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Soulmate Collection

The Forward Mind Games 2023

7.9 / 10 227 Ratings

A popular perfume by Mind Games for women and men, released in 2023. The scent is sweet-creamy. It is being marketed by The Fragrance Group.
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Main accords

Sweet

Creamy

Citrus

Woody

Gourmand

Fragrance Pyramid

Top Notes

Honey pomelo Lemon

Lemon

Madagascan mandarin orange

Heart Notes

Tonka bean Salt

Salt

Jasmine sambac

Base Notes

Bourbon vanilla

Cashmeran

Sandalwood

Perfumer

Nathalie Benareau

Videos

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Ratings

Scent

7.9227 Ratings

Longevity

7.7191 Ratings

Sillage

7.2188 Ratings

Bottle

8.8184 Ratings

Value for money

6.0147 Ratings

Submitted by Spl3xx · last update on 01/05/2026.

Source-backed & verified

Interesting Facts

The fragrance is part of the Soulmate Collection collection.

Smells similar

What the fragrance is similar to

Brocéliande Extrait de Parfum

Rochas Man Eau de Toilette

Casamorati - Lira Eau de Parfum

Ambra Calabria

Reviews

11 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/10/2024

9.5Scent 8Longevity 7Sillage

Skellyt
1 Review

Skellyt

Helpful Review 3

Underrated, understated Madagascar coast wonder

This is the pinnacle of the current Mind Games collection in my opinion. It is versatile and can be worn all seasons. It is mass-appealing, I can’t imagine anyone being put off by this scent. It’s sweet but not overbearing like in Le Male Elixir. It’s salty but not polarizing like in 40 Knots. It’s creamy like Chanel Allure Homme Edition Blanche but more interesting and it has much better longevity and sillage.

The bottle, concept, and presentation are all fantastic. Nathalie Benareau got her inspiration for this fragrance from her trip to Madagascar, where she saw women proudly extracting mandarin near the ocean in a salty breeze. “The Forward” came to her as a name of empowerment and motivation.

This takes facets from multiple popular fragrances and spins it into a unique combo that also smells very simple due to how well it is blended.

Updated on 07/10/2024

11/15/2024

10Scent 8Longevity 6Sillage

RichardLikes
7 Reviews

RichardLikes

2

Underrated. For Now

I fell in love with this fragrance by accident. I was in Saks Fifth purchasing another fragrance and saw these chess pieces and had to try them out. Out of all the Mind Games collection, this one was one that i couldn't take my nose off of. It smelled so smooth and creamy, a very airy light fragrance. My first impression of The Forward was that it definitely leaned more feminine but i could wear it. As of today, it is very underrated but i think in the future people will get a hold of it and its gonna be a fav for alot of frag lovers.

With that being said, its pricey. and its only going up from here lol :(

01/14/2025

7Scent 9Longevity 8Sillage

SLNY
19 Reviews

SLNY

1

Wonderful start...but the dry down

What a fabulous opening; the pomelo citrus is just intoxicating, the touch of salt making it sparkle. For an hour, I can't stop wanting to smell it more, drink it in. It was an immediate purchase for me at Nieman Marcus. But.... the problem (for me) comes in after an hour. The effervescence and citrus starts sliding away and it becomes more and more creamy and slightly woody, but one note starts coming to the fore: the cashmeran. I've had other fragrances with cashmeran but never have it become so utterly prominent. And I, for one, just can't take it. It is almost repulsive. Maybe its the cashmeran with the other notes but, for me, this is a hard no

And the problem is that the scent lingers. And lingers.

Not a blind buy. But if you like it, it will stay with you!

For me, the bottle is now gone.

Updated on 01/14/2025

12/11/2025

8.5Scent 8Longevity 8Sillage

FoxHound215
60 Reviews

FoxHound215

1

Citrus Vanilla

The more I smell The Forward (on paper) the more I realize it smells like City Rhythm San Diego Pacific Sunset (which is my favorite CR fragrance). It smells very nice, almost feminine leaning, but pretty I'd say it's pretty much unisex. It's citrus mainly, but that vanilla blend makes it truly a creamy and wonderful scent. The scent envelopes and hugs you. I can picture wearing this with a cashmere sweater or a warm hoodie in the fall (not that I wear cashmere), or even with a t-shirt or an open buttoned shirt in the spring. It also reminds me of Edition Blanche almost in terms of scent profile, but they are not really the same. Beautiful bottle, but Mind Games prices are crazy though!

Updated on 12/11/2025

10/28/2025

5Scent 7Longevity 4Sillage

Ninamariah
316 Reviews

Ninamariah

1

Extremely simple citrus scent with light Vanilla

First of all, I love the sophisticated style of this house and I like most of the scents. They may seem far too expensive for what you get. The scent profiles are easy and crowd pleasing, but a certain simplicity emphasizes individual notes and if you don't like them, the scent falls right off your wish list. In more complex scents, a single note doesn't have that much of an impact. In the case of this scent, citrus has to be one of your favorite notes. It dominates the fragrance from opening until the late dry down.

I've mentioned many times that citrus doesn't appeal to me, but I still love Mandarin note and it's strongly present in the opening of this fragrance. It mixes with fresh jasmine. The opening is attractive and lovely. After a while, Mandarin turns into a regular citrus, and Jasmine is as if it has been soaked in salt water. Something is not balanced in this combination. I think Lemon is too sharp. The texture is not very creamy despite Sandalwood and Vanilla is noticeably light and translucent. This fragrance is not Casamorati - Lira Eau de Parfum at all, other than in the form of lemon and vanilla notes, but Lira is characterized by fullness and thick creaminess, not forgetting the clear liqorice note and there are none here. I don't like Lira either. For some reason, I don't think Tonka performs well at all, I love Tonka in fragrances. All of its characteristic features are conspicuous by their absence. I wouldn't categorize The Forward as gourmand, it doesn't smell edible or delicious in any way. The scent is totally unisex.

Citrus scents easily remind me of car air freshener and that association is anything but positive. In this scent, that association comes and goes, remaining thankfully hidden most of the time. Yet that lingering aroma, which rarely reaches my nose, is too unpleasant. The scent is still not clearly synthetic, but I just don't like it. Citrus lovers will like the scent, but the house's style of making the scents quite subtle can be disappointing. It has its pros and cons. The scent doesn't create bubbles and it stays intimate, even if you spray it a lot. It lasts like Mind Games fragrances on average, around 6-7 hours.

Thank you for reading, I hope you liked my review.
I would appreciate if you follow me on my

IG and/or YouTube (English subtitles available):

@ninamariahperfumes

It gives me a lot of motivation to write more.

Updated on 11/23/2025

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