Anyone who follows the fragrance YouTubers on YouTube, especially Jeremy Fragrance, will have noticed that Jeremy holds this cheapie in high regard. It is marketed as a simple, well-rounded office scent. "Fresh, luxurious fabric softener with a raspberry touch," is the classic quote from the aforementioned YouTuber. Additionally, Montblanc Individuel is considered a fragrance that resembles Creed Original Santal. If anything, Creed must have drawn inspiration from Montblanc, as the scent was released two years after Montblanc Individuel ;-) The two do indeed have a certain similarity, but Montblanc smells fruitier.
Individuel truly smells like freshly washed clothes. However, I find it very difficult to distinguish the individual nuances of the fragrance pyramid; it seems to contain a bit of everything, which merges into a very soft, pleasantly smelling casual perfume. Only the raspberry really stands out, but not in a penetrating way, rather spring-like and delicious.
Now, onto the problem. When I scroll through the comments, it seems that everyone has a different perception of this perfume. Unfortunately, it has been reported multiple times (and I truly believe that this is not nonsense) that the perfume smells heavily diluted and soapy. Apparently, Individuel has a significant reformulation issue. The question is, when did the scent seem to change so quickly? In terms of pure scent character, I can only say good things about my version! Okay, the longevity is a bit poor; the scent struggles to last beyond the 4-hour mark on the skin, but it fights. I can overlook that a bit. Otherwise, the perfume is exactly what I expected.
What is actually interesting are the batch codes of my bottle: the batch code on my packaging differs from that on the bottle. According to Checkfresh, my packaging indicates that it is from a 2010 batch, while the batch on the bottle is dated 2014... quite strange. Oh yes, I purchased the scent back then at Notino. The question is, which production year is correct? Anyway, it seems that I got lucky with my batch. With all the comments, I don't know if I should use up my bottle quickly, as apparently the new batches are not good. Therefore, I actually find it difficult to make a recommendation and to consider ordering this perfume again.
