Silences

"Silences" is, to me, an achingly beautiful chypre floral. I love chypres, and often lament that I was born too late for their heyday. They are especially liable to show a loss of complexity and identity when forced into compliance with present day fragrance manufacture regulations, which is a situation I devoutly hope to see corrected some day... It opens with a gorgeous galbanum and delightfully sparky notes of spice---cinnamon, cloves. Then bergamot and oakmoss pop in, with a hint of vetiver and sandalwood. Silences is a bit like Magie Noire in that the base notes appear early after spraying, then give way to heart notes, and reassert themselves later. A few minutes into wearing, a floral chord weaves its way in, resolving into a seductive rose note. Long into wearing, the rose remains, eventually just a whisper trailing over the fine green-chypresque drydown. As stated above, I would be as likely to call Silences a chypre floral as a floral green. I found the sillage quite moderate, especially after drydown was complete, although by no means faint or lacking. And it lasted very well indeed. I have the vintage parfum de toilette... I have no idea why the creator of this perfume chose to call it "Silences", although I like the name instinctively. For no good reason, I am reminded of the fairy tales in which a suitor must identify his bride from amongst a number of apparently identical---or at least, confusingly similar---ladies. Perhaps this fancy arose from all the other perfumes that I thought of when I was first attempting to analyze Silences...Is it she, the tall, cold one in the green veil? No, that's Chanel No. 19. The next one, who answers to Paloma? No, she is not green enough. Not Coriandre---she carries no flowers, and is altogether too light. The sister with the man's name, Jean-Louis S., has some of the same clothing on, and for a moment he hesitates; but no. The one in cobalt blue is tricky; she has some green notes woven into her crown too, and some rose at her breast...but no, she is Niki. The sorceress sister stands aloof; no confusing her in her aura of Magie Noire. Unerringly, he turns to the true bride, revealed by her emerald robe and warm rose heart...Silence has spoken. She may have many sisters, but she is uniquely beautiful. If I could be assured of a never-ending supply of this in the vintage formulation, I would drown myself in Silences all summer long...

I can't believe Silences has so many negative reviews here. I thought it's very well known with a firm fan-base. I personally like it very much. I passed through all kinds of fragrance periods, passing briefly through oriental, pepper, citrus stages, falling in love with classic chypres, only to lead me to leathers, male orientals (M7 YSL, Habit Rouge, L'eau Bleue d'Issey), unconventional chypres with either strange combinations of notes or overexposed single themes, like the supergreen Balmain de Balmain, Vent Vert, Y YSL, leather+green+animalistic chypre Bandit, superleather Cabochard, male chypres like Aramis Aramis... but with every step I drew further and further away from FLOWERS. So, all that said, I am surprised and fascinated by how well the hyacinth+overdose of green+powder+chypre base combo works in Silences. I get so much hyacinth simultaneously with that green blast from the very beginning that I was put off initially. As I said, flowers - no, thanks. But then a highly woody dry note and some powder come up to balance things and make everything work together. For me, to this day fragrances were either dry or "mouthwatering". For the first time I see one that is both at the same time. It is very interesting, original and worth trying just to see how this combination of opposites turned out. I think that any high and pretentious niche line would die to come up with something THAT new. I got it online for 18$. The best money-love deal I ever got. The bottle is gorgeous. Like the fragrance, it's both innovative and beautiful, and even though it looks like a circle, it's not! And it has a twist looked upon from the side. It stands very stable and the spray WORKS without any problem (NU YSL, you should be taking notes). @bamboowu you can actually see the quantity left in the bottle very easily by lighting it from behind with a strong pointed light (like a reading lamp, not a torch). It works perfectly for Silences, Kyoto, Bandit and even Black Cashmere - all of which are black and deemed very opaque but at the lamp they look deep purple. Same works for Agent Provocateur which is also very opaque.

Jacomo Silences This fragrance indeed invites one to sit in stillness and contemplate the silence. It’s meditative, still, deep, and expansive; exactly like the experience of “going within” while deep in meditation. It smells of mossy fertile greenery and warm earth, with light, soft florals in the background. It is classified as a floral green rather than a chypre and I couldn’t agree more. I think of a chypre as the representation of Spring – green buds bursting with life and on the verge of opening; tangy, vibrant, and fertile green. This fragrance is more like the deep mossy green of a garden that has been cultivated by an experienced gardener over years and years; someone who knows exactly when to prune and when to let nature have its way; someone who knows that sometimes the gnarled twisted bark of a fully grown tree is more than enough to capture my attention; someone who lets the tiny imperfections created by nature steal the spotlight. This is a garden that invites long hours of quiet contemplation, a meditation garden. It reminded me of Lake Shrine in Pacific Palisades. This is a garden built around a lake filled with swans, water hyacinth, and lotuses. It was designed with meandering paths and frequent spots to stop in the middle of the garden to meditate while overlooking the quiet, serene lake. This shrine houses the ashes of Ghandi, and the surroundings, so peaceful and breathtakingly beautiful, seem to embody his very essence. I compared this fragrance side by side, on the same day with Chanel No. 19, vintage Vent Vert, and Niki de Saint Phalle, some of my favorite chypres. Chanel No. 19 is like a crisp, manicured garden with espaliered trees and perfectly contained flowers in complicated visual arrangements. Vent Vert is like a newly planted garden, at the beginning of the Spring, when the buds are ripe and ready to open. Niki de Saint Phalle is a colorful whimsical garden filled with art designed to remind you of your childlike sense of wonder. They are similar, but worlds apart, and each serves a different, though beautiful purpose. Jacomo Silences is a quiet, serene beauty.

Currently I live in a part of the world where there are no fashionable malls and the mail service is extremely unreliable. Since the scents I read about are often impossible to find, my newfound interest in fragrances has been mainly literary. However, today I decided to do a perfume fishing expedition at one of the local pharmacies. My catch of the day was a serene bottle of Silences. I had actually read about the fragrance just a couple of days ago, and was full of curiosity. Words like "green", "forest" and "Chanel no. 19" popped up in my head. I love the color green, I grew up in a forest and I believe I once tried Chanel no. 19 at a tax free shop... My patience is nil, so I ripped the box open in the street and sprayed my wrist. The result was a complete olfactory shock: How could anyone in their right mind relate this invasive sweet scent to cool green forests? It was a warm, blazing and very yellow experience which brought me straight back to my childhood in the 1970's: Silences is exactly the kind of fragrance that the grown-up ladies used to pour into their "cologne" bottles! Silences accompanied me down Memory Lane, but definitely not through a forest. My initial reaction was to hide from the scent, but how do you run away from your own wrist? I kept sniffing, searching desperately for the sleeping wood nymphs others had written about in their reviews. As the day passed I started sensing the moss in Silences, the verdant trees - yes, I could well imagine nymphs passing silently on the narrow paths. This is not my childhood's northern fir tree forest: Bitter, aromatic and moist. No, Silences is a Mediterranean valley, where even the moss is sweet... Edit: Could not keep my hands off Silences this morning. This is still a sunny scent to me: I see golden rays hitting the floor of the forest, covered in dried pine needles. Silences is really growing on me!

Silences has been one of my all-time, absolute favorites, one of my "BIG LOVE, can't live without" perfumes since I first acquired it in 1981. I love it as much or more today as I did when I first sniffed it, and through the intervening years have always somehow managed to hold on to at least a sampler vial of it. It is one I've had to miserly ration or even only sniff the cap because there was no way to obtain more. In a much leaner time I was once *thrilled beyond measure to score a small handful of tester vials at an estate sale. But, I do not wear it as often as one might think, what with being so madly in love with it. And that has caused me a great deal of self-reflection over the years. I don't wear it as often as others even though I love it more than some in my regular rotation. At times I've even second-guessed my commitment to it. There are other perfumes that are similar, and I have them and love them and wear them, but they are not Silences. It is special to me for reasons I can not fully articulate. The initial blast of crisp and cold - no, icy - galbanum is like no other and must be what it is that hooks my heart. The hyacinth and hint of rose that follow and unfold is what sets that hook and the oakmoss reels me in. Silences is deliberate, straight-forward and no-nonsense. It is sleek. It is high-speed and low drag. It is retro-contemporary architecture in the genre of Frank Lloyd Wright, with Milo Baughman and Russel Wright furnishings, a Modigliani hanging on the wall and a Henry Moore out in the shade garden. It is Dave Brubeck. It is Ansel Adam's black and white photography. It is a chilly, grey, early spring day. It so perfectly conveys a part of me, and I wish to never be without it.

Aromatic and dark, it's like smelling the damp cold air deep into an enchanted forest at night. This would be the perfume that queen Titania would be wearing in "a midsummer's night dream". Copious amounts of oak moss mix with aromatic greens and hints of flowers, most prominently whiffs of delicate muguet, perhaps a hint of narcissus and hyacinth dancing around it. It's an absolute powerhouse of a perfume, intense and long lasting. A long time lover of Chanel 19 did find it reminiscent of "a facet of c.19", but definitely not a dupe of it. However she did love it and enquired about it so she could buy it herself, so probably it appeals a lot to the tastes of those that enjoy 19. I'd have sworn there's some patchouli in it, but maybe it's just my skin. I am a lover of patchouli and this scent satisfies my nose. There's almost a....chewy thickness to the scent. It's definitely not for the faint hearted, neither for those that prefer drier or floral perfumes, since there is nothing shy or weak about it. I feel it needs a cold day, overcast perhaps and the smell of rain, for you to enjoy it's full potential. I'm waiting eagerly for autumn since I've only bought it in June and haven't had the chance to enjoy it in such a way just yet. Me, i feel as if, once such a grey and dreary day comes, the perfume will transform itself from a purely cosmetic aromatic essence into a magical elixir, or perhaps a potent hallucinogen, that, once inhaled, will transport me into that dark mythical forest, where i can witness luminescent fairies dance on the lakeshore and beautiful elven queens participate in mystical ceremonies, away from the prying eyes of humans.... Absolutely adore it, on the verge of worshipping it.

I was looking for a fragrance that contains galbanum(my sparkling favorite), and which is fresh, but also feminine. I already knew some perfumes like that(Chanel No. 19 EDT and Poudre edition, and of course Infusion d' Iris of House Prada), but I would like something a little bit different and -I don't deny- cheaper, because I'm not ready for Chanel spiritually( "I' m just a young girl ... " says Daenerys Targaryen ), and Prada fades away quickly on me. So, it's a beautiful scent, a bit old fashioned, but I don't mind. It's tart and refreshing, the galbanum does his job, but with the passage of time the daffodils and hyacinths step up, and the whole thing feels like a walk in the garden. Maybe it's a bit nicer on me than the Chanel, because I feel the flowers so nature, in a gorgeous harmony. The base is quite masculine, the scent of vetiver and cedar dominates, but it fits nicely, and gives to the skin delicate femininity, rather than taking away from it. The sponge cake is also better with a hint of salt.:) The longevity is 5-6 hours on skin, much more on hair. It could be my signature scent, almost all of my favorite notes are here. I don't want the Chanel so badly now...This black and round beauty helps me forget all of my desires, and gives me the opportunity of internal focus, and the moments of silence. So harmonious, so soft, radiant and uplifting . Some people calls it cold, and ideal for office, and work... I don't disagree, but I think it just have a touch of melancholy and contemplation, which is often necessary to live our true feelings.

Oh, Jacomo, how I love thee! Please continue making affordable, high-quality fragrances forever! Silences was actually my introduction to this house. I got a small sample of the EDP in a swap. I liked it well enough to purchase other Jacomo scents unsniffed, and well enough to seek out a small bottle of Silences parfum as a splurge. A drop or two of the parfum is all you need to get through an entire day. The EDP is also nice, if a bit fleeting, and is an affordable way to test drive this scent. Huge bottles can be found for $20 or less on the web. All of the Jacomo scents I have tried so far offer remarkable quality for an unbelievably low price. If you love Ivoire de Balmain, Niki de Saint Phalle, Mitsouko, and other non-sweet classic dry chypres, you'll love Silences. It has a lot in common with those three scents, all of which I already own, but Silences was still unique enough to merit purchase. (I also see lots of comparisons to Chanel No. 19 and I haven't smelled that one in ages, need to give that one another test soon.) Silences goes on dry, bitter and green, with no detectible florals or sweetness. It dries down over time to a pleasant woody aroma with pronounced cedar notes on my skin. Old school? Retro? Oh, yes. This will either be your thing at first sniff, or it won't be your thing at all. But if you like it even a little, you'll grow to love it over time. It's so complex, mysterious, sophisticated and 100% unisex.

Silences seems to be a version of Piguet's Bandit without the signature Isobutyl Quinoline leather note or any of the animalic qualities. Both perfumes have a strong, sharp Galbanum opening, with some heavier, rounder floral notes to temper the topnotes, and both of them have a tremendous sense of 'wetness' to them. This isn't a damp, moldy basement wetness either. Silences and Bandit both remind me very much of the rainforests in the Cascades here in Washington State - that permanently green, permanently moist feeling of fresh earth and living plants. I would also offer that the similarity between Silences and No. 19 is purely superficial, to my nose. I actually find it has more to do with vintage Vent Vert, because of the Chanel's strong iris/orris quality. Silences never becomes powdery like the No. 19, all through the dry down there is an exquisite botanical greenness akin to Vent Vert's. The Balmain's heart notes have an odd Marigold feel (you can almost smell pollen in that perfume) where the Jacomo is more traditionally floral. Both share a pleasant Hyacinth/Muguet note. This is one of those perfumes that I would recommend to anyone starting a collection. It's a perfect example of a green fragrance, it's strikingly different than the majority of mass-market 'designer' releases, and it's outstandingly inexpensive. My 1oz Parfum de Toilette bottle cost me a whole $12. At that price, how could you not?

Extremely thrilled to have found a vintage bottle of this in Singapore at $23(around USD20). Which, by the way, has a different spray mechanism from the one pictured; mine has a detachable cap. I own both vintage Chanel no 19 EDT and this fragrance. Is this a close dupe? Definitely. Is this an exact dupe? You've got to be kidding me. Silences start off crisp, bitter and green, slightly brighter than Chanel no 19. Then, a soapy rosey note develops, which made me a bit queasy, fearing it would be a scrubber. Ignore it for ten minutes and the soapiness thankfully fades, leaving behind a bitter green chypre. The oakmoss, as stated by a reviewer, is restrained and modest(another way for me to tell is to see how red my skin becomes since I'm allergic to oakmoss). My skin amplifies the rose note immensely. Then, there's also the subtle hint of sourness that I found leaning over in cat pee territory but never really there - it's probably the cassia note. Compared to Chanel no. 19, this one is much more green and bitter and less floral. Also, do note the Iris flower in this scent is definitely more subdued because of the exorbitant cost of using Iris flower oil/extract (this is perhaps the most significant difference with Chanel no19). Overall I am very pleased with it. Highly wallet friendly yet distinctive. Sillage: moderate Longevity: 5-7hours

Chanel No19 it is not. This fragrance it greener. It lingers. It has loads of bergamont coming through. If you like one you will like the other, First on you get sharp green as in pine sol cleaner. It mellows pretty quickly to lemon. Stay with it as the middle floral notes come through. Don't give up and when the final musk and veiter shine through it blends into a complex earthy scent that is quite a delight. If Chanel No 19 is the classy cool beautiful reserved cousin, then Silences is the cousin that always comes late to the party, gets drunk and stays too long. She is just as beautiful but she laughs at convention, thinks her cousin is a bit boring and most of all she is a little dirty. No19 has a hard time saying 'yes' while Silences has a hard time saying 'no'. I love both of these fragrances. I am devoted to my No19 however, when I want to smell like me and make sure people stand up and notice, Silences it is. This is the scent that stands up to what No19 cannot: Smoke and a boozy bar, Rock concerts and bad pick up lines, a long walk in snow and a slow dance on the beach. The price cannot be beat...a huge bottle for less than 40 dollars?! You can't go wrong and if you hate it....give it to someone who likes gals that stay too long at the party.

I've had this for a few years. It was a blind buy and has felt like a mistake from the start. Just smelling it in the bottle was enough to turn me against it. I tried it a few times and wound up (as someone else said) washing it off. But today, before I claimed it on Basenotes as my worst blind buy ever, I figured I should give it a real fighting chance. So I gave it some good coverage (chest, elbows and wrists). When it first goes on, I have to say it smells like old perfume that has gone off. But I was patient and gave it a chance to mature. And, what do you know, it turned into something I like. Well, "like" may be a bit strong. Let's just say I don't hate it. The bitterness is still there, but the icky soapy scent has faded. More of the floral notes seem to develop and occasionally there's a whiff of sweetness. Silences is never gonna be a favorite, but I think I'll keep trying it in different settings. And I'll have to revert to White Linen as the absolute worst blind buy I've ever tried. My best friend has worn White Linen for years and I always compliment her on the scent. So I tried some and learned that, on me, it smells like bug spray.

I'm happy to see so many people remembering and loving this fragrance. I remember when a friend of my mother's gave me my first bottle as a gift - it must have been in the early 80s. At first, I was taken back - I had never used perfume before, and this was a powerful womanly scent! But I grew into it, and I even think it helped me develop as a woman. It was my signature perfume for many years, as a young woman, friends recognized my presence when they smelled Silences. It was ideal for a signature fragrance - fresh, warm, floral and very very feminine. It was ME. So what happened? When I met my beloved husband, he thought everything about me is wonderful except for my perfume. It struck a wrong note with him. He didn't like it. He gave me Ivoire instead, and later Beautiful, and altogether softer fragrances. So I stopped buying Silences, but continued to regret it. It disappeared from shops, but I'm excited to see it around here. I'm much tempted to order a little bottle and see how we have stood the test of time, my all time favorite perfume and me.... I love to see others loving what I have loved all those years!

Here is my little story. After reading some reviews on different online resources about Silences as unisex and even as a little bit masculine scent, I decided to take a risky chance :-0 . Finally buying the new 100ml bottle for only 19$, I have no regrets,,, Hooray!,,, Just a few sprays and I was returned like by the time machine back to the days when perfumery created only masterpieces scents. So it's a Real Classic's unnoticed by the main crowd hidden in this artistic / avant-garde bottle! It certainly smells like Chanel-kind fragrances (Chanel 19 I tested later...) and any similar to it. May be it sound's strange, but it reminds me little bit of my grandfather's cologne's. In a good way! With my chemistry Silences perfume has a lot of green and woody notes on the bright fresh-floral background. It doesn't smell so feminine (unisex indeed). I'll keep it and will use it carefully for evening use and special occasions. For someone it may smell "oldish" / out of modern-fashion stream. Well, this wonderful E.d.p is not for everyone. But Remember that Elegance and Classic's are Forever! :)

Everything about this perfume is devastatingly gorgeous, from the name (haunting and very fitting), the rounded black bottle with the shiny gold letters, and then, there's the scent. Silences, what a perfectly chosen name for this beauty. She doesn't flaunt herself, she is not an attention seeker. She's the hauntingly beautiful girl that hangs out in the library and stays in the corner because she's shy and doesn't want to draw attention to herself. But once you give her a chance, she sings to you and then you never forget her. Unique and special, the very greenest of any perfume I have or have tried; not grassy green, but deep foresty, mossy, woody green. As dark of a green as I can imagine a perfume to be. And it's stunningly tenacious, so please know this if you're going to try it. I love it so I'm prejudiced, but this may be a love it or hate it scent due to the style, era, etc. Although I don't wear her often because I think she's so precious that I don't want to become completely familiar and accustomed to her, she will always have a place in my perfume-loving heart.

Took me ages to write about Silences. This fragrance is like a psychotherapy session – opens gate to the subconscious. Its very private and very calm. Acts according its name. Silences. I know that sense of smell is closely related to memory but I only received this perfume few months ago yet I KNEW it somehow. You know it happens when something strikes your nose and magic unfolds. And in this image I AM - ..In the forest. Beautiful forest of my dreams where I know every tree and every deer and fox know me. Very confident and powerful feeling of walking with bare feet on green moss. The bitterness at the beginning tells me I Am not weak, galbanum confirms the power, but among this harsh opening you see beautiful tender narcissus, powdery rose, crispy lily-of-the-valleys..I walk towards old little house, my house, with moss on the top of the roof - house of the Witch from the Green Forest. I know I will rest there, on my cedar-bed, on those pillows from vetiver and musk Its a celebration of independence, of mystery, hours when woman needs and loves to be by her own...

This is truly a lovely fragrance. Sweet earthy mossiness, airy florals, and green, green, green. And it is also as light as a whisper. like a breeze through a forest. Amazing that I love this so much since I'm usually drawn to full bodied Floral and Orientals; so, this is quite the departure for me. Though light, it has so much depth. People compare it to Chanel No. 19, which I like, but don't love. That is not the case here. I get no soap as some others find but there is a spicy waxiness (only way that I can describe it) that I believe is how the galbanum, and spice smell on first spray. It's not offensive and quickly passes, then becoming an airy and earthy floral on me. The galbanum, vetiver and oakmoss with the delicate hyacinth, spicy rose and powdery iris has me sighing with delight all day. It is truly beautiful. I have the pdt and think it is too soft for winter. I'm keeping this strength for the dog days of summer. It will be perfect then. In the meantime, I just purchased a 3.4oz. edp. I can't wait! I think I finally may have found my signature scent.

Oh my Silences is very similar to Chanel No 19 ..I have always been into vintage perfumes such as Cinnabar , Youth Dew , Ciara , Opium , Shalimar and of course Chanel perfumes .. My mother influenced me in my tastes of perfumes how I remember the 1st day of 2nd grade she dabbed just a tiny bit of Chanel 19 and I felt so special but as I grew older I ordinarily favor sweet and spicy fragrances so I have to admit this is really my 1st fresh clean scent and I'm totally loving it ... Since my thyroid has started messing up perfumes just don't mix well with my skin or even last long so I refuse to spend a ton of money on any perfume since I discovered Angel would barely last a hour on me ... This perfume lasted about 5 hours , sillage on me is arm length ... But keep in mind hormonial imbalances can make a perfume smell out of this world or in my case a perfume like Opium makes me smell like I poured cinnamon oil on me.. If you are looking for a fresh clean scent similar to Chanel no 19 I suggest trying this based on how it smells on me and my family's opinion ...

So after being blindsided by love for this perfume to the point where I couldn't even start to come up with the words for a review, I'll give it a shot today. The person who created this struck the perfect, masterful balance for every note in it. There is just enough green to keep the florals from being too sweet (I'm not a big fan of florals). There are just enough florals to keep the green from being too bitter. There is just enough oakmoss to ground everything and make it interesting. On my skin, Silences opens with a burst of green with a most mouthwatering lemon and bergamot, I can see where this comes off as 'sour' for many people. After the citrus fades, it becomes a perfectly balanced scent that stays pretty much the same throughout the whole wear. Silences lasts for hours on me and if I apply some in the evening, I can still smell it on my skin in the morning. This perfume brings to mind an overcast, drizzly early spring day with a cool wind blowing, there is nothing warm about it. This review is for the PDT in the grey box. :) So in love...

What a fascinating fragrance! I was looking for something green and certainly found it. And I can definitely understand why it's beloved of some and hated by others - and why it shouldn't be considered an "easy" perfume to wear. I tried Silences for the first time today, and had to share a few impressions. I write for a living, and with perfume, I'm not thinking about technical things like analyzing the various notes. It's the emotional impact of scent that appeals to me. Silences takes me into the garden, where I'm pulling weeds with my mom. The first spray is a little shocking. There's nothing sweet, or even musky. To my nose, it starts with bitter green note that reminds me of cut dandelions. There are a few flowers around the edges, but it's the bitter green that lasts through all the stages of the perfume's life on my skin. I keep sniffing, and wondering why it's so appealing. Maybe it's that the perfumer didn't make it easy to appreciate Silences. You have to keep working at it to notice the lovely florals around the green heart.