Cristalle by Chanel (1974)

It is something of a revelation to revisit perfumes you once thought were simple after having some experience with "reading" perfume.

Take Cristalle. I used to think it was just a nice, crisp floral that was transparent like its name. Nothing more, nothing less. But its tart lemon, reserved florals, and velvety, sueded, mossy dry down gives it a subtle sophistication that belies its simplicity. After some time on my skin, it smells like the inside of a suede purse that someone spilled a citrusy perfume in. (Haarman & Reimer categorize it as a "fresh chypre.")

Top notes: Bergamot, Sicilian Lemon

Heart notes: Rosewood, hyacinth

Base notes: Oakmoss, vetiver

(Perfumer: Henri Robert)

I'm sure everyone says this, but Cristalle is a perfect summer scent, bursting with a green citrus at the beginning and settling down into something light but warm and spicy on your skin. It reminds me a lot of Diorella, but without the funky, garbagey fruit undertones; Cristalle is much dryer. Its vetiver gives it some olfactory texture, like scratched glass. In addition to oakmoss, the vetiver in Cristalle makes its dry down complex: woody, incensey, grassy.

You would think that a perfume as effervescent and crisp as Cristalle wouldn't be able to accrue associations or memories, but such is the nature of perfume that even the lightest perfumes, if worn at heavy times in one's life (in my case, early adolescence), may forever be weighed down or haunted by the past.

When I was in my awkward teens (13? 14?) a family friend in Paris who worked as a rep for Chanel got me Cristalle. Seems perfect for a teenage girl, right? Crisp, cheerful, chic-on-training-wheels. The only problem for me now is that as beautiful as I think Cristalle is, it feels slightly melancholy every time I wear it. Its crisp, almost neutral tone (emotionally) signifies a time in my life when I didn't know who I was, when I, too, was somehow neutral, yet to be written on.

But back to shop talk. Apparently, it's hard to find the eau de toilette Cristalle now (which I'm reviewing). In 1993, Jacques Polge created an eau de parfum Cristalle with heavier notes, including civet. (Here are the notes I found for it in my Haarman & Reimer guide: TOP: Bergamot, Lemon, Basil, Cumin, Hyacinth, Peach HEART: Jasmine, melon, narcissus, cyclamen, lily of the valley, tangerine BASE: oakmoss, musk, civet, patchouli, sandalwood). I can't speak to that formula, but many commenters elsewhere say it is very different from the superior original.

My melancholoy adolescent associations notwithstanding, Cristalle is an austere beauty. I'm wearing it anyway.

Comments

[Anne]

Thanks for the review, and the lovely ads. Sounds like the EDT is the way to go. I have a mini the EDP and find it heavy with a scent that I associate with tobacco (although I'm sure it's not tobacco). I much prefer No 19 in the EDT, although I wear the EDP sometimes.

It's so interesting that you mention the idea of a perfume seeming to be emotionally neutral. I shall enjoy pondering that - do perfumes carry emotional cues in and of themselves because of the substances they contain, or are they just blank canvasses on which we paint our moods, our associations and memories, and the mood of the times?

Oh well, all a bit hard now after a long day.

[Perfumaniac]

Hi Anne. I love waxing philosophical with you about perfume. I tend to think of citrusy, bright fragrances as neutral while heavier, more sensual or Oriental and chypre fragrances I see as leaden with emotion. As I write that out, it seems like a weird prejudice against lighter fragrances, or a conventional attitude that needs to be rethought. What do you think?

[Anne]

Not sure. Like you, I got stuck. But people who know something about the science of scent would be much better informed than me. But I seem to remember reading that tests have shown that the scent of vanilla is almost universally regarded as a pleasant, comfort scent. So perhaps there are some absolute givens. Another given might be that citrus scents are associated with cleanliness, and therefore more neutral? But I wonder if these associations are culturally determined, or absolute?

What I especially enjoy is discovering a fragrance that is so bewildering that, try as I might, I cannot conjure up a set of coherent associations or memories. Kenzo's Ca Sent Beau is one of these, for me. It confounds my usual (rather simplistic) polarities, such as sweet/bitter, sweet/dry, clean/dirty, floral/foodie, light/heavy, sexy/prim, etc. I found it so hard to plot it on these matrices that I actually went out searching for ads for it, to try and undertand the desing intent. (How pathetic is that?) I'm still not sure, and although I like it - it is beautiful as its name says - I realise now that I find it rather ... er ... neutral!

[ChickenFreak]

A lovely post about one of my very favorite scents. I agree that the EDT is by far the best - the EDP is much more "buttery". It seems as if they tried to add body, maybe to make it better for winter, and at least to my nose, ruined it in the process. (For No. 19, on the other hand, I greatly prefer the parfum version.)

I see Cristalle as No. 19's younger, lighthearted, laughing sister. So there's emotion, but it's a happy, in-the-moment enjoyment sort of emotion.

[Perfumaniac]

Thanks for stopping by, ChickenFreak. I want to try this maligned Cristalle EDP. And I like your metaphor about Cristalle as the more lighthearted sister to Chanel No. 19. To further it: Cristalle's on the cheering squad; No. 19 hangs out with the Goth girls trying to cast spells. :)

[Cybele]

I wore Cristalle for a decade and first preferred the EDP, later the EDT. I got the highest compliments on the EDP, especially from men while oddly I was not once complimented on the EDT.I do love both while I consider the EDT higher art for its invention and contradictional character between fresh and morning after. Both of them are great and in my eyes individual creations. Cristalle is in my perception neither simply about cologne like citrus freshness nor about cold hearts but about the smell of skin in an intimate subtle elegant and- yes warm- manner.

[Perfumaniac]

I would love to try the EDP, Cybele, especially since word on the street is that it contains Civet, which is one of my favorite notes in perfume. Maybe thats why men preferred it to the EDT? In any case, Cristalle is a beauty. Thanks for stopping by!

[brigitte]

As the weather was a chilly 40 degrees this morning in the Northeast, I took out my vintage EDT Cristalle to wear today. I wore it in my preteens in the 70s and back then it was such a simple (yet beautiful) citrus fragrance. Now it seems so much more faceted and complex to my nose, yet it is still the same fragrance I adored over 30 years ago. Everyone says that Cristalle is a quintesential summer scent. Yet to my nose it always evoked the feeling of autumn and the looming coldness of winter. Sniffing my wrist now makes me feel both happy (because I adore the scent) and sad (because it conjures up a time when my life was simple and innocent). It's amazing how vintage perfume can evoke a flood of feelings and memories.

[Perfumaniac]

Ah, Cristalle. The more I'm into vintage perfume, the more I appreciate the quality and artistry of Chanel classics. There's a reason they're iconic...

[Carrie]

When I decided to start wearing perfumes again I wanted to have 2 for each season. For summer, Diorella was a no brainer, but I could not find a second one that I liked. I ordered a sample of Cristalle and fell in love with the first sniff.

I wrote this into a review at a forum, that summer is my least favorite season but I can hardly wait to experience Cristalle on a hot summer day. :)

The bottle I have is new, not pre-reformulation, but I love it so much I'm not going to seek out any vintage. A beautiful perfume. As much as I LOVE Diorella, I wouldn't call it beautiful, it's too quirky. Cristalle is stunning.

[Anne Green]

I've been wearing Cristalle since it came out. I've tried so many other fragrances during all this time but I keep going back to Cristalle. I wear it year around because I love it and it makes me feel happy when I smell it. Maybe it 'works' for me because I live in Los Angeles where it is always summertime.