The Forward Mind Games 2023

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8.0 / 10 185 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

8.0185 Ratings

Longevity

7.7160 Ratings

Sillage

7.2157 Ratings

Bottle

8.8150 Ratings

Value for money

6.1121 Ratings

Submitted by Spl3xx, last update on 08/11/2025.

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

6 in-depth fragrance descriptions

07/10/2024

7
Pricing 10
Bottle 7
Sillage 8
Longevity 10
Scent

Skellyt
1 Review

Skellyt

2

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.

01/14/2025

3
Pricing 8
Bottle 8
Sillage 9
Longevity 7
Scent

SLNY
17 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.

11/15/2024

4
Pricing 10
Bottle 6
Sillage 8
Longevity 10
Scent

RichardLikes
7 Reviews

RichardLikes

1

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 :(

09/23/2024

8
Pricing 9
Bottle 7
Sillage 8
Longevity 10
Scent

Kikolja
20 Reviews

Translated Show original

Kikolja

12

Still waters run deep

Her hair is tied into a flawless, wet bun, carefully yet effortlessly tidy. She prefers to wear yoga pants in muted tones - minimalist but perfectly coordinated. Her face radiates freshness and naturalness, with hardly any make-up, subtly accentuated eyebrows and a hint of gloss on her lips. Barely visible, clear nail polish shimmers on her fingers, perfectly applied, simple and unobtrusive. Her skin is smooth and glowing, as if it has been kissed by the sunlight itself. No excessive shine, just a subtle, healthy glow that you can't force - it comes from within.

Her eyes, clear and focused, radiate inner calm, as if they can handle anything that comes their way with composure. No unnecessary baggage seems to weigh her down, neither in her thoughts nor in her appearance. And if she does, she shrugs it all off with a carefree laugh.

She reduces her lifestyle to the essentials - to inner and outer purity, to the art of making beauty out of simplicity. She is probably the kind of person who always has a small notebook with her to record spontaneous thoughts or inspirations.

Besides yoga, she spends her free hours meditating, taking long walks and picnics under hanging willows, and maybe even doing calligraphy, where she immerses herself in the art of fine, precise lines, as she does in her own life. Perhaps she loves to make small ceramic bowls herself. Or she carefully tends to her plants, as a hobby she has taken up growing bonsai, or staging ikebana - art forms that require patience, dedication and attention to detail.

For me, this perfume embodies my former colleague Edona. Always positive, radiant like a sunshine and the epitome of the Clean Girl Aesthetic.

The scent itself evokes memories of sweet sea salt settling on sunscreen-dipped skin while a splash of fresh blood orange juice has been spritzed over it.

I would never admit it, but I hope with each application that I become a little more like her - serene, free yet mysteriously complex, as if she would slip through anyone's fingers as soon as he or she considered her a best friend or lover.

06/01/2024

7
Pricing 6
Bottle 7
Sillage 8
Longevity 8
Scent

LazyDaze
9 Reviews

Translated Show original

LazyDaze

4

Without corners and edges to hold on to

In my search for a special, long-lasting salty lemon, I stumbled across The Forward.

As I had hoped, the fragrance starts off slightly lemony, but this fades quite quickly.
Instead, the salty pomelo enters the stage and remains perceptible for quite a while. For me, the fragrance is really great here and is rounded off with a pleasant jasmine note. A subtle sweetness from the tonka also creeps in quite quickly.
The middle section is a real highlight: salty, fresh with tart-sweet tonka.

This then turns into a vanilla tonka, becomes sweeter and less special (at least it seems very familiar to me), but thus pleasant to smell for the environment.
So if you are looking for tonka bean with a certain summery touch, you should definitely try The Forward.

The fragrance is definitely unisex and cannot be assigned to any gender in my opinion.
It fits into cooler summer days, but actually cannot be clearly assigned to any season either
Wearable for many occasions (work, leisure, going out), certainly won't bother anyone.
It's not really sweet, not really fresh, not heavy, but not light either
Somehow, I can't really categorize the fragrance. That can be a good thing - a "no brainer", so to speak - but somehow also unsatisfactory.

The durability is completely ok: at least 4 hours perceptible.
Ultimately not a candidate for purchase for me, the sample will definitely be used up, but then it's also good.
I'm still looking for my perfect salt-lemon.

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