Présence d'une Femme 
Montblanc (2002)

UNderrated, UNassuming, and UNusual. It's the "UN" fragrance!

It's so interesting how each reviewer has a different take on this. My own is that this is such a great balance of notes: woods (I can't tell what kind of wood-- only that it doesn't read as cedar, thank God!); vanilla (no caramel); a powdery iris and musk.

Dual nature, yes. But dueling nature, no.

Still, it is a bit of a challenge, and I'll admit that I wasn't smitten immediately.

Of no consequence whatsoever: I have tested Individuelle, and I think that somebody in marketing mixed up the names. That one seems more overtly "femme" and this one, well, individual. But who asked me?

This is a magical fragrance. Citrus, fruit, floral, pepper, caramel, vanilla, woods. It's like a perfect symphony of most of the major categories of perfume notes in a seductive, very feminine fragrance. Amazing.

Born on the cusp of Gemini and Cancer, I am dual within dual: This is how I define this scent. I have had deep and intimate affairs with the dual likes of Lolita Lempicka, Fendi, and Hypnotic Poison, all of which highlight and lowlight masculinity and femininity at the same time. Made for women, this scent is no different: I wear it and it envelopes me in a smooth, sleek sheath of feminine warmth and masculine attraction. I wear it, but my husband could also wear it. It is wood, it is vanilla, and it is balanced. Unchanging, and never cloying. One spray, and I enchant my lover, 2 sprays, and my warmth lingers long after I've left the room. I feel feminine, not girly, therefore more recent perfumes could never cut it for me: This is the ultimate go-to for others with similar tastes in their own collections.

This at first application is a two headed fragrance. On one wrist, the fragrance strikes me as masculine in a middling quality sort of way. I smell the citrus and even wonder if this fragrance has lavender in it also. On the other wrist, the fragrance is much more feminine with the citrus retiring and the florals front and center. The cyclamen and heliotrope are so pretty. That side is also very shy. At the drydown the woods take over. I think it is very definately a unisex sort of fragrance depending on your chemistry.

There's something in here that provides a kind of herbal edge. Is it the cyclamen? I don't know what that smells like. It's not sickly sweet and the pineapple leaves may be what's creating this interesting "edge" to this fragrance. Otherwise, no note "sticks out" and it's nicely balanced. The vanilla comes across to me more as tonka, because it's a little chalky and not very sweet, nor gourmand. The only reason not to like this one is if you want a fragrance with more articulated notes. This is more of a nice blend. It comes across a little heavy (it's not a "transparent" fragrance) but not to the point of being irritating at all. I'd call it "unisex," especially if you like Le Male and similar "men's" fragrances.