Review of Cristalle Eau de Parfum by aad de gids

a surprise I discovered again within my collection of perfumes. you never think about the phenomenon of 'a collection' until it is one... this particular perfume stands hidden in sight for more than ten, and I even guess fifteen years. what a surprise then yesterday, when I spritzed it on my pulse. as always an accumulation of prejudices and misconceptions stands in the way before you actually have sprayed it and at once I was surrounded by the scent of a beautiful perfume. I guess it sits midway between the Cristalle Edt from since 1974 and the new Cristalle Edp from 2023. I knew of her reputation of an Ice Queen and within this particular edition she still is, and more. first, oh miracle, I get the scent of FRUITS... the ones I thought I could never smell. but as in 'Le Parfum De Thérèse' from Edmund Roudnischka, I was engulfed by the irrepressable scent of Melon, an aroma that can make me gag, but not here as neither in Thérèses perfume. Peach is a fruit that I CAN smell in perfumes and which also is an element of the Chanelissime, and last evening I struggled to smell the 'mandarin-orange' and at least I thought I smelled it. the Opening is already quite a thing and is Chanel Through and through, along with Jacques Polge's virtuosity to blend the initial notes all in where they slowly morph into the Heart (and simultaneously the Base) of the perfume: Jasmine, Ylang-Ylang, Vetiver and Tonnes of Oakmoss. so if it starts somewhat elementally, then synesthetically it dwindles into a heavenly alchymic perfume of (not Warmth, not the Orient, not an Amberoide St. Petersbourg Chamber) but almost the Glaciers Ernest Beaux visualized in 1921 and gave them the eternal form they already embody themselves. now we had Henri Robert in 1974 concipiating another cold and rugged perfume, which initial vision then was taken over by Jacques Polge. and he blended the ingredients so well that this is a fullfletched and chic perfume of Chanel standing in her own space of Ice and Tundra, also habitualizing les Salons de Mode de Paris. it is a lovely sensation to be able to wear this fabulous perfume. the base of Oakmoss and Vetiver give the perfume substantiality next to the heavenly fleetingness of her opening. all in all a magical perfume.