Chanel Cristalle

Chanel Cristalle is the green, grassy, floral prettiness that came out in 1993. Juicy Couture’s recent release, Peace, Love and Juicy Couture was reminiscent of this beautiful chypre.

Cristalle

Cristalle

In Bottle: Cristalle opens remarkably like Peace, Love and Juicy (or should PL&J be said to open like Cristalle?) It’s green with a little bit of earthiness and a whole lot of nice.

Applied: Green and clean, the bergamot might help on that front a little but there’s definitely a bit of grassiness in there too. PL&J is remarkably similar to Cristalle in the opening but as Cristalle starts to age, I get a bit more personality and more depth, though the two fragrances are a bit alike. The floral notes in the midstage are beautifully blended together with a dense and sensual woodsy note. As the fragrance keeps aging toward the dry down there’s a bit of a dry hay-like fragrance that mingles with this warm green quality. There’s a bit of the florals still present in the dry down but the vetiver and warm woods from the midstage is definitely what I smell the most.

Extra: Cristalle, the Eau de Toilette (reviewed in this post) was composed by Henri Robert in 1974. Robert was also responsible for Chanel Pour Monsieur and Chanel No. 19. The Cristalle Eau de Parfum was composed by Jacques Polge at a later date. Jacques Polge being the nose behind Chanel Beige, Chanel Egoiste, and many more.

Design: Cristalle Eau de Toilette has changed its look over the years and Chanel doesn’t help matters by having different versions bottled in different ways. The Cristalle I saw was similar in appearance to No. 19 with the same relative shape but with a black cap. Regardless, it was all very classy and timeless as per usual for Chanel.

Fragrance Family: Chypre

Notes: Bergamot, lemon, hyacinth, rosewood, oak moss, vetiver.

Cristalle is one of those Chanel fragrances that make me think of the fragrance house’s illustrious past. When I think “Chanel Perfume”, Cristalle’s a part of that collection.

Reviewed in This Post: Cristalle, 1998, Eau de Toilette.

3 thoughts on “Chanel Cristalle

  1. I’ve been enjoying your reviews and am so glad you have covered No 19 (an old fave) and Cristalle (a new fave). Or at least, Cristalle is a newly discovered fave. I bought a mini of the EDP some years ago and found it had a tobacco leaf kind of note that I disliked. I put it away, but something made me get it out for another try, and I am enjoying it a lot more. I picked up a mini of the EDT to give that, but it is old, and the top notes are badly damaged. Which is a pity for Cristalle EDT because it is a short-lived perfume and if you miss the top notes, you miss a lot of its story. So I am very tempted to go for a FB, but can’t decide on EDP or EDT.

    I will definitely try the PL& Juicy Couture. I had no idea there was a resemblance. Many thanks!

    • Between the Cristalle EDP and EDT, I prefer the EDT because–to me–it smells a bit fresher and greener. It also leans more toward a chypre and I love my chypres :D. The EDP is less chypre-like and plays up the sweet florals more. I’d say if you prefer something green and chypre-like go for the EDT. If you want something a bit more floral then the EDP’s the way to go.

      I smelled some PL&J the other day and it still does a good job at mimicing Cristalle EDT’s opening, I’d definitely give that a try–if for nothing else then to make sure that Kay’s nose isn’t making stuff up! 😀

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