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Post by Holly

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Hi guys!

I recently saw a basenotes link for fragrances to be discontinued this year, and Silences is one of them. I’m not astonished or outraged, there’s no hissy fit lurking about nor rants about IFRA. I feel grief.

Of all the fragrances I own, Silences is THE ONE. I can’t say it’s the most beautiful, but to me it is a friend and a lover who embraces me at my core and allows me to fully inhabit my own skin and self. There are a lot of fans out there and many reviews, but what they describe is not at all my experience. Thus it feels quite singular in the way it belongs to me. It is a relationship.

Silences by Jacomo 1978

Silences by Gerard Goupy + Jean-Claude Niel

Photo Stolen Fragrantica

Fragrantica gives these featured accords:
Top: Orange blossom, galbanum, bergamot, lemon, green notes, cassia
Heart: Iris, jasmine, narcissus, hyacinth, rose, lily-of-the-valley
Base: Vetiver, musk, sandalwood, oakmoss, cedar, ambrette (musk mallow)

Like all the best things in life, Silences is difficult to describe. It transcends description in the way that meaningful dreams do. In this way, it is both corporeal and yet other-worldly. It shimmers on the edges. When I look at the notes listed, many of my favorites are there. But to be honest, if I didn’t cheat and read them, I would never be able to tell you what they are when I smell Silences. I simply can’t pick them out at all. So, I can only offer you my own personal sensations, impressions.

Photo Stolen WikiCommons

Silences is usually described as being intensely green, a floral chypre or a green floral. When I think of green, I actually think of very bright, brash scents. Cut grass, clover. If I had to pick an epitome, it would be either vintage Lauren or Aftelier’s Trefle Pur. Silences may be a chypre, but I feel it does not have that density. Standing apart from those, Silences is pigeon-coloured. Muted dove grey, flashes of green and mauve iridescence. Weeping willows, fog, silvered trees in a mist viewed wistfully from a window. The sound of wind as it ripples through spring leaves in anticipation of rain, a slight hiss and sigh, the leaves gracefully dancing with anticipation. The dense somber sense of thunder in the distance.

It is gentle, reflective, introspective and yet there is a subterranean shadow, a bruise. Walking alone through a carefully constructed maze at Sissinghurst, a hint of danger and excitement implicit. Beyond the maze, the quiet white gardens thrive but do not beckon. Silences is a spector, bestowing grace as a nimbus, an enigmatic presence that you can sense but cannot fully know. It is enigmatic. At times it is a Mary Cassatt painting of an all-embracing mother, and at others it is a minotaur.

Photo Stolen Wikipedia

Silences has beguiling floral notes with wisps of glowering deep forest shaded green on a moonlit, austere base. It does not sparkle or shine, but shape-shifts from inviting to threatening. A fairy tale and a dream that resonates and invites you to explore what is on the surface and what lies beneath. You may carry this secret with you wherever you go.

Further reading: Perfume Shrine and Olfactoria’s Travels
FragranceNet has $29/100ml before coupon

Silences is my Goldilocks fragrance. Do you have one? And on a more practical note (heaven forbid!) what would you do if you discovered your Goldilocks fragrance was to be discontinued?
Holly xo