eau de Parfum opens with fresh citrus and juicy melon, but then becomes a beautiful fuzzy blend of hiacynth and peach (skin and flesh). It has a more floral character than the Eau de Toilette and it is quite watery, but not aquatic. The melon stays quite prominent in the heart of the fragrance and I find it be a similar melon to the one found in Le Parfum de Thérèse, although a bit greener. In the late drydown I get quite a lot of (synthetic) oakmoss, giving the fragrance a wonderful earthy, slightly dirty edge. Cristalle EdP reminds me of a greenhouse or flowers in a vase, the water allready a bit murky. A bit melancholic, but still beautiful and a reminder of spring. If Art Nouveau could be represented by a single scent, it would be Cristalle Eau de Parfum, imo. The Eau de Toilette is more citrusy and sharp. The citruses stay longer and the opening reminded me of curry in a weird way. After some time a green crisp accord emerges from the curry. It smells like green stems and sap. The hiacynth is sharper and not accompanied by peach here. There's also a hint of woodyness and the wet, earthy vetiver is more pronounced. It reminds me of a young branch, still slightly green but with a firm bark, broken off from a tree. It is so bright and uplifting, beautifully elegant and yet, there's a dark, foresty edge to it. A spring forest at dusk maybe? I left the store with the Eau de Parfum, the currynote of the EdT had not yet disappeared and I just loved the quiet contemplative dreamyness of the EdP, but now, I'm wondering whether it was the right choise... I don't really understand why there are no different pages for EdT and EdP, they truely are worlds apart. I mean, even the composition is different, different accords were used!

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.

I love this scent in EDT. The opening is abit harsh and green, but after that settles, I was rewarded with a very soothing, cool green drydown, reminiscent of crushed wet leaves, subtly sweet like a touch of flower nectar (or maybe something like cold, moist honeydew rinds?), and deepened with some crispy fresh vetiver, just enough to keep it from veering into the masculine territory. It has something like an 'expensive face cream' note in it, so I don't find it sharp at all! The opposite infact, it's quite smooth, no annoying masculine tartness (it's just for the first 15mins) or acidic/sour/orange-juice nuances like you get in many modern summer scents. Very natural, feminine and refined, Cristalle is totally easygoing, laidback, cheerful and relaxed, but she is also very graceful, cool, calm and collected...I see a natural beauty wearing this, a shy and soft-spoken sort of intellect. Her style is minimalist and put-together, classy, casual-smart, with some dainty feminine touches. Great for all ages, even teenagers (if they can appreciate green scents). But I don't know if a man can pull this off because of that 'face cream' note in it. So comfortable for warm days, it tricks my nose into thinking I've just slathered some cold moisturizing lotion on my skin. Now, I don't know what it must have smelled like in the past, I'm smelling Cristalle edt for the 1st time today, and loving it so far. I have enough warm-weather scents for this year, so next year I will get me a bottle of this stuff. I'd love to try the EDP as well if I come across it, because the longevity is not that great with EDT (~5 hours with 3 spritzes..sillage is moderate).

The opening of Cristalle EDT is crisp, sharp, sparkling, like a bright morning sun in your eyes on a cloudless winter morning after snowfall. Underneath is an earthy landing with a hint of balanced floral - just enough to rise above the damp. Cristalle is like nothing you've ever smelled, and it's not for everyone. I first purchased Cristalle duty-free in London in the late 90s as an 18-year-old desperate for a bigger life than the one I'd left behind in New Zealand. I had craved a bottle since seeing it in the blurb about the model on the cover of the July 1994 issue of Sassy magazine (Nina Brosh by the way). I was slightly repelled at first, I wasn't expecting something so cold and green and 'big'. My Gen X wannabe-sophisticate teenage sensibilities told me to stick it out - I was no Sunflowers girl. It paid off - Cristalle hit me in the limbic like a snowball to the face and cemented itself there, slightly obnoxiously declaring itself my signature, which I have honoured ever since. To me, it will forever be the scent of freedom - of new beginnings, faraway adventures, and rebellious youth. Nobody I have ever met has heard of it, much less worn it. The EDT is rare, hard to find, and pricey when you do (at least in my part of the world). It's odious sister EDP delivers a slap, but tries too hard and leaves you feeling weighted down. The Eau Verte feels like it's trying to outdo the original, but fails, ending up much like any other green concoction, albeit with the expensive air of Chanel and without the sting.

This is one of the most fascinating fragrances I've ever tried. I bought it blind after falling in love with the newer Eau Verte, but at first, I thought it wasn't for me. The citrusy Eau Verte is much more widely appealing & characteristic of my taste, whereas the regular EDT seemed to be everything negative everyone has ever said about it. Several days later, I'm in love & am watching videos about it, considering buying a backup just in case it's discontinued, & looking at vintage bottles on eBay. There is something completely addictive about this stuff & I cannot stop spraying it. Perhaps it's because I'm now slightly jaded & nauseated by all the popular, cloyingly sweet gourmands, but I find that exuberantly sharp austerity to be exquisite. The rain is one of my favorite things in the world & there is a gorgeous, luminous & cooling dampness that I cannot get enough of in Cristalle. I am instantly transported to soggy, raw Washington State, visiting my sister by the ocean when I wear this, or to cool, humid Florida during a downpour while on a winter trip to Epcot with my son. It doesn't surprise me that this was one of the last fragrances developed by Chanel, as it's the kind of fragrance one gravitates towards after trying (& becoming sickened by) everything else. Shimmering, complex, and sophisticated, it's aptly named & perfect for someone serious & completely uninterested in drama, games & frivolities. If I could only choose five fragrances for the rest of my life, this would absolutely be one of them.

Yesterday I wore Boy, and now, today, I have decided to break out my bottle of Cristalle. Though the two are of similar perfume families, the former a fougere and the latter a chypre, they couldn't be any more different. Calling Cristalle a chypre is quite a stretch though. Sure, there are green and woody vetiver-ish type notes, but these notes are forced into only revealing their sharper and brighter qualities. There is plenty of bergamot and lemon at the top, citrusy sour and bitter. There are florals in the middle, mainly hyacinth and jasmine, have had their indolic and creamy facets completely stripped away, and their brightly radiant and sharp floral qualities pushed through to the forefront. In the base, there is a wood of some sort, with mosses and vetiver, but the earthy and woody qualities are gone, and green aromatics - freshly cut green wood, super wet fresh baby moss, and freshly cut vetiver - are pushed through to be as green and sharp as they possibly can be! How many different ways can you present green aromatics and citrus? Cristalle seems keen to find out. While the overall effect of this endeavor is a very elegant and multifaceted perfume, it is also very hard and sort of apathetic to the wearer. Cristalle is a great name for it because it does remind you of a crystal: beautiful but hard, multifaceted, and somehow cold while able to bend warming light into an array of different colors. It really is a truly interesting and remarkable piece of perfumery.

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. I'm tempted to layer it with a lot of things. Layer it with my CKONe and maybe my O de Lancome and maybe my Elizabeth Ardern Green Tea Bamboo or Green Tea Lotus if I hadn't given away my Green Tea Lotus to a friend.

I sprayed 3 sprays on my body from a travel 8ml decant after showering. It smelled amazing right away, no need to let it dry down. I could smell it when walking around or was opening a door or was by a fan. However, it doesn't create a scent bubble. I'm an undersprayer, so maybe more sprays would create one? This isn't what I imagined at all. This is soft and romantic. I was thinking it would be in the same style as D&G Light blue, it's not. Right away I got slightly sweet and floral but not from any one fruit or one flower. I looked up the notes, and now that I see it's Hyacinth, I could see that. I have actual Hyacinth bulbs that poke up each year and in Chanel's interpretation, they've been toned down, and all sharp edges have been removed. I can't be without this perfume. It's unlike anything I've experienced. I've worn "green" fragrances and this isn't sharp, astringent, or Earthy as those can be. Also, it's soft without being powdery. I'm kind of freaking out! This might be my favorite from all of Chanel. I need to renew my vows so I can be a bride in this scent Haha! Oh right! I mainly wanted to say, this is versatile. Every day running errands, yet would be THE bridal scent. This seems like it would mainly be for Spring or Summer and Daytime, but it absolutely could be worn year 'round. I can't wait to smell the EDP! Lastly, this feels modern. I know other Chanels can come off as vintage or retro, not this.

(Review of EDT) A ray of morning sunlight glinting on dew-covered moss - Cristalle is both a tonic and an antidote to patchouli and fudge-heavy perfumes. I was very pleased to learn that Edmond Roudnitska had a hand in the creation of this, because it has facets of Diorella and Le Parfum de Therese, both of which I love and admire. The similarity is in the opening notes of juicy lemon/lime, oakmoss and vetiver, softened with jasmine (not noted here but it's clear to my nose). The difference is in the prettier floral dry down, which reminds me of violets or violet leaf, but is most likely hyacinth (which luckily has no hint of air freshener here at all). Though I'd say that Cristalle is more lady-like, refined and therefore less sexy than Diorella, it's still more relaxed than Le Parfum de Therese which has a stronger melon-like accord which seems a bit obvious at times. But enough comparison! I'd always thought of Cristalle as a 'blonde' sort of perfume (by which I don't mean dumb!) more a light, polished aesthetic that would seem suited to someone with lighter colouring. But actually Cristalle's light-filled, mossy quality is natural, of the earth, suitable for anyone who likes the idea of rain drops glistening amongst the moss in a Zen garden. It would be beautifully refreshing for a summer’s day but wearable year round, silage moderate, longevity around 3 hours

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 : |

Had Cristalle been released in 2024 and not 50 years ago, it would almost certainly be classified as niche. This is the smell of sunrise upon a carpet of leaves turned to ash in a dewy forest. Dry, mysterious, and a bit weird. The person wearing this is instantly the most fascinating person in the room. They know things about life and love which you've yet to learn, but they're not about to tell you because they don't trust you yet. It's jarring to think that this was considered so overtly feminine in 1974. The vetiver/oakmoss drydown is resolutely masculine by today's standards. Suffice to say this is 100% unisex. My bottle is from 2018 and is aging beautifully. It lacks that headache inducing citronella blast of Cristalle Eau Verte and the sweetness of the EDP. I love the EDP too but it's the EDT which is the fully realised concept. As with so many flankers, there is something of "gilding the lilly" with the EDP, this was never meant to be fruity. Not as achingly beautiful as Chanel's own very green Bel Respiro, but it is the more moving. EDIT: I've finally tested the new style bottle and this has almost definitely been weakened. Cristalle in EDT was never a powerhouse but it always lasted a good few hours. This was gone in minutes on my skin.

Update 2: I haven’t worn Cristalle in a while and just let it sit in the dark for a bit. Today is the first really cold day for me and I decided to give it a spin. Good call...the cold makes the notes bloom. It’s wonderful on the skin and on clothes and it seems to have lost that skanky smelled I noticed when I first bought it. Can’t wait until spring to see what it does then! Edited to update: this is nothing like the vintage Cristalle EDT (to me, Eau Verte is more like the vintage EDT). Upon first spray, I got an almost dirty, skanky blast of woods that drowned out all the other notes. Not gonna lie, I panicked. After a few minutes, the scent began to bloom and the skanky woodiness disappated into something much more wearable. I'm going to have to spray this on as soon as I get out of the shower to give it time to develop before dressing. This will definitely be in my fall/winter rotation. When I received the notification from Chanel that Cristalle EDT was back in stock, I immediately ordered a bottle. This has been one of my favorites for a long time, and while I have Cristalle Eau Verte, I think that one lends itself to warmer weather, and the EDT has a more cooler-weather vibe. I can't wait to be reunited with my old friend!

I have no idea why it took me so long to try Cristalle EDT. Probably it's because I hated the EDP version, which was too sweet-fruity, with that obnoxious peach, and did not resemble anything crystal-like at all. Fortunately, the EDT is a completely different scent, and I actually love it! It bears some distant kinship with No 19 (which was launched just a few years before Cristalle), but it is less mossy; furthermore, instead of galbanum, here we have gorgeous vetiver and oakmoss, supplemented with springtime florals. I suppose that Cristalle EDT must have been reformulated numerous times throughout its history and I can't comment on that; however, I swear that the present-day version doesn't smell dated at all. Moreover, it's not sharp or masculine, it's just bright and without any sweet notes, which is always a plus in my book! What it actually reminds me of is a number of latter-day 'green tea' fragrances: it is obvious to me now that they were all inspired by Cristalle EDT. Anyway, this scent goes straight to the top of my small wish list; I am very much looking forward to adding it to my collection and wearing it regularly.

The first time I smelled this perfume (the EDT), I recoiled, thinking it was so masculine and strong. I tried a few other things at the Chanel counter (I really was working hard trying to fall in love with No. 19) and then left with nothing. It wasn't until I was in my car driving home that I caught a whiff of something fresh, green and beautiful. I had to sniff quite a few spots on my arms/hands before I realized it was the Cristalle on the back of my right hand. I sniffed and sniffed for the rest of the night and a few days later went back to the Chanel counter. I experimented between the EDT and the EDP and I agree with many of the reviewers below who feel like the EDT is fresher. However, the EDP is also very fresh, and the floral notes in the dry down really make it a complete fragrance for me. For this reason, and also because the EDT didn't last very long on me, I picked the EDP and I have loved it ever since. It really reminds me of walking in cool dark woods on a hot day - a mixture of moss, juicy greens and wildflowers here and there. Magical.

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.

This has been my signature scent since 1986, when I was 19. I am now 56, and I'm still loving Cristalle edt. In regards to the YouTuber, Dacob, I got a lot of good advice from him. He found out that the eau de toilette is in fact, being rebottled. Originally, he was concerned that it might be discontinued. He had mentioned that it was out of stock on the Chanel US website. It made me take notice. He also mentioned that he got one of the last bottles at his Chanel Beauty Boutique. I followed his lead, and called my Chanel Boutique. They still had some bottles of Cristalle. I was overjoyed!! They sent me a bottle with free shipping and samples...yay!! It's my early Christmas present from my husband. At any rate, I'm a huge fan of Dacob from YouTube. I find him very knowledgeable and well read, for such a young man. I don't feel that he is clickbaiting or long winded. I adore him, and look forward to more of his reviews of Chanel fragrances. Just my two "scents."

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.

I know Cristalle is supposed to be one of those "chypre" things, but I can't help but see it as another pinnacle in Chanel's pantheon of green scents. (See also: N°19, Bel Respiro.) As I've remarked before in other reviews, Chanel just can't seem to create "green" that isn't flawless. Cristalle is grounded with a weighty galbanum/oakmoss base, and what a wondrous, earthy base it is. Over that, though, it's crystal clear, the hyacinth and citrus and vetiver floating into the sky, bobbing amongst the clouds. The oakmoss holds their balloon strings, ensuring they don't drift too far up into the atmosphere. And, in a way, that's how Cristalle feels too—grounded and clear-headed, bright and purposeful. It's a shame that most department-store Chanel counters no longer stock Cristalle. A criminal shame, if you ask me. If I had a little more muscle and temerity, I'd perform a citizen's arrest. Off to the Hague!