French Defense
On request
Mind Games Grand Master Extrait de Parfum Sample
- Concentration
- Extrait de Parfum
- Brand
- Mind Games
- Full bottle
- 100 ml
- Range
- Niche
Rose, Kona coffee, myrrh, dark wood
Grand Master, an Extrait de Parfum by Alexandra Carlin for the chess-minded house Mind Games, wants two sides of coffee in one scent: the creamy and the dark-roasted. It opens with soft florals and gives way to strength, with Kona coffee in the middle and myrrh, incense, panettone and ebony wood below. A decant tells you how that strength feels on you.
On request
Ask about this sample
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 Grand Master Extrait de Parfum (100 ml) at NicheGems
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!
More samples of Mind Games
The composition
How it unfolds in notes
The curve shows the order in which the notes come forward, not their strength.
-
Top notes
- Black Currant
- Rose Water
- Pivoine
-
Heart notes
- Rose Centofolia Vitessence
- Kona Coffee
- Wild Violet
-
Base notes
- Myrrh
- Incense
- Panettone
- Ebony Wood
- Character
- Strong
- Occasion
- Concentration
- Explore by note
In the same spirit
Similar in character
On the skin
How it unfolds
-
The gentle first move
Black currant, rose water and pivoine open it quietly. The currant is dark and a little tart, the rose water light and transparent, and the pivoine adds an airy, petal-soft sweetness. Nothing pushes yet, which is the point, since the house says it starts gently.
-
Coffee at the centre
The heart holds Rose Centofolia Vitessence, Kona coffee and wild violet. The rose grows fuller, violet adds a cool powdery edge, and the coffee brings both creamy and dark-roasted tones. It is dense, though not loud, and it is the stage that will decide if you like the perfume.
-
Resin and ebony
The base turns dark and resinous. Myrrh and incense give smoky, balsamic depth, panettone a soft, buttery bakery sweetness, and ebony wood a dry floor. As an extrait it stays warm and close, with the sweetness fading slowly into resin.
Testing it
How to test it, for whom and why
How to test it
Apply the decant on skin in the evening, and watch for the move from the soft floral start to the coffee and resin. Wear it in cool autumn or winter weather, as the tags suggest. Return to it a day later to check if the coffee still tastes like warmth to you, or has become heavy.
Who it is for
It is unisex and suits people who enjoy rose when something pushes against it, such as coffee, resin and incense, and who want gourmand touches without a perfume that smells of a sweet shop. The soft opening keeps it welcoming even if amber is new to you.
Why try Mind Games Grand Master as a sample first
Coffee, panettone and incense are strong personalities, and the way they sit on skin changes a lot from person to person. The idea is clear, gentleness first and then strength, but at 100 ml you want to be sure about the strength. FragranceGems fills the decant from the original bottle.
At a glance
- Perfumer
- Alexandra Carlin
- Year
- 2022
- For
- Unisex
What you receive
How we fill your sample
-
From the original bottle
We start with a full bottle of the perfume. Nothing is diluted, mixed or added.
-
Into a glass spray vial
Filled by hand into a clean glass spray vial of 2, 5 or 10 ml and closed straight after filling.
-
Labelled by us
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
Frequently asked
Is there a strong coffee note in Grand Master?
Kona coffee sits in the heart, and the perfumer used both its creamy and its dark-roasted sides. It adds a gourmand twist but not a café-like effect, so judge it on skin.
Which season suits it best?
The tags list autumn and winter, and evenings and special occasions. The dense extrait feels at home in cool weather.
Is this decant made by Mind Games?
No, it is not an official brand sample. FragranceGems fills the 10 ml glass spray vial from the original bottle and labels it itself, and Mind Games is not involved.
The brand
About Mind Games
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.
- Chess-themed house: every perfume is an 'aromatic movement' named after the game
- Created by Alex and Mariana Shalbaf, with master perfumers of Symrise
- Every perfume we decant is an Extrait de Parfum
Pick up where you left off
Recently viewed
Reviews of FragranceGems (shop and sample reviews)
What FragranceGems customers say
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
The sample department 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
- Filled by us from the original bottle
- Glass spray vial, labelled by us
- Customer service by the FragranceGems team