Bvlgari introduced the original Omnia fragrance in 2003. Omnia is a spicy oriental by perfumer Alberto Morillas, and marries spices with trendy gourmand notes like tea, chocolate and almond while managing to be neither heavy nor overly foody. It smells like a nicely spiced wood scent, very sheer, very modern. It is one of my vorites from Bvlgari, and makes a great, nearly year-round woody comfort fragrance.
Omnia got its first flanker in 2005, with Omnia Crystalline. Like many recent flanker scents Calvin Klein Euphoria Blossom, Prada Tendre, among others it was designed for the Asian market, where lighter, fresher fragrances are the thing. And it did very well, apparently reaching number one in Japan and South Korea. (via cosmeticsint.co.uk, 2/9/2007)
Omnia Crystalline is also by Alberto Morillas, and is a fresh musky woody fragrance with notes of bamboo, nashi pear, lotus flower, and balsa wood. On first smell, it would seem to have little in common with its parent scent: it is notably more aquatic, paler (in keeping with its name) and blander, and the first time I tried it, I dismissed it as not interesting enough to bother with.
Subsequent tries have changed my mind. Omnia Crystalline is fresh and light, as youd expect, and it is blander than the original, but it isnt without personality. The pear, happily, is subdued in the opening, and not at all sweet: it doesnt smell like a fruity floral or like something geared towards teenagers. Once the fruitiness des, Omnia Crystalline is mostly musky woods, with very subtle green notes and something that smells rather like white tea. And while its overall character remains fresh and clean and crisp, the wood notes smell darker and deeper than youd expect from balsa wood alone; according to PerfumeWorld, both Omnia and Omnia Crystalline also have guaiac wood, which might explain why I like both scents.
I dont wholeheartedly adore Omnia Crystalline (and Id still rather wear the original) but it is nicely done and worth trying if youre looking for a clean woody musk for summer. I find it uni and would think a man could easily wear it so long as he didnt mind wearing a scent called Omnia Crystalline. For that matter, I didnt find the original Omnia very feminine either.
Bvlgari Omnia Crystalline is an Eau de Toilette. I find the lasting power to be excellent (easily 6 hours or more), but I should note that as with the original Omnia, Ive seen numerous reports about its poor staying power, and I suspect that the musk notes induce olctory tigue rather quickly in some people. It can be found in 25, 40 and 65 ml. Bargain shoppers can find Omnia Crystalline at discount; scentiments currently has the 25 ml for $22.99.
Note: image via Images de Parfums.
I wear Omnia and love itit is every bit as uni as you say, and on my skin smells deliciously warm without being cloyingbut I assumed that, based on the notes, Omnia Crystalline would be very girly. (The pear didnt scare me offafter all, Higher Dior has a pear note in itbut the other things, and the name, made me think light, fresh, prettified.) Now I suppose Im going to have to hunt it down.
Light fresh are accurate, but not prettified it isnt in the least girly. Let me know if you try it and disagree!
I have somewhat of a crush on the whole Bulgari line right now, having found several different scents at discounters for prices too good to pass up. OC is the one Im wearing most in our warm weather. You described the woods perfectly. I am currently using Yves Rocher Bamboo Vegetal body wash, and OC has the same slight bitterness the body wash does, so I guess that would be the bamboo. Overall, this lasts very well, and is fresh and clean without smelling like laundry, etc. as is the current fresh d.
I know you like the green tea scent also, R. Have you tried the extreme version of the green tea, and if so, what is the difference between the two? So r, the red tea scent is my vorite of the Bulgari line.
I will have to try the YR Body Wash I did try the EdT, and thought it nice but maybe a bit too fresh.
I do like the Extreme, and reviewed it (see Perfume Reviews link just under the banner) but I like the regular better. It is just crisper brighter. If you cant live with the poor staying power, the Extreme is a decent alternative.
Oops, sorry! And it was your review of the red tea that made me want to try Bulgari scents in the first place!
YR body washes are great, the actual edts not so much, IMO.
Did you like the Red Tea? Ill have to go look. White Tea is shaping up to be the first full bottle of anything recently that I may actually work all the way through, and if/when I do, Im getting red, I think. In ct, while Im opining, I think much of the Vulgari line is under-loved by the perfumistas.
The regular Bvlgari Femme or whatever its called is lovely.
The Omnia. Gad, I hate that bottle. I think its so ugly. But it smells gorgeous. I tried the Crystalline, got a pinch too much of the aquatic thing, which I dont like, and forgot about it. Then two different people that day asked me what delicious thing I was wearing, prompting me to reconsider its charms. I think your description captures it beautifully. I still wish theyd change the bottle!
I love Omnia, but only tried Crystalline once and dismissed it. I defiinitely think I need to go back and give it another try and pay more attention. Sounds like it has real potential for sweltering mid-summer days.
Oh, and shuffles feet, looks around awkwardly, buthave to confess that Im one of the two people in the known universe who actually likes the Omnia bottle.
M, dont love Red Tea, sadly. But like the rest of the teas, and agree about Femme.
I liked the Omnia bottle in pictures, but hated it when I saw (and touched) it in person. Plastic, and the colors arent done as nicely as they look in pictures. Oh well. Hoping theyll do another Omnia anyway. Green, this time?
I seriously doubt youre alone on the Omnia bottle. It won some sort of design award, and doubt theyd keep using it if everyone on earth hated it
Whoever gave the design award obviously didnt consult anyone on MUA, where it regularly gets listed as one of the ugliest bottles ever released.
I do agree that the actual plastic they used is not wonderful, but Im still impressed w/ the concept and the form.
I actually love the Omnia bottle: I think its enormously appealingweighty, voluptuous, intricateand the plastic doesnt bother me a bit. I have the miniature, as well (I actually have two of them, for some reason), and thats even nicer; theres no sprayer, obviously, and the bottle holding the juice is sort of a thin slice of glass that slides down out of the rest of the packaging (which is all plastic), which I realize is kind of hard to visualize, but its a very clever solution to what must have been a difficult problem.
You know, I like the shape too. But hate the feel, and hate when I pick up a bottle and cant immediately see where the spray is or how to use it (hate Bvlgari Blacks bottle for that reason too). So I would have loved it if Id never seen it in person.
I have a mini of Omnia too, and it took me forever to figure out how to open it! I had removed the plastic piece on the top of the bottle (thats not supposed to come off) and was seriously considering punching a hole in the metal casing to get at the darn juice. Fortunately, I happened to show it to my much cleverer husband, who figured it out in no time.
Doh!
This is all cracking me up you should have seen me fumbling with Carolina Herreras new Splash scents trying to figure out how on earth to open and spray them. If it doesnt have a top and a cap, chances are Ill break it before I figure out how to use it
The miniature sounds absolutely scinating! Had to see exactly how it works for myself, so just ordered one and got the Crystalline, thus killing two birds w/ one stone.
There is another Amethyste (its new, Sephora has it here.) Pale purple, natch. Its sweeter, more closely modeled on Crystalline rather than original Omnia (which smells like HEAVEN on men. I totally agree its not feminine.) Anyway, Id guess violet and/or rose, but its a total guess. I was underwhelmed because it was sweeter than Id expected, but I need to re-try it I didnt like Crystalline on the first go-round either, and I tend to judge things sometimes on what theyre not rather than what they are, which doesnt produce a ir assessment.
Elle, Im predicting youll really like the Crystalline. I go through a slightly rough fresh patch, then its smooth sailing (definitely gaiac and woods.) As it dries down it gets surprising substance for something that seems so sheer when you put it on.
OK, will now definitely be tapping my fingers impatiently waiting for it to arrive. Sounds like I might well be graduating to the large size.
Duh! And it says so right up there in your notes I look forward to your review. Youre responsible for getting me to go back and try more than one thing I now really love (e.g., KenzoAmour.)
Its truethe Bulgari Black bottle, while some sort of triumph of design and engineering, was dreadfully conceived from a human-intece point of view. You really want to pull the top off, even if you know youre supposed to twist it. Paco Rabannes Ultraviolet Man has a similar problem: it really looks as if theres a long cap which needs removing, when in ct its a sort of trigger that you squeeze to shoot yourself with scent.
Issey Miyakes Le Feu DIssey is probably the greatest ever non-standard sprayer design: if the bottles sitting on your dresser, there doesnt actually seem to be a sprayer because theres a plastic sleeve over it, but when you pick up the bottle, the sleeve just drops away into the shell of the bottle, exposing the sprayer. (And theres a little plastic device that fits into the bottom of the bottle which deliberately keeps the sleeve in place: you use it when youre travelling to prevent accidental discharge.) Its extraordinarily elegant.
Yep. At least half the time you pick up a Black tester in a store, it has been broken by a consumer who couldnt figure out how to use it. Bad sign. Will have to check out the Feu dIssey bottle!
I actually dont adore the scent of Le Feu, but bought the bottle because I was so impressed w/ the design (and it was relatively inexpensive).
I have always thought Le Feu is one of the weirdest scents ever released commercially. Its just bizarre. I like it, but I dont wear it really often, and I can see the problems people have with it. Im not a enormous n of the bottle, but for an innovative design, it sprays (even into sample vials and decants) extremely well.
Help! I can t figure out how to open this, either!
I have a small sample of the Omnia with the beautiful brown plastic semi-loops. Cant open it.yup, doh!
Can you help?
I havent got the mini so will be no help, but it sounds from pyramuss comment above that youve got to slide the glass bottle out. Good luck!
I had received a sample of this fragrance a while back and thought, at the time, that I really liked it. I recently ordered a small bottle from Sephora and now Im not all that crazy about it. I will try it again in hot weather [seems like it thats type of scent] and see if that makes a difference. At least I only purchased a small purse size spray so if I still dont like it no big whoop.
I decided to give the Crystalline another try on this summery day, and I must say, what a difference the weather makes for this fragrance. I am enjoying this quite a bit again [I must have sampled it originally on a hot day]. I feel like its keeping me shower fresh.
There is no cap, so strictly speaking it does not open unless youre talking about the mini, in which case Im sorry but I dont remember anything but that it took me forever to figure out. Sorry!
Im coming in late on this, but after trying this for the second time, I wanted to chime in.
I didnt care for it when I first received my sample. I didnt exactly hate it, I just found it underwhelming and a bit off. It could have been because at that point, I had sniffed too many new arrivals; Im not sure. I put it aside and forgot about it.
This evening I sifted through my samples again and decided to give this another shot, and not expecting much, was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed it at first sniff, and am enjoying it now as it settles in. Its not overwhelming, but it is very nice.
I think Ill purchase
Perhaps its the unseasonably warm weather, but this is working really well for me this evening!
On my skin, this is a dead ringer for the original DKNY Women, launched in 1999 although not quite as sharp if my memory serves me right (its been a couple years since Ive worn it). This one doesnt seem to be as overwhelming either, as it does dry down to a softer scent.
Now THIS is my vourite Omnia flanker. Figures that of course itd also be the most expensive one still at online discounters.
Hi, Robin. Any thoughts on the difference, if any, between the EDT and EDP versions of Omnia Crystalline? Tks.
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