Crystal Flowers Montale

Strong (as expected) and extremely screechy, high-pitched aromachemicals in a container. So unpleasant I had to srub the fragrance off my wrist after one hour - I could not stand this combination on my skin. One of the worst Montales I tried. Metallic-sour overtones kept haunting me in my sleep, probably the strong lily-of-the-valley-note. Artificial ambregris and musk don't improve this scent. No balance here, let alone beauty. I'd love to know what role "nature" played in the creation of this fragrance. It seems utterly artificial/synthetical to me. But, of course, this is a subjective observation, very subjective. "Crystal Flowers" don't obtain a place in my fragrance hall of fame. I advise them to my personal hall of shame.

Montale makes excellent Middle Eastern-inspired perfumes. Most anything with the word 'aoud' in the name is going to be a worthy representative of the ever-growing class of aoud perfumes. Once one steps out of the aoud range, however, everything is up for grabs, and it's anyone's guess what the perfume may be like!

CRYSTAL FLOWERS is a good example of a Montale which might have been a mainstream designer launch. It smells fine to me, a perfectly wearable office-ready, inoffensive fruity-floral frag. The flowers are abstract but not to the point of being unwearable. This composition reminds me of perfumes such as Creed SPRING FLOWER or Bond no 9 CHELSEA FLOWERS, both of which, too, fit into the category of office-ready inoffensive fruity floral frags. This really is a genre by now, and when I say fruity-floral, I mean more abstract floral than fruity, but there is a touch of fruity to give the overall composition a brightness. The musk used, too, is clear and clean, not dark and sweaty. This is a twenty-first-century type of perfume which has gained a legion of followers in the last few years. In some ways it may seem superficial, but it is also likable to many consumers.

Precisely because this sort of perfume is the sort of thing one runs into at Sephora among the current bestsellers, it may not be the wisest investment of one's big Montale bucks. Try before you buy.

Montale is one of the more exciting brands among niche perfumes for me.
Some of the scents I have tested so far have been quite special, but that's exactly what I find interesting.

When I sprayed on Christal Flowers, I was expecting a rather fragile, cool, and above all romantic scent.

Think again! For the first 5 seconds, I could hardly smell anything, but then!!!!!

The scent dam broke and a sea of roses and mandarin peels surged over me. Like Esther Williams, I let myself be carried away in the delicious waves of roses.

Now and then, a lily of the valley floated past me. The rose water then slowly became a bit spicier. Sperm whales sang their sweet amber song in the rose waves.

But slowly I could sense an impending doom. The rosy sea darkened and the waves became stormier. Then, all of a sudden, the horror came in the form of the evil musk sea monster from the depths, spraying its all-corrupting, all-destroying hairspray poison.

As if I had received a resounding slap in the face, I awoke from my fantasy and rushed towards the bathroom to terminate the musk monster. But somehow, this scent combination fascinated me, and I let the monster be.

Ultimately, the hairspray note turned out to be fleeting, and I dove headfirst back into the sea of roses.

Anyone who likes roses should try this Montale. The musk note takes some getting used to but is then very interesting.

C, thank you for this scent!

Before I start my comment here, I must come out....I am a Montale FAN! A Montale freak maybe :)
Still, I will judge this fragrance very objectively! :)

Anyone who knows Roses Musk by Montale will immediately notice a very strong similarity! At least at the beginning...
It is indeed a typical rose-musk scent from the house of Montale Paris, but it has a little peculiarity....it is more FLORAL than Roses Musk! The musk reveals itself after a few minutes, but it is not as overpowering as in Roses Musk....
The floral note (that must be the lily of the valley) plays a big role, which I really find beautiful about this fragrance....this is finally a Montale that can also be worn in summer without causing others to struggle for breath! It reminds me of the first lovely sunny days in spring that one has eagerly awaited after a long winter!

The sillage and longevity are also above average with this fragrance, lasting about 8 hours :) a 100ml bottle will therefore last a very long time!!
Although I am someone who likes to apply 6-8 sprays of a fragrance, I am careful with this one...2 to a maximum of 4 sprays should be MORE THAN enough to fill a room ;) typical Montale indeed...

Regards
A Montale Freak

Although it is called Chrystal Flowers, the rose comes out the strongest for me. Lily of the valley and mandarin disappear immediately. Amber is very subtle. What remains is a wonderful rose-musk blend.

It resembles Juliette Has a Gun Miss Charming a lot for me, only that Chrystal Flowers is more radiant, clearer, brighter, and "edgier." The "edginess," coolness it has in common with Lady Vengeance (also Juliette Has a Gun). Miss Charming is a bit more powdery/diffuse and a touch sweeter and more charming.

Chrystal Flowers smells radiantly bright and unsweetened fresh, very captivating. The longevity is top-notch, Montale-style.