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      GRAND MASTER (2022) • MIND GAMES🔺, ScentAdvice

      MIND GAMES
      GRAND MASTER

      2022

      PERFUMER
      Alexandra Carlin


      GRAND MASTER (2022) • MIND GAMES🔺, ScentAdvice


      BLACKCURRANT
      PEONY
      ROSE WATER
      KONA COFFEE
      ROSE CENTIFOLIA
      VIOLET
      PANETTONE
      MYRRH
      FRANKINCENSE
      EBONY WOOD

      GRAND MASTER (2022) • MIND GAMES🔺, ScentAdvice

      When I smelled the entire Mind Games line in-store (on test strips), Grand Master was my favorite upon first reaction. How does it hold up? Spoiler: I think it’s interesting, but it’s not my favorite as Checkmate easily surpassed it after wearing both on skin side-by-side. I thought it was a fun first time wearing it, but I’m not sure if I would still like Grand Master after wearing it several times.

      Instantly, I find this quite interesting, as it really has a strong sense of both the earthy & sweeter tones, as well as the green floral notes. And that green, almost crunchy side is much more prominent than I figured it would be. This is not the lush, vibrant ‘red’ rose combination of a Montale Intense Cafe or Maison Tahite Coffee Bomb (which remains my favorite coffee-rose), but a greener, more stemmy take.

      At the same time, the coffee is rather dark, woody and earthy. Not as pronounced as a coffee note as in Coffee Bomb, but also not the vanilla from Intense Cafe. The feeling of ‘coffee’ fades much more than I expected too; making the vantage point I went into the review with a bit misleading; I now feel that Grand Master is not as much of a coffee scent, and more of a foresty, woody scent where the sweet earthiness has coffee connotations.

      This is perhaps closer to the earthy tones of a Bon Parfumeur 502 Iris Cartagena, especially in combination with the tangy, almost bitter greener quality. And even that retains more gourmand facets. Eventually Grand Master gets sweeter and less floral/green, but more so in a cardboard woody manner.

      I find Grand Master interesting, albeit not the most comforting scent; it’s less mass appealing and easy going than I figured on first impression. At least, if you go into it expecting a sweeter coffee fragrance and like me, are not the biggest fan of green. This was not what I expected, which made for an intriguing ride, but not necessarily for the better.


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