French Defense
On request
Mango, lavender, leather and oud
Mind Games Blockade pairs fresh mango with leather, a combination that sounds odd on paper and is easier to judge on skin. Pink pepper and tomato leaf open it, lavender and star anise carry the heart, and Cuir Velours DI, patchouli, Ambrostar and oud finish it. The perfumer is Christelle Laprade, and the brand calls it smooth, calculated and dynamic.
On request
A decant is not an official brand sample: no box, no original bottle, and we are not affiliated with the brands. Read how we fill your sample
Want the full bottle after testing? Mind Games Blockade Extrait de Parfum (100 ml) at NicheGems
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I really appreciate that I found a shop that has a wide range of authentic perfumes,fast delivery,great communication and very good prices. Thanks for everything!
The composition
The curve shows the order in which the notes come forward, not their strength.
On the skin
The top is Mango Skin, pink pepper, tomato leaf and Bergamot Capua. Mango skin is greener and less sweet than mango flesh, and tomato leaf adds a sharp, green sap. Whether that fresh, slightly vegetal opening feels interesting or strange to you is clear in the first minutes.
The heart holds lavender, mango flower, a watery cyclamen note and star anise. Lavender gives the aromatic backbone, anise a faint licorice spice and mango flower the fruit again, now soft and floral. This is the step where the freshness starts to meet the leather.
The base is Cuir Velours DI, patchouli, Ambrostar and oud. The brand uses trade names for some of these, so the leather is a soft, velvety one and the amber note comes from Ambrostar. The perfumer compares the perfume to the metallic armour of a knight, which fits the dark close.
Testing it
One or two sprays on the chest or wrists are enough, because an extrait of this kind thickens in the base if you use more. Try it first on a cool day, then once in milder weather, since the fresh top lets it work beyond winter. Let the lavender and pepper show before you judge the leather.
Listed as unisex by the brand. It suits people who like aromatic, woody and leather perfumes and are open to a fruity twist, with mango as the surprise. If you prefer soft sweetness or pure florals, a decant tells you early that this is more angular.
A mango-and-leather idea works or fails on very personal taste, and the list contains brand trade names that are hard to imagine. Our 10 ml decant, filled by FragranceGems from the original bottle and labelled by us, lets you judge the whole progression before taking 100 ml.
What you receive
We start with a full bottle of the perfume. Nothing is diluted, mixed or added.
Filled by hand into a clean glass spray vial of 2, 5 or 10 ml and closed straight after filling.
Our own label names the brand, the perfume, the concentration and the size.
A decant is not an official brand sample: no box, no original bottle, and we are not affiliated with the brands.
Samples are filled to order and cannot be returned. Is something wrong or damaged on arrival? Contact us and we solve it. To the contact page
Read how we fill your sampleQuestions
Both, in sequence: a fresh start with mango, pink pepper and tomato leaf, then lavender and anise, then a warm base of leather, patchouli, Ambrostar and oud.
A 10 ml decant in a glass spray vial, filled by FragranceGems from the original bottle and labelled by us. It is not an official brand sample, and Mind Games is not involved.
They are the brand's own ingredient names. Cuir Velours DI is the velvety leather note, and Ambrostar is an amber ingredient. This page keeps the names as the brand writes them.
The brand
Mind Games takes its vocabulary from chess: every perfume is an 'aromatic movement' named after a move or an idea from the game, from French Defense to Double Attack. Creators Alex and Mariana Shalbaf work with the master perfumers of the fragrance house Symrise, and everything we decant is an Extrait de Parfum. The names give no hint of the smell, mango, cherry, chocolate, coffee, so the sensible opening move is a few 10 ml decants.
Pick up where you left off
Reviews of FragranceGems (shop and sample reviews)
DecantGems is new. These are reviews from FragranceGems customers about the shop and about the samples they ordered there. Collected by Judge.me.
4.7 out of 5
1,200+ reviews on Judge.me
Reviews of FragranceGems, the shop behind DecantGems
I really appreciate that I found a shop that has a wide range of authentic perfumes,fast delivery,great communication and very good prices. Thanks for everything!
Timely info when item was back in stock. Some confusion with info about shipment updates on gls app but what is important: perfume came in perfect condition!
incredible fast delivery l. the fragrance itself its magnificent, the dry down woody base, is intoxicating. it last on me 10 hours plus. great service great fragrance
Good experience overall. Fast shipping without any incidents. Prices are good as well.
Really happy of my purchase. Serious seller, quality products, fast shipping, large catalog. I will order a lot of more !
Shipping was 5 days to Finland. Customer service was very good. Happy with the product also. Will shop again. Only thing I hope is that you guys would negotiate better price for GLS shipping to Finland. But I know that is not always possible. And I noticed the prices were lower than the competitors so the steep shipping price was not that big of a deal. Good job all in all.
Great shop with a fantastic selection and fast shipping. I was very happy with my order. It would have been a nice touch to receive a little sample, especially as I ordered two full-size products. ;)
Placing the order was very easy. Shipping was very fast. I am completely satisfied.
Plenty of perfumes and very good perfumes. Fast shipping. One negative. Expensive shipping from Netherlands to Greece
A selection of recent reviews in proportion to their star ratings.

From the house of FragranceGems
DecantGems is part of FragranceGems B.V. in Zoetermeer, the Netherlands. We fill every sample ourselves from the original bottle into a glass spray vial and label it ourselves. Behind it stands the same team that handles every FragranceGems order.
Reviews of FragranceGems, the shop behind DecantGems
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