MATIERE PREMIERE CRYSTAL SAFFRON

I will cut the corners and say immediately that as per this moment, Matiere Premiere Crystal Saffron is not a perfect fit for me. It is certainly beautiful for the wearer and everything is executed with the perfection that Aurelien is known for.

The thing is, I am not a fan of ambroxan-saffron duet. There is simply no fragrance left featuring the symbiosis of those two ingredients that doesn not get automatically associated with BR 540. In Crystal Saffron it is well hidden and not noticeable on first glance because the two notes are well isolated from eachother.

Aurelien’s take on saffron is very effervescent and unfamiliar, hence quite unique. I love certain aspects of the composition and am apathic to others in equal manner. So take this review with grain of salt. And, I will never get tired of saying it. Always sample things yourself, wear things on skin and form your own opinions based on your experience.

As I said saffron and ambroxan are two notes playing a very important role in Crystal Saffron. But there is third ingredient that makes discovering this compositin worth your while. And that is musks. Crystal Saffron is very fitting name for this fragrance. It is like a saffron frozen in glacier ice which just started thawing. You have the freshness and very light quality to it, as singled out note I would wear it on any day. It almost feels ozonic and cold. Not something I felt saffron could be, I always associated it with being warm note on the skin.

Here, paired with musks that are familiar to me from Fantôme de Maules, it creates that sense of empty open space, fresh air and chilling wind on the skin. I have never tried isolated galaxolide but I am now eager to discover it solo.

After the opening hour, fragrance starts to change direction taming the cold mineral aspect and turning up the ambery furnace. To my happy surprise ambroxan is not in overdose here. It supports saffron and makes the leathery aspect of saffron softer and sweeter.

As musks perish off, Crystal Saffron picks up volume. Both in sillage and loudness of the composition. It sweetens up a lot on my skin and starts projecting heavily after an hour. And it doesn’t leave skin easily. I would be cautious and really strategic about the sprays to not overwhelm people around you due to that progression in time.

We all know that crystal is a chunk of mineral-dense glass, it becomes a piece of admiration and desire given the right artist hands and right temperature. Seeing saffron note handled here is amazing. To me the scent feels very polarizing because it has that incredible ethereal opening that I’m drawn to. But ambroxan in the mix which stops me from fully enjoying the beauty of treatment given to saffron. For now I am not sure wether Crystal Saffron is something I would wear often. I need more time with it. Who knows, maybe I will change my mind when I get to know it a bit better.