Cristalle Eau de Toilette Chanel for women

I got my first bottle of this at 17 and have worn it on and off for 30-odd years. I've only ever met one other person who wears it (an impossibly beautiful ex-model who'd just moved from Paris) and I don't know why that is because it's the most perfect, most feminine scent I've ever owned. Makes such a statement. I love it.

It's an atmospheric kind of scent, ethereal and elegant but not uptight. Quite special. My favorite green scent.

Sold out as usual on Chanel's site.

I've never seen this in stock.

If you don't like smelling obviously of scent, or you're just not particularly into scents at all, Cristalle will convert you. If you like lemon, bergamot, jasmine & oakmoss you'll like this one. It's wonderfully light, restrained, composed, elegant, sophisticated, low key, polished and aloof. Typically Chanel. It's polite but says, quite clearly, "keep your distance". Crisp, citrus, fresh. Totally unisex.

Cristalle is a scent from when I was 23 or so. I didn't have much money then, but that made no difference, not a blink and it was mine. Perfume has always been a must wear for me, like lipstick, l'm not ready for the world without it.

This scent is youthful yet sophisticated, fresh with a sparkle of joyful curiosity, very very chic with a bit of insouciance. It's so evocative, I don't even think to differentiate the floral composition, the opening notes, etc. It's simply Cristalle and a classic.

I've been wearing Cristalle since the 80's and it was MY fragrance. I loved the juxtaposition of edge and sweetness. The first burst of citrus, then the green shows up, with a hint of cigarette ash, but in a good way if that makes sense. The woodiness and touch of vetiver made it more complicated, less innocent. When they reformulated it a few years later, they ruined it...that ash tray punched you in the face right off the bat. Tried the EDP....nope, they had traded the edge for lushness.

Fast forward to this year. I ordered a NIB EDT on eBay. It arrived packaging intact, including cellophane. The color hadn't darkened....almost clear like I remembered. Then I sprayed it and my heart broke. It might as well be a flower bomb. None of the citrus burst at the top, none of my friend the ashtray...just hyacinth and (I think) honeysuckle. Sweet. After about 15 minutes I'm getting a little vetiver, but still no lemon. It's not BAD, but it's not my beloved. I'm not generally a floral girl, so this is not something I'd normally pay $150 bucks for. Maybe I'll try layering it with....something. And do a little Buddhist non-attachment practice. Sad face.

Along with No. 19 this is perhaps THE Chanel that needs to be relaunched as a full on unisex glorious fragrance. Not the EDP which needs to die in a ditch tomorrow, but this one, the original one. It's almost physiologically impossible not to smile when smelling a freshly Cristalle-sprayed piece of skin. The entire composition is genderless, it just radiates spring, freshness. It's tame by comparison to Dior's sweaty slightly skanky but oh so clever Eau Sauvage, but in the same wheelhouse.

cristalle eau de toilette is my favorite scent. i discovered it in my late teens in the eighties. it is the perfect mixture of freshness and floralness. it reminds of spring with the hyacinth, summer with the vetiver, and winter with the iceyness. it was my signature fragrance. it is light and luminous, gentle and sweet, cuddly and cold. i felt like an ice princess in it, as though it said, dont get close to me, i am protected, yet when you get to know me, you will see my heart is light and pure, and that deep inside im gentle and kind. it was like a secret wonderfullness. i felt it really represented me. the scent has changed since the 80’s, but i still love it. it’s not as potent as before. i dont wear it everyday like i used to. im scared it will be discontinued, so im hoarding it. i feel it’s under appreciated. i was even scared to announce i liked it, because it seemed like anything i liked would soon be discontinued. so shhhhhh. i loved getting whiffs of it from my chest when i moved. noone ever complimented me on it and i didnt care. my boyfriend is not a fan. it’s not a man pleaser or for that matter a crowd pleaser and that makes it even better in my book. i think the reason i like it is because it reminds me of the persian new year and a man’s cologne that was in my dad’s friend’s volkswagen’s glove box. so maybe it’s a combination of good memory scents in iran.

"Spring can really hang you up the most"

Being by default a hopeless resinous Baroque Oriental addict who rarely finds rich, sumptuous, moreish fumes 'too much', my journey to meet Cristalle EdT has been, admittedly, a slow & meandering one. A pity to have waited I find, but then can appreciation be rushed? To everything a season. And Cristalle speaks to me now in a voice I couldn't have heard a quarter-century ago... making sense in a way I wouldn't even have considered in my salad days, ironically enough, what with its cool viridescent bloodstream.

Stunning in the most unostentatious manner.
Deceptively simple. Aloof. Self-assured. Mature.
Chilly but not chill - with a slight air of mélancolique.
The 'other woman' in the most tasteful sense, but after the affair is ended. And yes, despite being marketed as implicitly feminine for 50 years, this EdT is easily carried on the nape of a man's neck. ( If only my own skin didn't require a copious dousing to enable Cristalle to radiate further than an embrace to find it! )

Bittersweet narcissus of late Winter, ethereal hyacinth, discreetly indolic jasmine, damp-smokey vetiver root, and heavenly ample though restrained oakmoss echoes a refined bygone life & times... lingering in the imagination like ubiquitous cigarette smoke with analogue modes of social magic, romance, and solitude. Never did I imagine assigning charm to anything remotely akin to an, albeit nearly imperceptible, acrid 'ashtray' nuance until Cristalle redefined the thought of it for me! (Is it a pinch of cumin in the mix perhaps?) A masterful touch of sandalwood & musk with just a soft caress of civet & patchouli accentuates and somehow integrates everything above into a fluffy mossy veil.

Possibly the most CHANEL smelling creation ever ( in my mind ) aside from No. 19, of course... and therefore superbly Parisienne, oui? (I cannot though, now I recognise it ignore, something of a subtle ikebana elegance - where dewy white & purple florals, moss temple hinoki, and gentle fresh-spicey incense commingle.)

Pristine bottles in my possession are three and two decades old at present and both give well over five hours in 21℃. The elder one, I must say, is appreciably deeper in the drydown though... which I can only attribute to a tweaking of formula in that intervening decade. Extravagantly intimate sillage, but despite the quietude remarkably enduring for this pearl-grey-'crystalline'-moss-green fruited chypre EdT.

An endangered breed. I almost want to say bad things about it in the vain hope of preserving even one extra bottle out there for me to stumble upon for a song! But alas, I cannot tell a lie. The older the better. And I'd bathe with abandon in premillennial Cristalle for the warmer half of the year if such demure decadance didn't break the bank!

★★★★★ (for orchestration of an exceptional specimen)
★★★★☆ (feeble sillage renders it truly an extravagance)

I have used half of this bottle in one week… ha! As a huge fan of the EDP, the EDT is incredibly addicting and exactly what I imagine generational wealth smells like. This resembles the luxury of being able to participate in high-class outdoor activities at a country club buried in the woods. It has a remarkable old wood undertone… the country club itself is made of old wood but is very clean and well taken care of. My fiancé says this smells like pure wealth. This is the sound of crickets as the sun is setting, 60 degree weather, green grass, tall trees. My only complaint is that the longevity is just terrible. I wish I could scent my entire life with Cristalle. I’d love to crawl into a bed of Cristalle scented linens. I’m hoping the EDP will come to the US soon.

Calm down everyone, just as mmmmiek already said, the formula remains unchanged from the previous version. The same ingredients are listed on the box, as well as the same formula code. No change, only a new look! So, to everyone who could detect a difference between both versions, and especially those who said "THE OAKMOSS IS GONE"... jokes on YOU ;-)

This is one of my most beloved Chanel perfumes. So refined and pleasantly cool and chique. To me it's cristalline fresh and sweet and a little bitter at the same time. Such a fitting name!
I asked Chanel about the availability because the product page was empty for a while and got an email back from the Dutch Chanel line manager herself: 'the packaging of the Cristalle perfumes has been renewed but you can rest assured that the fragrance is unchanged.'
I saw some people are commenting about the oakmoss being gone, but I can see on the Chanel products page, that real oakmoss and tree moss are still on the ingredients list... I'm going to order this new bottle somewhere in the coming months and will try to be back with a comparison to my Cristalle edt from around 2000.

It's finally cool enough in Texas to wear my beloved Cristalle. The cooler weather makes all the notes sing. When I first bought this bottle over two years ago, it had a funky, wet-wood smell at the opening. But letting it macerate over time has mellowed it into an elegant and sophisticated signature scent. This will be my winter go-to.

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.

I too really appreciated the information that Dacob shared with us. He is a Chanel expert.
@ Paintedtrillium10, shame on YOU for spreading falsities about Dacob.

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."

Well isn’t Paintedtrillium a bit grumpy bashing a fun nice YouTuber like Dacob!? Hmm meanie
What did he ever do to you grumpy???

Anyway this is on my list of fresh sparkling Chanel favs. I prefer Cristalle Eau Vert…but this is still so refreshing!

This took a couple of wears for me to fully appreciate. I think it was due to the melon even though it is mild and tasteful. The BBW Cucumber Melon rage phase burnt me out on melon. However…This is a GORGEOUS green floral scent. The EdT just sparkles and evolves beautifully on my skin. I am so glad this comes in a generous 3.4 oz. My husband loves this too. The drydown is gorgeous to my nose. I have a new love in my collection- Cristalle EdT.

Also, for the record I watched the “Dacob” youtube. Shame on him for jumping to conclusions. His videos are too long and repetitive and he has no authority whatsoever after he started the false rumour that this is discontinued. He is wrong and he caused a jump in used bottle prices. If you ever wonder pose the question to Chanel. They answered me honestly and debunked the clickbaiting long winded youtuber.

Cristalle EdT is not the kind of fragrance you get wafts of from other people when you're out and about in public. This is vinegary, bitter and a bit damp smelling, which totally would have put me off it a few years ago. But really, this is exquisite to me now as my nose has matured. I recognise the hyacinth from Nahema, another favourite of mine. The lemon and oakmoss are equally prominent. For this being a Chanel, it is quite legible, but not to a detriment. It's like a window to Narnia or some forest which nobody has dared to step a foot in in 1000 years. Cristalle isn't a fitting name imo, as I find the fragrance rather murky and dark. It wears best on an early autumn day, when the wind suddenly is cold instead of warm, and the clouds no longer seem friendly.

First: The edt is not discontinued; it may no longer be available for sale *in your country or region* but it’s still in production and available everywhere in France. The bottle I have is batch code 9001, produced exactly 1 month ago, according to CheckFresh.

With that out of the way, what’s this thing like?

Cool, green and mossy, a little icy and aloof, but undeniably beautiful. I suppose crisp would be an accurate description of the opening, featuring bergamot and neroli (not in the pyramid here but its metallic twang is unmistakable) , which is gone in just a few minutes before segueing into its transparent floral heart, courtesy of jasmine, hyacinth, and honeysuckle.

As it dries, vetiver appears, along with a defanged, molecularly fractionated and modern oakmoss.

Glad Chanel still makes this stuff. It’s a keeper.

I agree with so much of what has been said here about this fragrance especially Mysteres du Château’s review. This is unmistakably Chanel, but instead of the cold vibe you typically get with Chanel this one is lukewarm, but I wouldn’t call it refreshing. The citrus is super muted, there is just the smallest, tiniest hint of lemon and the oakmoss is very front and center. It’s very mature and prim and evokes a specific vibe - I like the comparisons to tennis and country clubs, etc, those are spot on. A lot of perfume can fall in this category but this is super unique. I have not smelled anything else like this and I don’t smell it much on others.

I really enjoy wearing it at home but I’ve found that it wears me while I’m out. It is almost an entity that imposes itself on me, it doesn’t mix with my aura or mood, especially if I’m not deliberate about the time and place I choose to use it. It’s not something to spritz and go on a casual day running errands but something to choose in the spring and summer where im not trying to be fun and youthful and want to be taken seriously.

I started wearing this as a teenager and I think it's the scent that started my passion for perfume. It is beyond beautiful and feels like I enter into a fairy forest when I wear it because it is so enchanting with its Chypre Oakmoss lemony slightly smokey perfection. I spray this sparingly because I don't ever want to be without this masterpiece.

I sprayed on my celery/salad noted vintage Cristalle on this heat wave early summer afternoon. Many classic Chanels evoke a country club vibe. The perfume aspects of them mixed with the naturals. This isn't perfumy but its very recognizably Chanel perfume so it smells like lunch on the terrace at a golf and tennis club, 1970s. Rich lady, mowed lawn, honeysuckle on the fence, gin and citrus. Very languid rather than refreshing. I hadn't expected Cristalle to be summer success but I'm happy because it's not like other fragrances in my summer rotation and certainly nobody else is going to smell like this. Doesn't have ANY of the molecules that make today's bangers pop.

Cristalle is viridescence.

Cool as the other side of the pillow like Prince sang. Its green hues nibble, but don't bite, the citrus is winsome but collected, and the hyacinths and honeysuckles emit their fragrance from a ways down yonder. No shoving your nose into the bloom intensity here, it's in the air, a zephyr rather than a gas. As I write this, I listen to music with plangent, reverberant guitar, and it feels fitting.

The air feels fresh, the water is placid, there are cucumber sandwiches, dewy foliage, and life feels a little bit less vertigo-inducing when viewed through Cristalle. A benevolent wood nymph is in the spirit of this one, ha! A side note, it can feel liberating to set aside cultural associations and expectations of how to process a fragrance and to just let the nose meet the mind where it is through fragrance. 

To me this smells like its other friends of that time. It has the same vibe as Rive Gauche and Beautiful and White linen. Cristalle smells bitter on me and tends to make me sneeze alot. I do not hate it or love it. It just smells very classic.

Interesting. I'm finding this fragrance to be weaker than I'd like (I determined my bottles are from 2000 and perhaps they've lost something) but very pleasant and inoffensive. This is not as challenging as I thought it would be, and not as green as I thought. First sniff is definitely a lot of oakmoss and something like galbanum, with a kind of hay note. If I were to judge it based on that alone, I'd be a bit unhappy. I have other very green 70s fragrances that I haven't been able to work for me. Weil de Weil is so intensely green it makes me think of a huge mown lawn in a bad way. Molinard de Molinard is very bitter, with an unusual asafoetida note. I did manage to enjoy that one in a very small dose recently. Miracles happen. But I still can't get vintage Vent Vert to be approachable. Green is just very tricky for me, and honestly this isn't the best oakmoss I've smelled. But what happens pretty quickly is that the beautiful lemon and bergamot come in. Fresh but also a bit sweet. They are fleeting, but drying down the scent is like when I sniff the atomizer nozzle: a sort of candied citrus with a rich base. It's not really a sweet fragrance, but there's just enough of that candied sense to make this more wearable for me. It may be the subdued florals doing this. It really does feel refreshing and luminous. I have to try spraying on clothing though to prolong the drydown, and I need to sample the slightly different EdP.

To me, the original Cristalle EDT is a young Catherine Deneuve....cool, flinty, a little bitchy, a lot sexy and absolutely gorgeous. Nothing is overdone. I started wearing the original in college around 1980 and it made me feel cool and sophisticated, but mysterious. Quickly became my signature fragrance. Subsequent reformulations did not improve it and now it's almost impossible to find. Sometimes in the last of my vintage bottle, there's an off-putting cigarette ash smell on first spray, but I can still find the favorite old notes under it. I long for the original to be available again...it managed to be both coquettish and sultry.

Worn it for 32 years and counting it never gets old. Smells like summer, happiness and bergamot.

Cristalle, Cristalle, welcome back, my old friend. The cold winter is over, and the cool, wet early spring is here and you are in your element again. I got you wrong at first. I started with the eau de parfum version with the thin peach that blurs your best features: your sharp, brittle coolness, the bright, spiky but watery-transparent vetiver, the monochrome cushion of thick oakmoss, the metallic unforgiving shards of the icy hyacinth.

Others may say you're old-fashioned — not many people clamour for the return of hyacinth — but in these grey, soft, damp days of March there is nothing and no one better.

I agree with you rosetinteddream. I've often wished, that they would have made a parfum version of Cristalle EDT. I was already longing for it, back in 1986, when I first started wearing Cristalle EDT. You never know...it could happen!! I think it would be great as a pure perfume. I'll wait patiently, because it happens to be my all time favorite fragrance!!

I have found a bottle my grandma got as a wedding gift over 40 years ago. It was just sitting in a glass display case for years. It hasn't been sitting in an ideal place half empty. Sun doesn't go directly to it but it's still been out in the open. The color is a yellow. Light or dark depending on where it is.

Smells like mint tea. I don't know anything else I can pick up on. I have an inexperienced nose and since I thought "mint tea" the first time now I can only smell that. So I don't know.

Hard to say if I like or dislike given that I don't know if this is the real smell of it.

If anyone happens to be interested in it you can PM me I guess. I have no need for it and neither does grandma, given that she left it in a different city for 40 years.

This is a pipe dream but wouldn’t it be cool if Olivier worked on a pure parfum of this? Imagine, a pure parfum only influenced by the EDT (not the EDP or Eau Verte which I also love both of), but more “polished” for the parfum/extrait bottles. Longer lasting perhaps? Chanel hasn’t released much other than parfums/extraits over the last couple of years so maybe a relaunch of older lines (Cristalle, Égoïste, Allure Homme OG) in extraits could be really nice? I know, I know…stop dreaming. And probably something only us perfume lovers would be into. Buuuut, still dropping it here in case the right person at Chanel ever sees this…

🥀

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.

Funny how smelling a fragrance can instantly place you on a timeline where you never existed. Fragrances in the 70s took time to gain popularity, especially if they were not widely available. I imagine this was very popular by the early 80s, because that is the vibe that I got when I sprayed this in the Chanel boutique. The age of the Power Woman. Big hair, big shades, bold colors, shoulder pads and pumps. Upon the first spritz, I swear I thought I heard Jessie's Girl by Rick Springfield playing in the background. Maybe it was Cyndi Lauper or Madonna? Cristalle like many other women's fragrances from this era were composed of heady florals and woody, mossy undertones. This fragrance has a sparkling opening, delivering a burst of white flowers but heavy on the hyacinth. The conclusion is a typical, but pleasantly cool powdery dry down. Dated? Perhaps, but very refined. During the 70s and 80s, this was considered modern. We millennials and later generations often turn our noses up at classic perfumes, but ask yourself... if you were of that era and living your life as an adult in the 80s, what perfume would you be wearing? I ask myself this question often and I always come up with Chanel Antaeus and Santos de Cartier.

Chanel Cristalle (1974) - citrus chypre - bright and sparkling citrus perfume from #henrirobert that combines sharpness from Bergamot, Lemon and Hyacinth with a warmth and balance from a classic chypre structure. Reminds me of morning cutting grass and morning picnics, where the air is still cold and dewy.

The smell of purity. So delicate, fresh and green. Clear as crystal, soothing as a cool balm. A chaste maiden running through green meadows, plucking wildflowers and dipping her feet in babbling brooks. Totally detached from the craziness of modern living. I love this one.

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!

Aah, I received a fresh bottle today as a gift. I`ll put it out of the sight now for half of a year or so to let it sit and "marinate". This way it will evolve into much deeper and more nuanced version of itself by springtime. Just a perfect timing!

Yes, it is composed slightly different than the version I used years ago, but I don`t mind - at least they still produce it. There is constant fear of Chanel discontinuing this.

I remember wearing this in my 20's and it was amazing fragrance for summer days. I live in Florida, so when I saw it again a month ago in Chanel boutique, I had to have it. The opening is exactly as I remember. Fresh and green. Love the bergamot!
But (on my skin) the Lilac becomes very prominent. I can spray my clothes ( where it smells exactly the same as I remember), but I love to wear scents on my skin. With that being said, if anyone is interested in buying this, lmk. I literally used this 3 times. It is EDT 100 ml.

Cristalle EDT opens with a mix of damp, decomposing, yet fresh greenery. Oak moss, maybe, but also the kind of honeysuckle you can find in pine tree forests. It is both young and old, light and darkness, spring and autumn. Similar to Diorella by Dior, and a bit also like Halston. All these three have a minty melon base that ripens the perfume's other side of fresh cut flower stems. The smell of flower water from a vase that has been standing in the sun too long. This might be a parfume that I will only wear in private, not being quite sure how others will react to the smell. I am curious to try the more current EDP, as the oak moss in this one is a bit itchy on my skin.

Edit: The staying power is really good though, I can still smell Cristalle on my skin in the eavening after just one spray in the morning.

This is the Cristalle non offence to EDP version. But this has a vibrancy while EDP stays on more lineer side.
It is vegetal, yes but in Cristalle EDT every note combined with another exceptionally precise. Coco, Chance, Coco Mademoiselle etc. I appreciate all of those on the other hand I cheerish Cristalle EDT more than any other Chanel ( along with Bois des Iles and Cuir de Russie).
Cristalle smells extremely natural to me, I have vintage and newer version and I adore both, while zesty quality of new version is pretty irresistable.
Please give it a try if you haven’t try this wonderful combination of flowers and citruses lay with earthy base.
With works extremely well in hot climates,

J’adore ça!!!

My vintage bottle smells half nice, but it does have a celery/salad side to it. I still like it, but why do I bother buying vintage?

I wanted the edt over the edp after reading many reviews, but only the edp seems to be available from Chanel now, and even that is frequently out of stock. I bought my edt on eBay and I’m delighted. Cristalle is the ultimate green + woods fragrance. Revitalising but earthy. I agree with the reviewer who advised to wear on skin, not clothing.
Edit:
It’s summer in the UK. I can’t stop spraying my precious edt! I am so sad it’s now so hard to get hold of, as this baby will be empty very quickly…

I’ve been searching for a great green/earthy fragrance for a bit now, and no matter how I tried to ignore it, Cristalle kept popping up at every turn. I was finally able to obtain a vintage mini and I am utterly confused. There is no batch code in sight, but all signs point to it being from the 80s. The juice is light yellow in color. There is also a small amount of particulate sediment floating around inside. Most worryingly, the fragrance is incredibly weak. I have a feeling that the initial application was once sharp and bracing, but now presents as a very mild twang. Following this phase, which lasts for only a minute or so, is the deeply disappointing dry down… I can smell a flower or two if I squint, but it is mostly just a nondescript, neutral scent, hard to pin down. Sillage is about a foot, longevity is maybe a couple of hours. What happened here? Did I possibly get a counterfeit? Or has it just degraded with time? What a let down… the notes, as well as all of your wonderful reviews, make it sound gorgeous.

IMHO, Cristalle isn't an ice queen, it's a woody/earthy revelation. I don't get the citrus notes at all, maybe my bottle has deteriorated? Poor lasting power and sillage, C. is still beautiful enough to keep on hand. Very unisex. Very expensive, too.
Cristalle and No. 19 are my favorites from Chanel.

I bought a bottle of Cristalle in 1980. My impression at the time was it felt like a much younger fragrance than say for me wearing Chanel No. 5 at age 21. To this day I do not like Chanel No. 5. Sadly, I have the impression of "an old alligator-purse lady." Now I've learned it is the aldehydes in No. 5 that do it in for me. Also sadly, the current bottle of Cristalle I recently purchased from the Chanel website is nothing like I remember it in 1980. It falls flat. Ah well, nostalgia sometimes is better left to the imagination.

I wore this in high school and college. It’s one of my all-time favorite fragrances. If I could find anything even remotely close to Cristalle, I’d be so happy!

I mixed Cristalle edt with almond body oil from L’occitane. I must tell you it’s match made in heaven!!!

Maria ( Julie Andrews ) in The Sound of Music 1965

The appeal of modern Cristalle has long been lost on me. Despite rave reviews, and that on paper, it seems like a scent I should love, I have never been able to truly love it. The best I could manage was to appreciate its craftsmanship and admire it from a distance. Cristalle, for me, has always lived up to its name - austerely hard, cold and bright. I was initially familiar with the EDP - a distinct scent created by Jacques Polge in the 1990s (similar to how No. 5 EDP is a different, later creation to the original EDT and parfum). This changed last year, when I got my hands on a vintage EDT from the 1980s. Compared to the later EDP, the EDT is softer, more aromatic and less severe.

Cristalle opens with a radiant lemon note, bolstered by juicy orange and tart bergamot. I get some soapy aldehydes in there too, making for a bright, squeaky-clean opening. The floral notes creep in, making for a rich, waxy-yet-clean white floral accord. Hyacinth is an inspired addition - I am partial to a good hyacinth note, loving its heady, waxy vintage-style charm - and the hint of polleny honeysuckle is beautiful. Clean jasmine rounds out the bouquet. It is wonderfully green too. The earthy base notes emerge, forming the chypre and grounding the scent, adding soft mossy-woody goodness to Cristalle. Vetiver adds soft grassiness, while woody notes give some warmth. It dries down to a damp, mossy skin scent after several hours. Sillage and longevity are reasonably moderate (I find that vintage EDTs tend to perform better than their modern counterparts).

Cool, crisp and bright, Cristalle manages to capture the essence of springtime emerging after a long winter. The green notes and florals evoke lush growth, bolstered by the mossy chypre base, while the citrus opening reflects the harsh sunlight of early spring. This could give my beloved No. 19 a run for its money. Excellent, and in my opinion, vastly superior to Polge's EDP. 4/5.

There is snow on the ground outside but it is sunny and the sun is flooding in through my office window. I felt in the mood to wear something a bit more green today due to the sun. Surprisingly, I am getting more of the honeysuckle than I did when I wore this in the summer and early fall, in fact it’s dominant in this wearing. The scent is overall citrusy earthy and floral sweet, not as crisp as my memory. Maybe this is due to the direct sunlight or the cooler temps but this is a real beauty, so glad I have my full bottle.

Cristalle edt is Chanel's ethereal green.

With an overture evidently "crystalline", light, caressing and very sensory offers us a unique green. Many years ago when I first heard it I was impressed by how different it was to so many perfumes and today it still has the same feeling in my nose.

It is so magical that such a seemingly simple perfume is so identifiable among so many thousands of fragrances in the universe...

It smells of distant nature, something cold and at the same time cozy... it has a hint of irresistible melancholy for people who like to smell romantic.
For me, of course it has aged so well, today it continues to offer an unparalleled freshness and elegance. I can not replace it in sensations by any other smell.

Using it is like traveling to the Siberian tundra and finding among so much snow some green reeds that stand out in the sun on a cold spring morning...

I don’t know how to describe this at all. But I’ll give it a go.

I scored a vintage .5 oz spray off Mercari with golden juice, not the almost water clear look of modern formulations.

The very first spritz reminded me of the first stage of no 19 EDP, I think more specifically I could smell something bitter and sharp for just a moment. But that dissipates and it becomes this warm, lovely fragrance. Not warm like amber or spices, but warm as in it reminds one of a sunny day.

The colors white and yellow come to mind, and light green. I feel like I’m on a walk and bending down to smell hyacinths, gliding my hand along honeysuckle to grab for me to sniff and taste. And after this lovely walk around 1 pm, I come home to water and smell my potted jasmine while sipping on something cool and crisp. But I catch notes of the somewhat wet, mossy bed of grass I walked through in the wooded park near my apartment.

What IS THIS?! I at first found it dated. I wasn’t sure if I would like it. It’s like my brain had to re-wire and connect new channels that hadn’t been accessed, as now...I find it gorgeous.

I can’t wear this often as I’d like to preserve my lil bb vintage bottle. But, it really is beautiful. I wish I could describe the notes better. They’re just blended so well. Chypre is a family I’m still learning and exposing myself to as I don’t fully understand them. But I do love no 19 so I’m intent on making that my signature (I still don’t have one 😞).

This will become a ritual fragrance that will be used sacredly, as in very little over the years.

🥀

For a while, when I became enamoured with fragrances, I privileged anything that was complex, opaque, tempestuous, and reviled simplicity.

Then I discovered this unassuming 70's gem in its chic tall bottle. Turns out transparency can be just as satisfying as complexity, and about 100 times harder to pull off.

Cristalle is a luminous, bitter, citrusy floral, almost a fougére, considering how much it hollows out its jasmine-y heart in search of spare, green freshness.

I love it. It's as elegant and modern as anything that's come down the pike in the past 50 years, and there have been few improvements (even though Ormonde Jayne's Tiare came close).

In 1977 when I was 13 years old a neighbor friend gave me a sample vial she'd received from her Chanel order. My love for Chanel perfumes began.
I have a couple of Vintage N°5 perfumes. A N°19 slash edt now discontinued only available in spray, love. Had Chance, nice. Coco not crazy about. Coco Mademoislle like a lot but not a fan of Oriental spicy fragrances on me.
A few years ago I purchased an edt of Christalle and remembered how beautiful it is. I'm not one of those who can pick out all of the notes. Some I can like my favorite, Fracas. I can pick out the cedar which I love. In this Christalle, the lemon is very prevalent at first and lingers in the dry down settles into the base notes of whatever they are. It's a lovely fragrance that's not offensive at all.
My next Chanel fragrance will be "Misia" as I adore Violet centered perfumes like Guerlain "Insolence" edt. That one is not for everyone. I probably wouldn't have liked it as a younger woman.
I do love this Chanel Christalle.

I got a vintage sample of this and I do like some green and chypre fragrances but this is very fleeting and I smell a skanky note. I don't know if my vintage sample is turning bad or if it's supposed to smell like this. From what I can smell I don't hate it, it has possibilities without that note. I think I will have to try a modern sample of it. It's not blowing me away but from the reviews I'm still curious. I suspect it's probably the only Chanel I could tolerate as I don't hate it but I from what I smell, I have things I like better and would rather not waste a day wearing this when I could wear them. But it says alot that I could probably stand wearing this as I don't like most perfumes.

I own and love this! It is an Uh-maz-ing blend of citrus, vetiver, oakmoss, hyacynth. So good in hot weather. I prefer it to the EDP, which has more melon, oakmoss and creaminess, but is missing the hyacynth. One is not "better" than the other- they are just unique. The EDT does have poor longevity and sillage, but its just such a great scent that I just enjoy it for a few hours, and accept that it is ephemeral. :) I own a semi-vintage bottle, but had a sample of a modern bottle to compare it to, and I'm happy to say that the current formulation is just as good as my older one.

I had a sample of this as a teen that I hoarded for formal wear. I remember loving it and now need to see if I still do. What I remember is smelling all the notes listed here crushed together. An almost fuzzy, blurred quality. I could smell the parts and their sum. It was way out of my comfort zone but in hindsight it was an elevation of my usual fruit or woody perfume oils I collected.

Less fruity than EDP otherwise identical. I love EDP perhaps more for its fullness and roundness but this is lovely too. Fresh, woody, sparkly. The most perfect perfume for a summer autumn transition.

Man is this weird. I blind bought it and it’s nothing like I imagined. It’s coooold. It’s not sparkly or bright like some of the citrus notes would indicate. It’s green, and there is a stinky skank factor. It doesn’t smell like anything I own. It’s not sweet or powdery or floral or citrus to me. It’s damp, mossy, cold, dreary galbanum - and I like it.

My very first perfume & one I revisit often; currently wearing as signature, again. I was born in the mid/late eighties, & am surprised anyone would describe it as 'old lady' - since many try to copy it's somewhat ethereal perfection, & fail + it's considered to be, pretty perfect, by various 'noses'' in the industry - barely floral, to the point of not being so (I couldn't wear it, if it was,) - the mid notes whisper, & are fluid, in nature. A shadow of it's former self in current formulation - though it is now slightly sweeter, than my first bottle which I was given as a present, age 10, & loved - & I wore it on & off, beginning to wear it all day/night from age 17 - for about 2 years. Green, classy, platinum light, an icy perfume maybe, but not devoid of sensuality - the slight teakwood base & a little oakmoss + gentle vetiver, keep it interesting. Not powdery, not at all, that's it's charm. Retro, it is not, somehow - if it had never been made, (as it was in 1974 originally, way ahead of it's time,) & a niche house came up with it now - they would clean up. I buy vintage bottles sometimes, & receive some in swaps, & though I often wear the current formulation alone, spraying often throughout the day; I also layer it with Tom Ford Vert Boheme (a blatant copy, stronger, less sweet - like the original Cristalle edt - but nowhere near as good as the late 90's version - & am told, the 80's version - TFVB also has a slight, fruit syrup tone, which jars a little - notably, I shall not repurchase TFVB, but hope to always keep Cristalle in my collection.) I am now thinking to layer it with Issey Miyake 'A Scent'- which reminds of Cristalle on first spray - but which has none of Cristalle's mystique, or je ne sais quoi - but which may hopefully fill in a little of what the reform took away, in terms of longevity. Certainly 6 sprays are necessary for delicate presence - it used to be v present, with four; I spray behind my knees, as well as my nape, letting it catch my long hair, & the inside of my elbows - & it's just beautiful. Another plus to Cristalle, is it's lack of lily of the Valley - something which often appears, in 'fresh greens' aimed at the female market - & was/is the source of many blind buy fails, for me - the lack of this, in Cristalle, is something that sets it apart, & makes it a pure classic, in it's edt form. It's v much coming back in to style, just now, due to it's vert perfection, & almost fresh quality. Don't talk to me about the edp - which apparently contains peach(!) - just no (gosh, no; I knew somebody who bathed in the Body Shop's Fuzzy Peach - in all it's syrupy awfulness - & even now cannot bear it - or apricot, in perfumes) - Cristalle has NO peach, never did, Henri Robert would turn in his grave. True Cristalle lovers, & sure devotees, would never touch said 'edp' - & how could it possibly be so - it's true nature is light & sparkling, crisp & cool - it could never be an eau de parfum - have never tested it, & shall not do so..싫어!

Edit: Chic, this is - but don't deliberately spray on clothing - if you are likely to do so, don't wear non natural fibres (espc not polyester) - if you do so, the result is an almost 'cigarette like' note, which is not pleasant - someone told me this, before I wore first wore it, & I appreciated that knowledge. Wear with a masculine styled, silk shirt, or severely cut silk dress, & all of your femininity, & you cannot go wrong. (Unisex, it is not.) Interestingly, Luca Turin states that this is 'As good as it's ever been.' Not the longevity, I find, but in essence, most certainly.

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.

So ethereal and beautiful but so light, I can barely detect it and it's gone in half an hour. Anyone else have this experience or did I just happen to sample a weak, recent formulation?

The summer heat has arrived here in the Southern California desert, so I've been wearing this. I love Cristalle. This is light and airy, but at the same time, wet and earthy. Spraying it on my skin feels like a cool bath. This smells so green and refreshing. Even though it was launched long ago, Cristalle has aged really well. This comes off as swank and modern, yet has an ethereal quality about it. Glad to have a bottle...beautiful stuff.

Team EDT forever! Cristalle fans are ever divided in the EDT vs EDP team.
For me, there is only the Eau de toilette, created 1974.
This is one of my ever since favourite frags for spring – summer.
Sooo fresh, green and crisp. Distinctive, elegant.
It reminds me of a early morning summer walk in a Sicilian garden, full of blossoming trees and white flowers, with fresh laundry hanging from the lines.
There is plenty of fresh, citrusy notes but also a white floral part, that lingers around and truly stays with you all day long.
An hymn to a classic, elegant, understated, young femininity.
A perfume I would recommend to everone.
A must.
________________

I had this beauty when I was younger and adored it, but of course others came along and swayed my fancy and I didn’t repurchase. I recently saw it had been discontinued and was so sad not to be able to get myself another bottle (the Verte does not suit me and I prefer the edt over the edp) so imagine my delight when I saw it on the Chanel site this morning! It’s not marked ‘exclusive’ so hopefully will be rolling out to stores soon. I just have to save up so I can be reunited with my long lost love!

Boy, is this unpleasant straight out of the bottle. I literally gag after I first apply. There is something rotten in the top notes. After about 30 minutes, however, this really settles into a light, airy, Springtime scent that is quite lovely. The citrus bursts through in an unexpected way and it wears down to a clean, soft, gentle breeze of a perfume. It's a weird one, but trust and give it time to work its magic.

Sharp/b*tchy/icy/earthy beauty! I love Cristalle EDT so much. I’m a guy and dose about 4 sprays, which last all day on me. I don’t know if I agree on the warmer weather comments though.

I wore it on a walk in the woods recently, while it was foggy and misting out. Wet leaves on my muddied boots and Cristalle flossing in and out. Ecstasy.

Too late, I realised that the fragrance that I had tested was the EDP and not the EDT, which I bought.

This perfume was made by Henri Roberts, the same perfumer who made my beloved Chanel 19 EDT. It is a light fragrance. I can smell melon, adelhydes, honeysuckle and jasmine. Some greenish notes and fine woods, but it's not the strong hit of Chanel No. 19

Cristalle EDT is best sprayed on the wrists, so this soft perfume waves around in the air. The notes sparkle in the air like bubbles in champagne. It doesn't work for me on the chest. It's as if, too much heat suffocates it.

I don't like this perfume. There are hand toilettes in those little square sachets that smell like this. *Big sigh. More money to buy the EDP version.

I scored a vintage bottle as the fluid is golden yellow now as opposed to the stock photo above that looks like nearly clear fluid. This feels very "light green" and shares that very rich "Chanel base" in the opening - that other classic Chanels have. This is certainly a "cousin" to Chanel 19 ! Oak moss and wood make this a bit "unisex" . The dry down is soft and lovely ! I get 3 or 4 hours from this and I can only imagine what newly reduced bottles must smell like as this is an EDT. Happy to have a nice big vintage bottle from a thrift store and it was only $24.00 !

My favorite aspect of this perfume is how solitary the notes are. The lemon is a lemon, just one not a bucket load. The hyacinth is like one took the best flower of the bunch and used just that one. The oakmoss and vetiver are small, tidy little bundles. Not a note is overdone. It is eternal because careful craftsmanship never goes out of style.

Cristalle's composition reminds me of the e.e. cummings poem "spring is like a perhaps hand":

....
"moving a perhaps
fraction of flower here placing
an inch of air there)and

without breaking anything."

Chanel Cristalle edt for me was like going on a date with someone I really wasn’t that interested in... then realising that I actually wanted more dates... until having a sudden realisation that I was in love! In fact my 20 year relationship with this little beauty only ended after my pregnancies when I think my skin chemistry totally changed unfortunately. This doesn’t actually reflect reality but to me this perfume is ... yes...oak moss base notes but citrus and magnolia middle notes and unusually it has ‘cherry lips’ top notes(remember those tiny little red lip shapes sweets we used to eat in the 80s?) It is a fruity, young at heart, active, liberated little number. Suited to those who skip to their own beat. It is as appropriate to nautical stripes and capris in the summer as a vibrant ski suit in the winter. Many see it as a summer scent, but I think it an all year round casual and sporty scent... Gutted I don’t suit this perfume like I used to. It really is irreplaceable.

This is pure heaven to me. It's the scent that I associate with my mom as it's the fragrance that she would wear when she would go out for a special day or evening. It's so classy, a bit of a "cold" fragrance but to me, it's the most comforting scent. I have the 60 ml that my mom gave me as she stopped wearing it a few years back. I would love to get myself another one - 50 or 100 ml but I can't find it anywhere. They only seem to have the "eau verte" version which is NOT the same thing.

The perfect mix of chypre and citrus cologne: bright, uplifting and uncompromising but austere at the same time. Projection and lasting power could be a tad better, but when Chanel gives you Cristalle, make cucumber collins!

Just made the accidental discovery that Cristalle EDT is quite stunning layered with N.5 Eau Premiere! These happen to be the two Chanels I have right now. For people who compared Cristalle to Diorella, this mixture really reminds of me that.

By itself Cristalle is pretty simple. It's green and bitter but not really sour to me. Lasts 1-2 hours which is how I ended up getting impatient and just spraying N.5 over it. To me I can smell three things: "wet leaves on the ground" oakmoss, watery hyacinth, and lemon. Oh, and then the hyacinth gets a little bit spicy. I like it.

I've tried a lot in this general category in search of others similar to my BELOVED Eau du Soir. GIvenchy III, Jean Louis Scherrer, Aromatics Elixir (a huge no-no), N.19, and newer stuff like Ex Nihilo Viper Green, CdG Amazingreen, etc. etc. Eau du Soir is more beautiful than most others many times over, but it is fancy fancy stuff. You don't want a hair out of place if you're wearing EDS! Cristalle is like a daughter to that scent, way more casual and pure vegetal but somehow sharing a thread of style.

The edt is a total lemon-ey skin scent. Unfortunately not worth the high prices however a nice scent all the same. Perfect for covering yourself in spring and summer

The ‘74 vintage Cristalle EdT “souffle.” Clean. Earthy. Classy. Cousin of Bel Respiro and D&G 18 La Lune but mossier.

CRISTALLE is gorgeous, you bet. But as a fella, it's one aldehydic/green/floral/chypre that I cannot wear, as it is just too "pretty" and feminine. There is a winsome, girlish, high-pitched floral note it possesses that really makes it impossible for a guy to wear, IMHO.

I much prefer the older green/floral/aldehydics, like MISS DIOR and YSL "Y" and BANDIT, which gender-bend more easily.

I recently bought a bottle of EDT splash on eBay. This is the first time in about 30 yrs that Ive experienced it again. I still love it, tho I think I will put it away till it gets warmer. This is probably the only chypre that I can enjoy. Emphasis on the 'Joy', it is full of it.

What a beautiful, ethereal creature you are, Cristalle! This was never on my radar in terms of Chanel's I wanted to purchase but I found a great deal and took a chance. As someone mentioned below, this doesn't lay on the skin as much as it surrounds you with a soft aura of pure freshness. I have no idea what this smelled like in it's heyday, and I suspect my current version is somewhat softer, even a bit sweeter, but I still think it is spectacular. I really detect the honeysuckle, which is what I think adds that bit of sweetness! Today is a cold, winter day. I can only imagine how this comes alive in the spring and summer! I can't believe I've spent all these years without trying this, but I couldn't be happier to have it now! Layered with a vintage Guerlain Chamade EDT leaves gives something very evocative of vintage Chanel No. 5 EDT. Just lovely!!

PS - @Mousulus - I guess I basically stole your review, but you really hit the nail on the head for me!

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!

Cristalle EDT (in the EDT version!) For me is luxury and ease, cleanliness and sensuality, appeal and inaccessibility, audacity and delicacy, understatement and fullness, closeness outside and unlimited freedom inside ...
My big love is decades long.

Ok.My 3rd Review for this one,because i decided to wear something that is not offensive to the masses due to I was scolded when I sprayed TM Alien 3 hours before goinh to work and was still a nuclear when I went to work.

It is just now how I learned to love Cristalle.It doesn't project and last much on my skin but when it was sprayed on my clothes,it lasted the whole day.It's just as smooth and lightweight like the top I was wearing.It trails gently with a creamy,powdery vibe,It flows gently like water.It's so ethereal,its not grandmothery in my honest opinion.It's Class and sophistication,it's humbleness and kindess,it's angelic,it is pure.

I wonder if the new formulation of this still smells the same because I plan to finish the remaining 30 percent vintage juice that I had been given.It makes me want to reach for this often,yet,don't want to waste such precious vintage.

One of my favourites and very nostalgic! Takes me back over 25 years ago, when I wore this on holiday in Greece. Suited the Mediterranean climate and setting of the sea, beach and mountains. An abstract scent with a transparency that is light and dark. Citrus being the light and refreshing side but then the dark earthy mossy forest floor. A perfect spring and summer perfume, that I treasure very much.

This time of year, when the ground is still covered in patches of ice and brown leaves from last year, and when in my part of the world we are still at least two months from any green in nature, Cristalle comes out of hiding as an early reminder that spring is on its way. The days are getting longer, the sky is blue and there is hope in the air.

Cristalle is as dry and cold as the driest champagne on ice, but also as effervescent and playful. Its galbanum (which is not listed among the notes above, but really is the dominating note) is the highest quality and most mouth wateringly bitter you will ever come across – but just when you can’t take any more of the razor sharp green, the woods emerge smooth and comforting.

This is a very green, woody scent; the flowers are not easy to detect, but lends a sweetness to the transition from the energetic green in the top and middle notes, to the relaxed woodiness in the base. To my mind this is not a citrus scent; the citrus notes play second fiddle to the galbanum and helps bring about the fizzy feel of this scent, like a rind of lime to a Gimlet.

Cristalle is a sophisticated chypre with deep roots in nature, natural yet very tailored and elegant.

My first scent received when I was a teenager back in the 80s. Clean, green, floral, bright in the best way. I am always nostalgic for this one.

A little update.So I decided to give this one a full on focus because I was having the benefit of the doubt that I need to love this.It felt like it's an obligation of mine for Cristalle to be loved.

Mine was indeed old and turnt,hence the vinegary smell.I made a full on test of only this perfume and my goodness.MY GOODNESS!!Once the vinegary smell subsides for about 30 minutes,it turns into this clean floral.A sophisticated white scarf on a summer day of a classy lady type of smell.I get nivea creme vibes to it too.Its just plain beautiful.

Very simple yet it states and provokes class and elegance.

I just needed to give it some time and love and understanding for mine was an very old and the juice had turnt.I only have about 25-30 percent left on the bottle that I got out of the 60ml so I'm saving it for really special occassions.

Passed down treasure review #3:Cristalle

I don't know how old the bottle of cristalle that was handed to me is.It probably is turned buuuuuut after a few sprays of getting the bad juice out.It finally smells good.

The bad juice:Smells like vinegar and a mix of some spices you put on rotisserie chicken.

The good juice:It still smells that without the vinegar.It smells really citrusy.Like lemon slices put on water without sugar.A bit peppery-spicy in my opinion.Then you get the smell of some thin-white petal flower.A floral which I simply cannot pin down of which flower it smells like.But this one smells like the flower itself with the leaves of it in it.It's citrusy,woody spice and that white flower.A bit incense-y too on the dry-down.Mine is probably turnt.

I strangely like it but I feel like it's not right up my alley.I will keep it,still.

Love it.
In a perfect, beautiful, luxurious, dream world, they'd offer Cristalle soap and body lotion so that I could layer this gorgeousness and reinforce it a bit. I wonder if they used to do so-?

An amalgamation of every canon of elegance a single perfume can siphon, “chanelesque” almost to an umpteenth. It has a strong chypre spine, it is fresh but not limpid, radiant but not elusive. There’s a certain sensuality under its aloofness and stringed pearl composure, like one of those cold but far from frigid Hitchcock blondes. High noon elegance carried with an easy smile, austere in temperament but substancial in character, abstract and harmonious in its zingy freshness, an affirmation that sometimes that which we perceive as elegance is actually a serenity of spirit. Great.

Ooooo I love this one. I fell in love with this one back in 1994. It's a fresh green explosion of sophisticated gorgeous. Personally I find it so uplifting and renewing. If it was visual it would be green (obviously!) but also silver and clear quartz. It has a metallic note but the soft oakmossy pillow and delicate flower middle balances it out beautifully. It's very well balanced. I call it a backwards perfume because on me, the middle floral notes stay longer than the base notes of vetiver and oakmoss. I always thought it had cedarwood in the mix because I am very attracted to it but no! Still, one of my all time favourite scents. The price has sky rocketed since I last bought some back in the 90s!

One of my favorite scents. Men would be dumb not to grab a bottle of Cristalle EdT, a deranged citrus chypre. Crisp and almost clean without being too polished.

I was given my first bottle of Cristalle by an older boyfriend. I loved it instantly...

Almost 40 years later I am still wearing it, still loving it, despite many liaisons with other fragrances and other men.

It is an under-appreciated classic. Cool yet tender, fresh without being biting, can be worn at any time of day in any situation. I have get to meet someone who dislikes it and still get asked about the "lovely perfume you're wearing".

As close to perfection for everyday fragrance as you can possibly get.

This is one of my favorite fragrances. I'm not a fan of chanel fragrances. I've owned several and this is the only one I wear. It's a bright green citrus scent that is very refreshing. It's very hard to find now and expensive also.

Cristalle is an oddity: light yet dark, clean yet dirty, otherworldly yet familiar… All of these contradictions make it such an outstanding creation that is as organic and uninhibited as it is meticulously constructed, like the perfect jewel. It evokes really peculiar imagery for me: its mossy and soily textures make me think of the cool and damp relief an ancient underground tomb would provide a vigilante explorer like Lara Croft or Indiana Jones from an overbearingly hot and arid desert landscape. It’s as if Cristalle is a relic hidden deep within such a tomb that is meant to be discovered only by those brave enough to seek it, who in return for uncovering it are rewarded with a blast of radiant (and fragrant, of course) beams of light that powerfully cut through all surrounding darkness, yet soothe and caress the person who unearthed it.

It's interesting to read that some people are completely put off by the opening, because for me it is the most heavenly opening of a Chanel fragrance---it’s fleshy, humid, and subtly green, mixed with crumbly textures of dark, fertile soil and moss-covered pebbles. And the hyacinth is more vegetal than floral, and it's simply divine. For once I opt for the EDT concentration of a Chanel fragrance over its EDP counterpart because the composition impresses me more, and I’m happy to say the performance on my skin is outstanding as well (which is typically NOT the case with Chanel EDTs); the EDP---while long lasting---gets muddy and overly gauzy and rosy on my skin. The EDT is truly breathtaking.

I have been dying to try this and I finally found the EDT at the airport today an sprayed it! Wow sooo baaad! I was so disappointed I logged into my Fragrantica account then and there to remove it from my list. Five minutes later... Wow, what is that beautiful smell? Lovely hyacinth sweet and perfect oakmoss to give it maturity and strength and a touch of class. You have to give this one a few minutes to relax into your skin and then it’s pure magic!

The oakmoss is warm and soft and reminds me of the oakmoss in Cartier La Panthere EDP.

Back on my to-buy list it goes!

this was my first EVER fragrance. At the age of 32 haha. It sparked my obsession with fragrance. I really had no interest in perfume before cristalle and now I own an embarrassing 150 bottles of fragrances. A legit addiction. But Cristalle is mesmerizing. My first thought when I sprayed it was honestly "American Psycho" the film. Beautiful and sick. I imagined cristalle perfuming the whole movie for some reason. Anyway it is fresh, metallic, and like no other scent. It's the most magical and in my top 5 forever. I wear it in the early mornings. In the rain. To the gym and to sleep. I like the eau vert, but the original can't be beat.

Nice and classy but also unisex and green.
Fresh. Oldschool as well. Hard to describe. Respect for longevity. Not my cup of tea thou.

This smells carbonated. Except that i don't think i've ever had a soda that smells this good. Is it unisex? I'll have to get people's opinions. I'm a man and want to wear it, but i also don't want to smell like a girl

Have just received a miniature EDT today. Don't know when from. It is strong & I think will be quite long lasting.

It is gorgeous. It does remind me of Diorella which is one of my faves and also slightly of Eau du Soir.

Have not tried the EDP, but will update if I do.

I am not going into the notes just going to enjoy.

Can anyone explain why I soemtimes get a hint of tobacco here?
This is my cup of tea. Wish it smelled stronger and lasted more.

The most sophisticated citrus-aromatic scent in this planet. I Keep purchasing it since the 90s...

I'm really enjoying this fragrance. Very crisp and work-appropriate, and could easily go unisex. Even though it's light, there's no creaminess, aquatic, and very little sweetness from the fruit or floral compared to more current "crisp and cool" fragrances. Big herbal lemon up front (might call it soapy), but the woody notes are apparent throughout on me. I get the jasmine a lot more than the honeysuckle, and the dry down is a little deeper. I find it interesting that on the Chanel.com website, the only basenote mentioned is jasmine- do they think "Oakmoss" sounds unappealing? My only gripe is that the staying power is pretty short, definitely less than other EDTs I've tried using the same amount of sprays. However, in Chanel's defense, the description does straight-up say that the EDT is for "generous use all over the body", and I typically am not an exuberant sprayer.

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.

Cristalle dates from a time in the 70s when green was good. The fragrances I wore then were of a green color - Emeraude, Charlie, Chanel 19. This is a beautiful clean soapy green scent with minimal notes and quite easy to wear as a day to day inoffensive office work scent or a signature scent. It's definitely one of the most cleanest and unisex of the Chanel's women frags. This is quite simple that it makes for a good intro into mature green chypre scents for beginners. I remember when I first wore it I was quite blown away only because it was so simple and no nonsense a conservative sans frills unisex toilet water.

Opens with icy cool cold citruses of a medicinal kind with a touch of both sour and sweet notes. The lemon is dominant but there's equal parts orange, bergamot, and citron. The fresh orange scent is invigorating and like inhaling actual lemon juice. Very nice. The citrusy scents turn slightly floral with an aquatic air. Smells like watery hyacinth in the morning dew or rain. Smells like cristal raindrops. Perhaps that's why they call it cristalle French for crystal It smells of cold crystals falling from the air like ice particles or pellets. It's cold and so it is definitely suited to warmer hotter weather in the summer.

The rest of the time this fragrance is green. Not floral green. Just green. It's concentrated grass somewhat like No 19 but far less complex and more linear. Smells of big moss lots of oak moss and vetiver, like walking barefoot on grass or a forest covered in green moss. This is also suggestive of rain or mist falling over a green forest landscape. There's a calm serenity to this fragrance which I like but it's colder than I normally like my green chypres. This is as cold as Givenchy II or Y Yves Saint Laurent. I prefer warmer muskier green scents like Charlie by Revlon. This is a very polished elegant scent, soapy and pristine, womanly but unisex. I believe the man who can wear Chanel Pour Monsieur can wear this too.

"lemon perfection" says the previous reviewer. um, no. that's too simplistic for such a sophisticated perfume. this is chanel at its best. a glorious, crisp, clear, green fragrance. it's not sweet, common or easy to describe. i do smell hyacinth, but otherwise find this a rather abstract fragrance. cristalle is a good name for something so translucent and luminous. love it!

Lemon perfection. This is my favorite perfume for the summer season. The name is appropriate - crystal fresh perfume - citrus and green.

There is something wrong with my nose. I cannot smell this perfume, for it feels like watered-down cologne. I get the citrus note, and perhaps the bitter, crisp woodiness... but that is all. The perfume dies on me. An hour after spraying it on, all I can smell is a trace of alcohol on my wrist. It is as transparent and flimsy as the name suggests.
But hey, do you know what really gets me every time? The black plastic cap. I take it off to give the perfume another try, and its Bakelite stink jumps at me like one of those barmy toy clowns hiding inside a box. I am afraid this is the most memorable thing about the perfume. Sad, because I actually bought a bottle; I wanted to treat myself to a Chanel scent but I was intimidated by N.5... I wish I had not been so stupid.

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 : |

Back when I was 15 I discovered Chanel Pour Monsieur and fell in love with its gentle lemony vibe. It became my signature smell and one have bought regularly in the intervening decades. From the start, on becoming aware of the effects and importance of scent on my sense of self and wellbeing, I have never made much of the distinction of gender, of this being for women, or that for men.

I wore Dior's Dune for women for much of my 20s. I found and fell in love with Chanel No 5 only two years ago. I own a teeny 15ml parfum bottle with a small amount of perfume left which I bought on EBay for £25. It is stunning. The tiniest dab releases a huge bouquet of scents from roses to laundry.

Now, in my 58th year another revelation, Cristalle EDT. It takes Pour Monsieur and amplifies it, refracting the lemon and oakmoss in its own inimitable way. Cristalle really is a fragrant jewel. First I am hit by a sharp critic facet, then the hyacinth plane, then a hint of rose. Now 12 hours after application I am getting a gorgeous oakmoss and vetiver fug when I sniff under my t-shirt. I am guessing that the oakmoss is a chemical recreation but hey, who cares if it smells as good as this.

I realise that this reformulation is probably very different from the perfume created over 40 years ago by Henri Robert. Perfumes evolve over time as houses walk the line between making a scent relevant and modern and the cost and quality of ingredients as well as make them fit within regulations over the use of natural sources. It does not matter to me whether the vintage Cristalle is better or worse. This pale juice is my Cristalle for today and for me it is love ❤️ all over again. Thank you Chanel for scenting most of my life.

Love, love, love! I get goosebumps just by smell inside the Cork on the bottle. It may not smell as when it originally came out on the market but I hope it will not change as it is today.

Layering this with Trésor in Love is heavenly!

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.

I love chypre's. Cristalle edt is no exception. Today it reminds me of the bottle I had in 1980. It opens with an amazing brisk vodka, bitter, tinged with bergamot. The heart is subtle floral. It must be the galbanum that gives a distinct green, herbal quality. The closest to sweetness in Cristalle is the dry down smelling of new wood. Owning my first bottle, I felt soo grown up wearing it, and I liked that it was unidentifiable and unlike the mother of all Chanel, No 5. Sillage is soft. Doesn't last all that long on me these days, but a truly remarkable fragance I'm still in love with. Nostalgic clear, sunny days in Los Angeles with a promise of a bright future ahead.

This is one of the first fragrances I owned when experimenting with better fragrances. I purchased a very small bottle when it first came out. Although I could not afford bigger bottles and moving on to other fragrances this stayed in my mind all these years. I recently discovered it again and remember how wonderful it was. It was the first fresh, clean fragrance available. Vey citrusy. Mant have tried to capture the ' fresh, clean' scent over the years but not to compare with this. It is my 2nd go to fragrance and I get lots of compliments on it. I hope it is around a very long time.

Cristalle is a
clean crisp chypre,
citrus cold and austere.

Yet, its floral is
delicate and dewy,
a heaven fit for a lady.

and for its earthy green,
so temperate, yet so sturdy
thus, is a must have for a dandy.

I'm amazed how clear and strong the hyacinth note comes through straight from the bottle/on application here. I expected a clear, bitterish green citrus but I'm getting a floral that I would call ''clean'' if the notion of 'clean floral' has not been destroyed by modern insipid sport aquatics.

So, unexpectedly lovely and soft.

On me, very bitter, very dry green woody oakmoss with something almost dusty that may be the vetiver.

So good! Completely unisex, reminds me of dry tree bark. The feeling it evokes is of calm energy, like a stroll in the woods. Sharp but not aggressive.

I would enjoy having it.

---
I own a sample.

BEAUTY!!!!
One of my top scents...there was a time in my life that I only used Cristalle...I have to go back to it again...
Cristalle is for a woman that wants to smell fresh, sporty without lose the class and sophistication.
A classy sport scent.

Cristalle makes me think of early Spring when the first flowers start filling the air with their sharp zingy fragrance. It stuns the senses back to life after the long, cold Winter of deprivation. It's magic.

Instantly attractive , vibrant and young, I'm drawn to it whenever I smell the bottle. However I once passed by a woman whose perfume I didn't warm to, and then realised it was the same as mine: Christalle.
I gave it to my mum and decades later she is still wearing it, the same bottle I bought in the late 80s! It's charming on her, a classic charming smell. But still not as appealing on the skin as in the bottle. Perhaps just a bit too crisp to be human. And when I took it on holiday to Greece, it didn't last at all on my skin. It was a waste to use it in that heat, it just disappeared.

A sweet lemony/leafy daytime fragrance that I would only wear in the summer. It's fleeting, too, for better or worse. I'd spritz this on before/after an aerobics class or after cooking an oniony/garlicky dinner. An elegant scent that will cover your bases, but not at all sensuous.

I no longer have this scent it was one of the first i ever purchased. It is now too 'sweet' for me which may be due to the middle note of hyacinth but a little does goes long way so if you like this scent it won't disappoint you with its staying power.

This one is very sensual and mysterious perfume, despite its sweetness, the leather and wood (jacarandá) scent still present. Don't underestimate this "eau" power: just an extra pinch will make it unbearable.

Im not sure about this one...It's very linear and to me smells like a lemony house cleaning detergent. Theres just no depth to this at all...I feel like its missing something important that would have made it AMAZING.

Its just so underwhelming.

A wonderful must own and one of my signatures!

Galbanum,citrus lemon,hyacinth,Vetyver and oakmoss infused chypre, I adore it,and so would of Gabrielle Chanel herself,she loved woody chypres over anything else.

Tomorrow would have been her birthday I might just wear it as she would have done,despite this being released 3 years after her ,death....

However maybe she started to have a helping hand with the perfumer who did this,as perfumes take several years to develop.

Well done Chanel,you created a green crystal heavenly wonder piece!!

I just purchased the vintage 8oz bottle. 8oz. I have never seen it in the size. The seller seemed trustworthy and the condition and the circumstance of how the seller got this bottle were believable. It could be manufactured in 70's. It was sealed with rubber like material under the square cap.
The liquid is much more darker amber. I am not sure if it was due to the formula or aging.
The scent compared to the current one....the cold, sharp lemony opening is not there. It's citrusy but earthy. less metallic. creamer. aged wood scent remains with me afterword. very minimum. could be unisex.
I like both the vintage and the current Cristalle edt.
I know there are still 6.8oz bottles available among Chanel collection. Does anybody know when the 8oz bottles were available?

This perfume really flies under the radar. I was browsing the perfume department when a French sounding woman eluded me to it. I was a bit sceptical at first, as I never really liked the green woodsy type perfumes but this one was so much more unique than the others. Strangely, this perfume really works best on my skin in winter. It is so fresh and sparkly but modest. It brightens a dreary winter day. It lasts all day but you're not conscious of it being on you, it seems to blend in perfectly and become one with you. This is my boyfriend's all time favourite perfume on me. I wear it during the day only.

Simply beautiful, extended top note, summery heady intoxication. Simple and complex ....stunning.

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.

Cristalle was one of my mother's perfumes. She wore the EDP but I am wearing the EDT. Fresh, refreshing, sweet and spring time floral fragrance and with more subdued woods. I remember the oak moss and the woods in my mother's perfume. This has it too but it's softer. The hyacinth dominates. At times it reminds me of lavender and heliotrope. It's clearly a purple scent. The dry down is clean like soap. Great stuff to wear in hot weather. The citruses are fresh and delicious. This could even be called aquatic. If you like fresh florals this is the very definition of it.

I personally like the EDT version far better.. It is strange but I don't even like the EDP version !! I consider the EDT is far more original and fresh and could be considered UNISEX too...

Along the lines of Aliage by Estee Lauder and Ivoire de Balmain, a simple green chypre. This has a light touch because it's an Eau de Toilette and for me it's less intense than the EDP. Chanels really smell better as toilettes. This is a fresh out of the shower scent. It does not pretend to be anything other than what it is. It's elegant and ridiculously simple almost linear as if it didn't follow the top middle and base note formula. It opens with citrus fresh and invigorating a tad like a man's after shave but not unpleasant. The rest of the time the fragrance is full of oak moss. The hyacinth flower is very clearly there but this is the only floral note in it! As such it's all woods and moss. It's aromatic but not heavily aromatic and it becomes a clean skin scent. I loved it very much and bought two for my mother who loves chypres. These kind of fragrances always smell great in winter time as they blossom in cold weather or in the late fall. If you walk around air conditioned homes and buildings (including where you work) the scent is lovely not overpowering just nice and wafts up into the air quite nicely. I recommend it to fans of chypres. Chanel herself preferred woodsy chypres and not floral fragrances. She would have rocked this. It's unfortunate that she was already deceased at the time of the launch of this frag. During Chanel's own lifetime she knew that No. 5 was the best seller and she never wore No. 5 and didn't like it.

Cristalle is like No.19 L'eau would be if Chanel had made such a flanker with a lemony aquatic twist. It still has that old fashioned chypre feel but unlike the austere No.19 it is delicate and fresh. Diorella is insulted. In no way is this light perfume a dupe for Diorella, the Queen of Green.

Cristalle is like a quirky little girl among the class of Citrus Chypre cologne (70's), standing aside alone, watching the 2 popular classmates O de Lancome and Eau de Rochas dancing and laughing aloud in the party. For me, the green galbanum inherited from Chanel No. 19 (1970) is the touch that makes her so different from her contemporary fellows. She can be quiet or loud, sexy or abstinent. It all depends on the mood when you put her on your skin.

Ah this brings back fond memories of a very close aunty who sadly passed away some years back. She gave me a bottle of this she had lying around and I was very pleased to receive it. Its very fresh and crispy, not that shower fresh or clean laundry , no, its more outdoors like cut grass in the summertime with just the right amount of sweetness, I think its rather 70's kinda a sporty woman wears this. I still like it very much & when I use up some of my other fragrances I will definitely buy myself a bottle.

Green and earthy, it evokes the smell of a freshly cut grass. It's a minimalist perfume and it suggests the symmetry of a crystalline structure, its cold vibe invokes the ice crystal geometry. On the other hand, there is a deep sophisticatication of a silky kind that adds some warmth probably due to its woody and aromatic segment. The result is a feminine and elegant scent with an "office like" simplicity and at the same time a dark and sexy complexity. An Ice Queen among the perfumes created in 1974 by Henry Robert. It has a masculine personality resulting to be ambiguously feminine as a woman dressed in a menswear, tie and tuxedo black and white suit, is. Effortlessly elegant and typically French à la Chanel in character. A melancholic scent, mature and unique.

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 finally have a bottle of this (July 2014 batch code) and I had to say, this strikes me as the quintessential Chanel. It's perfumey, in the most elegant of ways, earthy and beautifully green, somehow aromatic and herbaceous, abstractly floral, imperceptibly sweet. No wonder it's still in production after all those years.

Chanel Cristalle EDT is a simple, but not plain at all, beauty. It's green, but I don't get the cut grass note that some reviewers have mentioned. It's green in the sense of the green smell floating about a nice garden, or a tame forest. I get some lemon, dry oakmoss and woods, something fruitily sweet, which makes me think maybe melon is present in the EDT formulation, and not just the EDP.

This is light, so maybe it would be best for summer. It's airy but has substance, and it would be great if more people wore this instead of the dreaded aquatics that seem to reign in the summer. On my want list, for sure.

unique sent of cut grass! no perfume had realised this work! real smell of herbs and cut grass! bravo chanel.
it really reminds grass and trees near the swimming pool on sunny days and after a nice journey in this childhood place. love!

I have decided that in writing my review I would tell you how this makes me feel when I put it on as well as how it smells to me. I have been looking for some years for a Chanel perfume that I can wear that is not too strong and I have already found that I can wear Chanel 19 (I am obviously able to wear green florals) so I thought I would give Cristalle a try. I was overwhelmed by the feelings it gave me. I am 42 years old and I love fresh unique perfumes such as Mark Jacobs Daisy and DKNY Original and Be Delicious. On first spray of Cristalle it took me back to being in my late teens, early twenties getting ready to go out on a date with my soul mate and love of my life. It makes me feel young, feminine, beautiful and carefree. It starts off very green, almost herby but very quickly settles down to a slightly sweet pretty floral. I am entranced and actually feel like I have found the love of my life in a perfume and my soul mate (who I am still with) also loves it. I was also surprised considering the era that this first came out that it can still hold its own now.

My signature was Cristalle EDP, but since yesterday is the EDT : greener, crisper, fresher,more sophisticate maybe. It is good for everywhere and in any season. On winter, in a cloudy day, it makes me think about a fresh river in a beautiful forest. I love both of them , EDT and EDP, but now I have a better feeling with the original project, the EDT. The EDP would be better for a night out.

My signature perfume, I never get tired of it. I have never found any fragrance like Cristalle! But it is very hard to find, so I currently do not have any - so I wear Chanel No. 5 Parfum and Chanel Coco Mademoiselle Parfum instead.

So, I got the EDP a while ago although after reading reviews it was the EDT I was after, could not get hold of any however. Eventually returned to my local department store & got the EDT, they really are different fragrances! My nose is not clever enough to pick out accurately the different notes but the EDT is so much more citrus on me at first, then a lovely smooth fresh fragrance appears. It dries down to almost nothing after an hour or two but my hubby could still smell it. I did a direct comparison a spray of each on each wrist, there is a point where they are quite similar but on me the EDP dries down to an almost bitter smell. I love them both for different reasons, the EDP is much longer lasting so I may just combine the two & see what happens!

The oakmoss is made immortal in Cristalle EDP.
The opening is sharp and bitter, and turns woody, woodier than the EDT. I love both concentrations eventhough they don't share any identical scents. Preferabbly, the EDT, yet EDP is an exceptionally-made fragrance too.

Does anybody else get a sharp nutty note when 1st sprayed? It doesn't last a long time but for the 20 seconds it's amazing! I like this scent, sharp, green, very long lasting & well put together but unfortunately i can't wear it. it doesn't settle well on me at all & to be honest it smells stale when its dried, i gave it away & the person i gave it to can carry this really well so I'm happy its got a new home

EDT sample from Sax. Opening with a hit of citrus but then the classy green oakmoss and light floral come in to play.It is a cool wet scent at this point. The citrus lets up and the oakmoss floral accord mixes in. This is a very elegant fragrance. In the dry down becomes more warm. I am hoping in warmer weather it will have even better silage and longevity. Great for work or a close social situation. But visualize this on a very posh female dressed to go to a fancy social event. Dressed in a long flowing gown. Very feminine. To me it's a timeless fragrance. I think it's a must try.

I got the EDP first & thought it was to be my signature fragrance as I had not tried the EDT. Once I tried this I knew I had found 'it', my forever fragrance, I waited so long to try it as it is so frequently out of stock, once I had tried it I immediately got a spare bottle! I still like the edp but this is just so much more unique, I love how grown up it makes me feel. Longevity not good for my nose but others can still smell it & comment on it.

Edited....still love it but not great when hungover!

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.

For all of you lovers of this perfume...try Jade by Yardley, it is extremely similar, but I would say that Jade is a bit more velvety.
I love Chanel, but I would go for Jade. I actually did.

A little too lemony, but I'll forgive that for it's modernity and clarity combined with the sophistication that is Chanel.

Am I the only one here who likes light, bright scents in the winter? I understand about the rates of evaporation, but a sunny fragrance on a dull grey winter day is a big plus for me.

Citrus aromatic on mossy base. Elegant, but totally not in my style. I prefer sweeter, warmer, more feminine scents.

In the late sixties my Mother went to work in an international hotel where early morning plane departures to Sydney dragged tourists out of their beds before sparrows fart.
Sometimes a bottle of perfume, down to the dregs, would be left behind. The housemaids kept the lipsticks (razorbladed the top off) and perfume because postage home for these items would have been more than their worth. Jewellery and money were always returned. As a consequence my perfume collection started early and it started with fragrances that you would drool over today. I know, I really do, what reformulation has done to various fumes but some have fared better than others. As it happens Cristalle EDP was not created until much later than the 1974 EDT, twenty years later. Eau Savage, marketed to men but loved by women, is the other side of the Cristalle coin, along with Diorella, O de Lancome, Eau du Sud, Jasmine White Moss, Chanel 19 and so on, the South of France in a bottle.
Cristalle EDP is still gorgeous, as is the EDT (it really is quite fleeting though) and I can't believe the 'austere bitch' comments that it attracts. Have you never been in a hot climate? Does the name, implying diamond strength, put people off? Come on people, own it, like denim or soft boots, here to stay and timeless. Abso..f....ing gorgeous!

When I wear this perfume which is not that often, I imagine this is what high class elegant ladies wore in the late 1800's behind horses carried off to some great event or to an Easter picnic with the family, church events or when the hubby wanted to get out to a nice dinner on the town. Ok, so this wasn't created in those times but thats where my imagination wanders when I wear this scent. It is so completely crisp, clean and won't ever offend because it is so light. Only those who come in to give you a hug or kiss will think its just your natural clean scent. Like I said, I don't wear this every day but on those occasions when I feel like being polite to the extreme, this is what I wear. I love it, its clean and classy, it smells like the old French perfumes you would imagine to be so. And like all Chanel bottles, it looks amazing on your counter! I do see why they named it Cristalle, perhaps because it smells so clean like a crystal pool of water in the Everglades? Hmmmm...

All the notes are very easy to detect. Oakmoss is very strong, lemon and hyacinth a little less.
Overall, I don't like it very much.
It's sharply green grass smelling scent. I liked cristalle eau verte, but this is not as good.
Too strong and old-fashioned for me.

What a strange perfume - I can see why it has inspired so much contemplation.

First off, I have a retail sample that just says "fragrance" on the card, and nowhere does it state the concentration, so I do not know if this is the EDT, EDP, or something else.

I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly was not what I experienced. Cristalle opens so, so softly that I initially questioned whether I'd even managed to apply it at all, and led me to add another drop. She is all gentle bergamot supported by dried hyacinth and the tiniest, tiniest thread of oak moss. Unlike the juicy, greenhouse hyacinth of, say, Penhaligon's Bluebell, the floral note here is very dusty and dry.

While I agree with the categorization of this fragrance as an "ice queen" of a scent, to me, I do not get anything crystalline at all. This scent evokes pale, wispy gray to me. Shy, hidden, old faded tombstones in an abandoned churchyard. Not haunted, per se, just...dormant. Always stays very soft and close to the skin, and is one of the shortest-lived scents I've ever tried.

The first time I ever tried Cristalle edp, I was huffing away at my wrist to try to analyse all the notes. All I could detect was salt and dust.

I have since discovered that there are a couple of scents that don't work when I try to get "all up in their grill" like that! (Hypnotic Poison is the other one.)

So the second time I wore Cristalle, I resisted the urge to go nose-to-skin, and instead, sprayed lower on my body.

Finally, trumpets and confetti!

Cristalle is a contradiction -- crisp and lemony, yet earthy, rooty, grounding, too. There are high notes and low notes harmonising to surround you in its aura.

So perfect for this chilly, yet sunny autumn day.

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).

Finally managed to make this last longer than ten minutes by spraying about a half milliliter all over my shirt instead of on my skin. Now, for the first time since I got this 2 ml sample from Nordstrom, I finally can experience it. It's got a nice dry citrus, a faint whiff of vetiver now and again and some ozonic fresh air thing I like. Sort of like the champagne spritzer of the perfume world. Likable. Unfortunately, I just used up the last of it.

I'm wondering if Chanel has actually removed the oakmoss from the EDP, which is what I'm reviewing. Or else they're using a low-atranol version that does not smell mossy to my nose. To me, this smells like smoke, strong incense, mixed with vetiver. I think smoke should be listed in the notes and not the moss. I have never worn it before and so can't make a comparison to how it might have smelled in the past.

It starts off with lemon and bergamot, and then as they fade, the bitter smoke smell begins to develop. It's pleasant while it's mixing with the mid note floral notes, but as they drop back, the smoke becomes very intense on me. I don't get a wood note at all.

I tried mixing it with a natural lavender, neroli and jasmine natural fragrance that I have, and the lavender really mixes nicely with the smoke and calms it down. That note is really too strong for me in Cristalle. Mixed with the lavender, it's very pretty and subtle.

Unfortunately, I'm starting to dislike it after loving the sampling of it on my skin in the store. It does have a cigarette odor that is stark and bitter.

I am in the Eau de Toillette club, I don't care for the parfum at all.
I agree with nero77's every word:
This is a forest full of moss, but the weather is not cold because the forest is perspiring with these beautiful natural aromas. I don't find it fresh or sparkly or crisp at all. It' s warm, green and woody and It's like I had my nose stuck in between plants' leaves and branches.
Another picture coming to my mind is greenhouse full of ferns.
Very different. I love it but I agree with reviewrs: not everybody will. Aquired taste.

Fa soap. Big yellow with stripes fa soap.

did not think i would like this scent, given the composition, however having worn it a few times i have grown to appreciate it. it will never be on my love list but it is very pleasant to wear in the day time summer. It has a clean citrus opening, then a pretty floral base which is not over sweet or peppery. elegant, and cool

EDP -
I worked at a Chanel counter for 5 years, and this was my go to scent. It is forever on my wish list. It is so unique and wonderful, it smells nothing like the EDT, which is awful.
I ended up buying Chanel No.5 instead because I really enjoy the layering experience, soap, lotion, serum, EDP, EDT. And I can't do this with Cristalle. Even then, this is still a perfect option for warmer months.

EDT -
An entirely different fragrance. Awful. Don't want it anywhere near me.

Cristalle Eau de Toilette - on my skin it starts with a blast of oakmoss, the citrus i shy and I can hardly detect the Hyacint. Very nice every-day-scent, very classy, elegant and sophisticated. Chic & timeless!

Cristalle Eau de Toilette - på mig startar den med en fanfar av ekmossa. Citrusen är blyg och jag kan nästan upptäcka Hyacinten. Otroligt trevlig varje-dag-doft. Väldigt klassisk, elegant och sofistikerad. Chic & tidlös!

The EdP version doesn't smell like "cristalle" at all; at least I can't relate what I smell with the title. This one is so smoky! But I love it. These days I seem to like relating fragrances with fabrics: This one feels like... "suede".

It is my "Boardroom" perfume : stunning cold but really mesmerizing scent. The strange thing is that when i wear this perfume, some people compliment me with a respectful " you smell really good" but without any further questioning of "which perfume is this?"you normally get. As if "Cristalle" is providing me an aura of "Mystery" you don't try to decipher....
It is my most treasured gem during summer. Although i like "Prada Iris" also - which has same crispy character - Cristalle is far superior and nothing can really replace this stunning Perfume Queen. I really pray this will never be discontinued.

Cristalle starts off with sweet citrus notes, like mandarin juice with a tinge of crushed wild mint leaves. The EDP version is supposed to have peach and melon in it, but I honestly cannot detect either of them. Instead, I get a fresh scent, like green grass, that stays with me till the end... of those 6 pleasant hours.

Wearing this fragrance reminded me of being in the middle of winter surrounded by frozen trees longing for springtime blooms. Her message is loud and very clear transitional winter/springtime scent that can be worn into summer/fall due to the change of greenery in the seasons. Classic,celebration of cool, calm and collected, I felt a deep connection to the the earth and in total control of what my own assumption of sophistication means.

I love the Eau De Parfum. It will always be a classic for me. Elegant, sparkling, refined.
Crisp and also floral, perfect for Spring and Fall..

I dont get the general preference for the edt, at least in it's current state. I mean seriously! the current edt is mainly citrus and grassy hyacinth, with a base of vetiver, all very thin and fleeting. Not worth all the hype! it barely lasts half an hour!
the EDP on the other hand is glorious, the edt accord is preserved, green and dewy, but made richer with more weight, a subtle mix of peach, civet and hyacinth gives tenacity and a bit more warmth, but otherwise the same DNA. the edt is a diluted mist of a fragrance. the EDP feels like an actual perfume.
the EDP definitely for me. love it.

(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

The top notes of this (EDP)are glorious! Pure grass and lemon.
Very very quickly, these fade and the warm heart that is quite like 'A Scent', emerges. I wouldn't say it's that like O de Lancome, as that is perhaps sharper and tinged with the dreaded basil.
I prefer the top notes to the rest - finding the heart a bit 'Lentheric' perhaps, but still find Cristalle extremely enjoyable to wear.
I don't discern any peach or fruitiness as all at any stage, thankfully.
I'm absolutely certain I've sniffed this from tester bottles a few times over the years - how could I have not cottoned on to it sooner??

EDT review:

No. 19 is usually considered the purse-lipped ice queen of the Chanel family, but she actually has a tender floral heart somewhere under those designer duds, and probably donates anonymously to charity. Cristalle, on the other hand, is perfectly soulless, with a sharp grass-and-lemon opening that gives way to cold rain and the air inside a florist's fridge.

The smell of a woman's cool disdain as she turns her back on a dozen despairing suitors. Kind of impressive.

"Cristalle" is the equivalent to an ice cold spring surrounded by ferns, moss, and ancient trees in the middle of a forest on a scorching hot day. It is clear, cold, fresh, sharp and watery.There is not an ounce of sweetness or warmth in it. To complete this picture and to give the fragrance a little twist - there is also a slight smell of mud and decaying vegetation at the bottom of it. Siillage and longevity are not overwhelming but elicit compliments even after 2 to 3 hrs

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!

After an eternity wearing Cristalle (really a big fan), I decided to try something new in the last year. Conclusion: I ended coming back to it again.

I could find nice green scents, but one is similar to the other. Cristalle has really a french-vintage smell, that is not present anymore among the green scents launched nowadays.

A really unique and very out-of-Mainstream scent.
A Treasure!

I love this fragrance. Cristalle is fresh, green, crisp, cool. It is the perfect accompaniment to the lull of July days, but perfect throughout spring and summer. When you are stuck inside the office, Cristalle feels like a breath of air rushing around the foot of trees, along the grass in the summer breeze. I love the EDT for its greenness, and am not a fan of the EDP - mostly because it smells plain and boring in comparison.

The weirdest fragrance, I've ever tried on.
Definitely not for me, I think this is for a very strong person who has a big personality.

This is the fragrance that I have walked pass the Chanel counter countless times and it has never occurred to me to actually spray it, sniff it and ponder over it. My attention has always been captured by those housed in the signature Chanel glass bottles.

I have always been an avid fan of Coco Mademoiselle and the Les Exclusifs line, so you can imagine my surprise when I stumbled upon this gem when I was contemplating on my next favourite-to-be.

My first impression of Cristalle is its crisp and clear opening , a sober and fresh feeling that never fails to wake me up to face the day. Having said that, Cristalle is not a harsh fragrance, on the contrary it is smooth, soft, comfortable yet crystal clear to me. If Cristalle is a colour, it would be a light forest green with hues of blue.

As time works it's magic, I get to know Cristalle better... the softer side came through. I detect floral notes (sorry, I am not capable of identifying them like a perfumer though I wish I can someday), the green remains strong, the two are seamless together and also some earthly woody scent.

It is the perfect scent for the day, especially to work. I find it very appealing to wear to the office, professional yet not boring, it is simply beautiful.

All in all, I have never expected to fall so deeply into Cristalle so unexpectedly. Yes, I was about to finish an entire bottle of 100ml EDT in a record 3 months when I lost my grip and broke my bottle of Cristalle (with the remaining 20ml all lost to the floor). I let out a scream so loud that my parents actually came rushing to my room. I was more concerned about the lost of the fragrance than the danger of the glass shards cutting my hand (which fortuantely it didn't).

Totally loss sleep that fatefully night over it and I swear to get a brand new bottle as soon as I woke up the next morning.

Like a walk through a wet forest in the spring...

This is a review for the EDT. This fragrance, whilst being a classic, is certainly (not) for everyone!

What hits me upon initial impression is the bitterness of it all. A hit of very citric lemon and oakmoss which stays throughout the life of the fragrance, coupled with a floral drydown (I'm detecting a little hedione, or jasmin-like smell). This is very "green" and sparkling, hence the name Cristalle.

It smells very very mossy and lemony acidic, almost giving the impression to me of walking through a forest with the trees and flowers still wet from the spring rain. To me it doesn't exude "freshness" because of the heavy oakmoss vibe, but I can see what other people mean when they describe it that way.

Who would wear this fragrance? Well, anyone who likes "green" or "hesperidic" (i.e. slightly citric) scents... or those who like a little bitterness in their fragrances. On that kind of person it will be a holy grail fragrance. For me, I enjoy it (it's also completely unisex as an EDT), but I can't fit into it so easily.

Overall... is it well made? Yes. Is it a classic? Yes. For everyone? Well, for those who like this type of scent... green, bitter, mossy, damp, citric and sparkling! Like rain dew on flowers and musty, moss-covered tree logs in the forest after a downpour of heavy spring rain. You've done it again Chanel... (to me) this is slightly disturbing, yet unmistakably unique!

Cristalle EDP is a true comfort scent for me. Whenever I am feeling a bit sluggish or blue,this fragrance always energizes me. It's also conversely a calming influence. It seems that after every bad fragrance experience, I use Cristalle to return to normalcy.

I love the fresh green opening and the comforting dry down I get many compliments on this scent which is odd as I don't find it to have a large sillage. Years ago I wore the EDT but then the SA introduced me to the EDP. Neither scent lasts very long on me,the EDP only goes for about 4 or 5 hours. It will go 7 or 8 hours if I layer it with the body milk,which I do in winter.

The coolness of this fragrance is very refreshing. I just wish that it would last longer as it is fairly pricey. I haven't tried the Eau Vert, but think maybe I will!

Sublime floral chypre, I smell a touch of tobacco and LEATHER, UNISEX, NOT INTRUDING OR OVERWHELMING, CLEAN BUT DIRTY, CLASSY PERFUME. WOODY AND COLD, CRYSTAL IS A GOOD NAME, DIRTY CRYSTAL...

A dirty citrusy white floral. I wear in the summer and although not my most loved scent it always gets positive comments from men and women alike.

I tried it in my search for citrusy scent-yes, its citrusy but also green, herbal, without an once of sweetness. It also had too much of oakmoss for my taste. This can easily be unisex scent.
If you like very herbal smelling green scents, this is a good one to try. Not for me though

Finally obtained a sample of the EdT to compare to the EdP, current formulations. The EdP did not really suit me but I find they are very similar. Believe I prefer the EdT.

The first spritz brings out extremely astringent, bitter accords and then calms to a green scent. I can detect hyacinth but I really don't get a lot of citrus (on me) While the dry down brings out the oak moss and grassy notes, the austere character remains. I don't find it lasts hours on end (it is an EdT) so I would have to reapply. I don't find it particularly "refreshing" to cool me off as others have mentioned, for a hot day, but it does bring something sparkling to mind, like a gin and tonic which is also bitter. It's definitely an original, as it is so far removed from the floral-fruity types selling today. I see this as very good when you don't want to wear the same thing as others or need a break from florals or frooty-tooty scents.

I'm a little on the fence on whether or not to buy a FB. I am also sampling the Eau Verte.

Edit:
I tested it several times and both versions haunted me. I wanted to not like it, but something kept bringing me back. It's still not refreshing but a respite from my collection of sweeter or oriental perfumes. I decided to pull the trigger for the EdT before they reformulate it again. The ingredients specify "tree moss". The EdP is a bit sweeter and a little more citrus in the opening, and lasts longer than the EdT, but I found the dry down of both to be similar. I like that it's different!

Eau de parfum...eau de oak moss! I can see it developing into a complex, sophisticated aroma, but the necessity to fight through the first fifteen minutes does not warrant the cost, and I'm my personal opinion...the name of Chanel.

This review is for vintage EdT.

Bitterness, as a dominant feature, is quite rare in fragrance, especially in these days of gourmands and fruity florals. Cristalle strikes me as a fundamentally bitter perfume, especially during the first few moments. I imagine it's the combination of the citrus, basil and galbanum the produces this effect.

And I like it! It's different, and refreshing on a warm and humid day at the beginning of July. The florals peek through demurely, but mostly it's about the green.

Soon though, this exciting beginning fades, and to my nose there's not much left behind. A faint hint of mossiness follows the shy flowers, but that's all. Longevity and sillage are poor, which is surprising to me for a vintage Chanel fragrance.

I'm glad I have this, and will use it in hot weather, but I'm a little disappointed that the intriguing and unusual opening is the best part. However as another poster pointed out, one can always reapply.

Word on the street is that this fragrance in vintage form is sought after. Yes well the demonic and competitive side of me always tends to seize the opportunity when I have a chance.

So I went to the store, where they have a BNIB Cristalle just minding her own business, looking for a good home. I'm pretty good at giving fragrances a good home so I gave her a try.Bad Move on my part. What the what? This crap is so overly citric it's pathetic. Who wears this stuff? One sniff threw me into a coughing fit and had me wheezing (I don't have asthma). Solidly sour and equally offensive, I knew there was no way I would reconsider.

We had a brief moment, lasted about 15 seconds and I knew in my heart of hearts that this Vintage Chanel would have to wait for a different taxi because there is no way I'm giving her a ride home! I told her to take a hike!

None of the listed notes were present, my nose only smelled bitterness. Sour, rancid lemons or limes. Nasty, just nasty.

I carefully placed her back into her cardboard coach, and gave her a final salutation. Peace out my friend, don't call me, I'll call you.

Cristalle EDT from Chanel website:

Floral-fresh, a subtle fragrance, a harmonious blend of citrus, honeysuckle and hyacinth.

My review on Cristalle EDT:

It's woody, seriously, it's a strong woody, earthy scent, no coubt, its masculine in character. Yet, it develops to one of the most wonderful scents I have ever smelled! It turns out to be quite similar to No 19, but with more citrus-floral vibrancy, with subtle powdery note. A single spray makes you well-scented for the whole day.

Am waiting for he arrival of Cristalle EDP from eBay. I hope it takes me back to my memory of my July wedding in 1979. I made certain I did not order the Eau Verte. I so loved the fragrance then, and until I could no longer find it in stores. I am hoping for the scent of summer memories...

At first contact with my skin, this scent has proved to be a strong smell of tobacco. After a few minutes became a smell citrus green with enough depth (with smoky notes reminiscent smell of cigar, which is not my type of scent), finally the smell that settles on the skin is much like the Organza by Givenchy with more spicy notes and fresher, recalls (with much more refinement, of course), at times, the smell of acetone... nail polish remover!

It is an intense perfume and strange, but I think I like ...

This fragrance hits some high notes and adds a new dimension to some classic type sisters of this scent -- such as Eau du Hadrian by Annick Goutal. I tried this today along side Channel's Chance Eau du Fraiche - and this hits the higher register notes that give this fragrance a very sharp smell as you first spray it.

I know I shouldn't probably compare the two fragrances, but I would say that Channel was genius to create 2 separate fragrances with the same exact base notes. In my opinion, and with my chemistry... it smells almost as if Channel created these two fragrances to be the alto and soprano sisters to one another. The base notes are so similar that I could see wearing Eau du Fraiche in the morning, then laying Crystal over this as the day wears on, for a refresher - and to lift the mood.

I am drawn to both fragrances. They are fruits from the same tree - sisters.

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Your individual chemistry will determine a lot with this one... I totally "get" that this fragrance could almost smell like PLASTIC on certain people's chemistries. There is a sharpness to the initial spraying that almost goes into a very "chemical" type range... very similar to my experience of the original David Yurman scent. This would be a fragrance that you would want to spray about 30 minutes before going to an event, AT LEAST... just to allow it the appropriate time to "set up" on your skin.

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Crystal has a longer endurance and more silage than Eau du Fraiche. Seven hours of wear, and Crystal is clearly evident on the skin and holding its own with great silage. Eau du Fraiche is so low key, eight hours into it... that it is barely even evident.

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Crystal is the Endurance Queen, lasting over 15 hours on my skin. Although it is much softer, it is still present - even through a shower! Great to find a fragrance that has this much strength and endurance without being too powerful in the initial stages!

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On a 2nd testing...
This fragrance is going almost abrasively "chemical". This is really funny, because I just tried this fragrance over 3 weeks ago and I kind of liked it... but today, it is really hitting a nerve and I don't like the chemical smell that is releasing the first hours of this.

Cristalle is beautiful and fresh, very easy to wear and the smell is very uplifting. I always feel clean, fresh and happy when I spray this on in the summer or spring. It makes you always feel like you are fresh out of the shower. I love the slight lemmony scent - not too strong or overpowering - just right and pleasant.
Love this one. I don't like the new version of Cristalle eau Vert - there is something in it that is different and off putting from the original Cristalle edp fragrance and I don't get the same feeling of happiness as I do with the original Cristalle edp. For me, the original is the BEST!

I like how it smells, but I just can't stand Cristalle EDP on my skin! There's something that bothers me, A LOT! May be the oakmoss? The lemon is sweet and I can't detect the bergamot... Too sugary for my taste!
Not my cup of tea!

Wow! That's how I felt after spraying Cristalle. Fresh lemony almost masculine cologne like for the first five minutes then you are hit with a fresh floral scent, mainly Jasmine to my nose. This is freshness like I have never experienced before in a perfume, almost like walking in from a hot summer afternoon into cool marble flooring and being sprayed with large, dewy rain, so clear, it's crystalline. I have to remember to buy me a bottle of this amazing stuff.

Hmm, this did surprise me, and not in a pleasant way. I'm a fan of green woody and fresh, but there was something dark and damp about this that could put a downer on any summers day.
On initial spray and for an hour following it was wet, cold, dark & dirty swamp. I get the whole cigarette thing too. After an hour, it was more understandable, sharp, pleasant and green, but it still carried the weight of a rain cloud, and the dark of a brewing storm. Not for my summers day for sure.

Yay, it must be Spring because I'm wearing Cristalle! I adore this scent more than I can say. Sadly, I just saw that this is discontinued. No,noooo *sob*! I did see it on the Chanel site, but I'm thinking it won't be easy to find in stores now, phooey.

To my nose this is the olfactory equivalent of elegance and sophistication. Supremely sexy in a removed, complex way. Fresh and alive, but still smells of old money somehow. Seems like something a young C.Z. Guest would be wearing by the pool, languidly stroking her dogs.

I like that no one wears Cristalle and I've always received compliments on it. My husband loves it too, which I'm very thankful for because he's terribly picky about fragrance. I do hope they never stop making it!! Oh, and I have worn it in winter, but I think Cristalle really shines in the Spring/Summer.

I would buy gallons of this if I could!!! SO pretty!!! Clean, fresh, but bewitching!!!