Sensual Instinct by Montale

I tested it in-store: the opening was very strong, almost medicinal. On my skin, it became pleasant after 10-15 minutes. It shares that DNA with Baccarat and Instant Crush due to its warm, spicy character. The dry down is very noticeable. I’m not adding it to my collection; it doesn’t feel special to me, but if you like it, it’s versatile. Lasts quite a while.

For those who can recommend it based on the Baccarat Rouge 540 DNA, this Sensual Instinct is one of the best. For me, it’s the amber BR base (without the medicinal touch) with a pleasant sweetness, mixed with Montale’s Intense Café and a subtler rose. The result is excellent, very well blended; it highlights the praline and coffee, a silky rose, and that elegance and seduction in the name. The balance is perfect, very unisex, though only in cold climates. Ideal for a date, though some might think they’ve heard it before. Rating: 8.5/10 (Discovery Set).

I don’t understand why people compare it to Baccarat Rouge; in my opinion, they don’t resemble each other. It’s a very original scent. I admit I was afraid of the rose; it’s not one of my favorites, but here it’s very integrated and blends perfectly. The dry down on my skin is sweet with a liquorish touch, charming. It’s unisex, leaning towards no specific gender. I recommend trying it before buying; it’s intense and might not be for everyone.

I’ll just say that out of 14 testers I received today, this was the one that caught my attention the most. It seems like one of those that sticks to the skin and blends with your personal scent, a true marvel. It might be my lack of experience, but I haven’t heard anything like it in my life. A truly original perfume.

⚠️ Sensual Instinct isn’t for every woman. If you are strong, sensual, sexual, mysterious, with an old-money style, it’s perfect for you. It’s a bath of macerated roses soaked in addictive sweet coffee. The praline lingers for hours combined with a burning aroma of woods and moss that dirties the fragrance. This scent will envelop your entire environment; men and women will want to be around you to get lost in this ambitious, luxurious, and powerful perfume. Sillage: wide and overwhelming. Longevity: over 12 hours, a powerful burst. Scent: Spectacular.

On my skin, Sensual Instinct opens with roasted coffee that gradually softens into a brutal praline chocolate (nothing cloying like I imagined Good Girl to be). Paired with moss and honeyed amber, the whole composition becomes even more sophisticated. As the notes blend, a rose emerges more boldly, fresh as if just cut from a garden. It’s my first unisex and it’s hit me super hard. Heads up: I recommend testing it before buying. Edit 1: After an hour, I’m obsessed with that praline-chocolate drydown <3. Edit 2: A day later and I still smell it clinging to my skin and occasionally in the air. What a beast for longevity. Edit 3: The praline smells like when you split a bonbon in half and sniff it <3

I agree more with the notes than the ratings: on my skin, it’s very masculine, with a very marked liquor note (maybe the praline) and exquisite alcohol. The cedar, amber, and oak moss give it that masculine base that keeps it away from the feminine side. No complaints about projection and longevity; it delivers on the brand’s promise and easily lasts 8-10 hours.

Overall, I’m absolutely in love with it, though on my skin it lasts about 5 hours. The opening is very sweet; I don’t detect roasted coffee, but rather a light coffee with honey that evolves into the sweetness of praline. The rose is subtle but present—it’s not your typical powder-room rose, but a fresh, freshly-cut garden rose. The projection is good within a meter, which I like because it’s not invasive, yet when someone gets close, you can really smell that delicious sweetness. In the dry-down, it becomes discreet, skin-close, mossy, and ambered. It feels predominantly feminine due to the sweetness, but usable by a man who enjoys something honeyed in the opening. Rating: 8/10. Sillage: 7/10. Longevity: 5-6 hours.

DELICIOUS! I really love it, just as the name SENSUAL INSTINCT suggests: it’s sensual, mysterious, and sophisticated. I’d say it’s an inviting perfume, perfect for a first date. The coffee and cedar are prominent, and when it dries down, it leaves an exquisite praline trail—a sweet woody extract with a hint, but only a hint, of floral notes that make it feminine. I’d recommend it for any age, not for daily use, but for those special moments when you want to leave a mark.

I had such high expectations… I expected it to be sweet and sensual. But no, IT IS VERY MALE. At first, I smelled an old man’s cologne, like someone in their 60s. By the heart notes, it felt slightly more feminine; I caught the praline, but it wasn’t a pleasant feminine scent. It smelled more like a restaurant or a hotel air freshener. It’s another scent similar to Baccarat Rouge 540, like Mancera’s Instant Crush, Burberry Her Intense, or Ariana Grande’s Cloud. This type of smell is becoming so common now, whether in designer, budget, or niche perfumes… A huge disappointment. UPDATE: After a few hours, it gets sweeter, but it remains very masculine. Definitely not unisex for me, it’s male. My boyfriend smelled it on my skin and said: ‘It smells like a man and a clothing store.’ 😂😂