Cristalle
Cristal
1974 Eau de Toilette

8.2 / 10 258 Ratings
A popular perfume by Chanel for women, released in 1974. The scent is green-fresh. It is still in production.

Main accords

Green
Fresh
Citrus
Floral
Chypre

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes Top Notes
LemonLemon BergamotBergamot
Heart Notes Heart Notes
HyacinthHyacinth RosewoodRosewood
Base Notes Base Notes
OakmossOakmoss VetiverVetiver

Perfumer

Ratings
Scent
8.2258 Ratings
Longevity
6.8204 Ratings
Sillage
6.0194 Ratings
Bottle
7.5197 Ratings
Value for money
7.439 Ratings
Submitted by DonVanVliet, last update on 25.04.2024.

Reviews

9 in-depth fragrance descriptions
9
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
10
Scent
Aventurin

6 Reviews
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Aventurin
Aventurin
Top Review 42  
I'm not gonna marry in the fall, and I'm not gonna marry in the spring
I've dedicated a statement to Cristalle before, but this special Chanel deserves a comment - like so many other fragrances, I know, but perfume and time are reciprocally proportional to each other in my case.
It is special because, alongside all the new releases, it actually seems to have fallen out of time, but not because it comes along old-fashioned, but because it so pleasantly stands out from the banal, pleasing uniform trend, whose impulses also thrive in the perfume laboratory of the time-honoured fashion house. Cristalle is not a difficult fragrance, it does not have the opulent, finely differentiated noblesse of many Exclusifs, but is unadorned beautiful, unobtrusive and - the best - free of any sweetness and watery powdery boredom à la N°5 L'Eau. He stands a little alone and resembles N°19 EdT.
in his discreet and yet expressive lightness most likely
Cristalle is bitter like a frosty spring morning, cool like pale porcelain stone. The cold, not tangy-freshening lemon - almost metallic-clear, as if you were bowing a crystal - embeds itself in a delicate heart of hyacinth, light violet and green floral iridescent. Softer tones soften the initial austerity, the flowery centre is interwoven silvery transparent, supported by a very delicate mossy background, more airy-grey than warm dark green.
Cristalle is straightforward, straightforward and sovereign, minimally tender behind his silky veil of distance, in his whole being unapproachable, proud and determined, like these song lines - only without the pain - from the song "The Bachelor" by Patrick Wolf
"I'm not gonna marry in the fall
And I'm not gonna marry in the spring
I will never marry - marry at all
No one will wear my silver ring"

Whoever wears it walks upright, perhaps sometimes with a wistful blink, but straight ahead. Without looking back.
15 Comments
8
Bottle
6
Sillage
7
Longevity
8
Scent
IrisMann

4 Reviews
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IrisMann
IrisMann
Top Review 33  
Cold beauty!
Here I have done something, which one should not do actually as a perfume lover. The fragrance is often described as challenging and I still dared to buy it blind. I find the listed fragrances very interesting, there are great reviews and I already liked the bottle at "Pour Monsieur" very much.

And now I'm sitting here undecided if I can wear this scent. I am the powder, flower and oriental type with a penchant for the opulent scents of the 80s and 90s.

The composition is often described as green and fresh. I can fully agree with that. But I also find the scent cool and austere. The hyacinth is constantly present on my skin. A spring flower that is often offered as a pot plant in spring. But hyacinth can be very dominant. No lovely tidbits, no golden daffodils. No, a hyacinth is already broader on the outside and is also noticeable with its scent.

Here the hyacinth distributes herbaceous aspects. The citric freshness at the beginning is very volatile. The rosewood serves only as a base in the background. The base note is not soft. No warm soft chypre base awaits you. Here the moss grows on cold ground. When I smell Chanel's Cristalle, the image of a mountain slope comes to my mind. Sparse vegetation, mosses and lichens on a rock crystal. There is still a light layer of snow over the whole area.

What kind of person do I have in mind at Cristalle?

I see a woman, not a girl! Dainty figure but very aware of herself. A certain severity distinguishes her narrow but beautiful facial features. The skin is very light. You can partially see the veins. The hair is combed back and tucked back to a firm knot. A confident woman. When she enters a room, a cool aura surrounds her. No diva! The clichés of ballet teachers or piano teachers immediately come into my head.

I'm not all of this! But I'm gonna wear cristall anyway. I'm waiting for a cold, sunny morning. I am hoarfrosting on the fields in Münsterland and then I will be surrounded with the unapproachable aura of Chanel Cristalle.

A wonderful olfactory experience.
9 Comments
6
Pricing
8
Bottle
6
Sillage
7
Longevity
9
Scent
Tofuwachtel

25 Reviews
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Tofuwachtel
Tofuwachtel
Top Review 32  
The Summer Waltz
There, near the citrus grove
There rises the spring

There it bubbles
Cool and fresh

There's a dark mist
So clean and fine

There grows moss on stones
Soft and thick and green

There are dragonflies dancing
With shimmering silver bodies

There are little blossoms
Their heads in the warm summer wind

There is the herb
So spicy tender and dewy

There sprouts the grass
Gently earthy cool breathed

There appear branches
So silky soft

There dance bright shadows
In dull yellow light
25 Comments
jtd

484 Reviews
jtd
jtd
Very helpful Review 7  
If Looks Could Kill; Substitute Scent
I’ve really enjoyed chypre fragrances for a while and I have Cristalle to thank. When I first smelled Cristalle (many years ago before I really became a perfume hobbyist) I didn’t really know anything about categories of fragrances or what made them what they were. It was 1982 and I was in college. I wore Antaeus, Kouros, No 5, and Je Reviens. Powerhouse men’s 80s and lady-like floral aldehydes. When I tried Cristalle at some department store or other, I had no idea what to make of it. It’s as if this had dropped in from space. I can’t say I loved it, but it marked me.

When I smelled it again many years later I found it simply gorgeous. It smelled just as it had the first time, but I had changed. I was ready for it. It is pristine. I know some find it off-putting (even many who like it) but I find it has just the right timbre, the perfect inflection. It is an odd, spare chord and might not be particularly harmonious in a feel-good, symphonic sense but it has a perfect tonality. My only difficulty with it (as with both No 19 edt and Pour Monsieur) is that it just doesn’t last for me. It has just a fraction more lasting power than an eau de cologne. Despite this, I love its evolution over time. It starts green, strong, astringent and then has a fairly quick transition to a mossy, melon-like floral like nothing else I’ve smelled. From this point it just sort of blows away, becoming a ghost of itself, but, for an hour or so, a recognizable one.
1 Comment
10
Bottle
7.5
Sillage
7.5
Longevity
9
Scent
MasterLi

375 Reviews
MasterLi
MasterLi
Very helpful Review 6  
Like a walk through a wet forest in the spring...
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!
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Statements

4 short views on the fragrance
DenisGrailsDenisGrails 1 year ago
9
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
9
Scent
Spring in a bottle ! The meaning of life ! Nature comes back to life , after the long and cold winter !
Just received my CRISTAL bottle !
0 Comments
ZerkaloZerkalo 3 years ago
10
Scent
A spring morning lullaby of hoarfrost ​enchanted gardens bathed by dreams in a luminous contemplation. Timelessly elegant.
0 Comments
MatuxMatux 3 years ago
Zesty, green, uplifting blend that changes in fashion turned it into a unisex fragrance.
0 Comments
Jazzy76Jazzy76 6 years ago
7
Bottle
7
Sillage
8
Longevity
8
Scent
Fresh and flowery -green, it's the perfect scent to wear in spring-summer for a fresh touch of class.
A very well balanced acchord
0 Comments

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