By Ann
As we’ve had practically nonstop warm weather (70s and up), I have pretty much given up all hope of having any more cold temps. (Apologies to those of you out there who are suffering weatherwise, right now.) So accepting the inevitable, I went into the perfume drawers and began digging out my spring greens. In my Chanel corner, I found some of both the original Cristalle EDT and some of the more recent Eau Verte. I was reminded of discussions of vintage No. 19 vs. the Poudre edition recently launched (it didn’t matter much to me, but for what it’s worth, the Poudre was nicer on me).
Anyway, in the spirit of early spring, I did a wrist-to-wrist comparison, wearing both old and new Cristalles for a day. I’m happy to report that I enjoyed them both immensely, for different reasons.
I thought back on the first time I wore Cristalle, and recall how it stood apart from so many of the heavier scents that dominated the market in the ’70s. It was a game-changing entry for me, coming close on the heels of Estee Lauder’s sportier, but still lovely Aliage.
Hallelujah! Two refreshing beauties to help me beat the Florida heat. A few years later, even on my very meager college student budget, I managed to get my hands on some of the Chanel shower gel and the body lotion too.
Over the years, the market just exploded with so many scents, that I wound up forgetting about it. So when the Eau Verte was launched, I was happy to give it a try. Turns out I loved it as well. For today’s consumer, it strikes me as a fresher, slightly more approachable scent than the original. But in its day, it was groundbreaking, at least for me, and brought back some nice memories. Wearing it recently I thought it perfect for feeling elegant and coolly confident, whereas the Eau Verte puts me in a brighter, more uplifting shade of green. I’m happy to have both in my collection, as well as an equally lovely cousin, Untitled by Maison Martin Margiela. An added bonus: It makes me want to revisit another old love from that era, Quartz by Molyneux.
I’d love to hear about any of your “then and now” fragrance experiences.
Errk! What is happening over at the Perfumed Court – very odd to hear about it first on Perfumeshrine. Hope everyone is OK and best of luck to ventures old and new.
Everyone is fine – there are some changes afoot, with the founders moving into other ventures. Patty (one of the founders of TPC) will give you all the news when her new site is up and ready to go – just hang in there, she posts on Thursday!
xo >-)
Yikes! I’m glad you mentioned it. It’s hard to keep up!
Tweed was made by Lentheric, and was (apparently – I haven’t come across some myself as of yet) a floral with lavender, unfussy and casual.
Yep, a bit soapy, a bit leathery, lots of oakmoss and wood with a kind of dry, resiny, sawdusty finish – that sounds horrid, but is in fact totally wonderful. Apparently, the current formulation is cheap and vile, but the vintage is a budget beauty.
I wish I knew what had happened to my mother’s old bottle of Tweed. She never wore perfume, but nevertheless she kept two bottles around when I was a kid: Chanel No. 5 and Tweed. I loved the Chanel — it smelled like perfume ought — but the Tweed was intriguing (weird, as you say) enough that I had to keep sniffing it. I’m sure I’d love the old version now.
I also like both, old Cristalle and new Cristalle Verte, but the new one is brighter and fresher and it is now my go to office scent for Spring and Summer.
Blast from the past – I have just bought a bottle of vintage Tweed parfum. This was my stylish aunt’s signature, 40 years ago now. When I was a child, I thought it smelled just weird. Tweed wasn’t pretty and floral, like the things my mother wore – but I always noticed and was perplexed by it.
I spent hardly anything on my tiny eBay bottle, but oh, wow! So cheap, yet so amazing. Old scent, new love.
Hi Jayne, glad you mentioned Tweed. I remember seeing it and hearing about it back in the day, but don’t think I ever had the pleasure of smelling it. Who made it, do you recall?
I feel similarly about my mother’s Ma Griffe; it wasn’t pleasant and florally feminine to my childish nose, but I’d probably like it now.
Cristalle made me cry (melancholia) the first times I wore it. I approached it with some trepidation, when I was last at the Chanel boutique, figuring it would plunge me into melancholia again.
I was right.
It’s beautiful – always has been, hoping it always will be. But something in there really triggers the ‘blues’ for me. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – it speaks to the perfume’s evocative power – but I have enough ‘blues’ in my life already, thankee! No need to pay for them! 😀
xo >-)
Hey, sweetie! Right you are — no need to pay for the blues! I know what you mean, though — although it’s a lovely green, there is that hint of distance, aloofness, something, in the original. The Eau Verte is much more cheerful.
I’ll have to try that! I love the general ‘idea’ of Cristalle – the idea of a Cheerful Cristalle is intriguing…:-?
xo >-)
I wonder how new Quartz compares to its earlier incarnation. I bought a bottle last year and like it very much.
Hi, Francesca. I didn’t know it was still being made, so that would be interesting to compare. I’d love to know how you’d describe it when you have it on. Thanks!
I find it to be very fresh, clean, and citrusy. It can be easily found online–I think I got mine at Fragrance.net. And it’s extremely reasonably-priced.
One of my now and then scents is Andy Tauer’s Une Rose Vermeille. At first the juicy raspberry note threw me but now URV has grown on me. Just the other day, I had the bottle on the kitchen sink and my dad smelled it and actually liked it. He normally doesn’t comment on perfume.
Hi, thanks for stopping by. Wow, that’s quite a compliment! Glad you’ve grown fond of it. I normally don’t like many rose scents, but that one and his Une Rose Chypree have done pretty nicely by me.