Silver Scent
Jacques Bogart (2006)

Silver Scent by Jacques Bogart (2006) is one of the brand's more-notorious offerings on this side of the 21st century demarcation line, and it's easy to see how, with the myriad flankers and burgeoning popularity which rivals that of their old standard One Man Show by Jacques Bogart (1980). Silver Scent really couldn't be different in attitude from One Man Show, and borrows the bottle from Bogart pour Homme by Jacques Bogart (2004), perhaps to greater effect. By and large, this is a clubber scent that hearkens back to the 1990's influx of 2nd Generation night out scents for men that relied heavily on orange blossom notes, such as Photo by Karl Lagerfeld (1990), or Nikos Sculpture (1994). The biggest difference between this and them is the "cheap and chic" feel of the dry-down, and a clever turn of parma violet.

The opening screams this synthetic orange blossom, flanked with lavender, lemon, and violet ionones both alpha and beta to create that notorious "grape" accord also found in a few others from the period, all of which have been discontinued by now. Well, this orange blossom-sweetened grape flavor would become a big enough "banger" for Bogart to spin off a half-dozen cousins in the range, including an "Intense" variant in 2009, and other fragrances altogether featuring it. Beyond that, there is a bit of a scratchy/cheap woody-amber accord in the base, usually better-smoothed in Bogart fragrances that feature it, although here is hangs out perhaps a bit too much and is listed as "teak wood" to perhaps compensate as artistic intent. The vanilla, cardamom, nutmeg, and other spices do their best job to ultimately submerge this scratch, but it leaves a cheap feeling until it settles more-smoothly.

Ultimately, SIlver Scent has a pleasant, somewhat fruity-soapy floral dry-down that lasts literally forever, and belies the gregarious opening somewhat. A scent that starts out quite purple does indeed become silver in the end, and this is probably helped by the parma violet accord that adds just the right amount of floral green tone to avoid the sticky situation other heavy orange blossom and vanilla clubbers find themselves in after a night of exertion. You could pull this off as a casual scent, although office use may be a bit of a stretch. I'd ditch the orange blossom and go more for a full-on violet scent with that purpose in mind, something such as Burberry Touch for Men (1999) or Gucci pour Homme II (2007) if we're staying within the period. Bogart as a house is a cheap thrill as is, and there's nothing wrong with that, or this scent. Thumbs up

Cheap? Check! Projection? Check! Silage? Check! Longevity? Check! SYNTHETIC MESS? HELL YES! Keep or Pass? PASS!

Not bad. Opening definitely has the grape soda feel but then it dries down to a loud fume cloud of synthetic fruit and dainty florals. The lavender keeps this masculine but it's almost feminine. That lavender is probably also the reason why I feel like this has an old-school feel to it.

Very good if not excellent projection and longevity.

As many reviewers have already noticed, Jacques Bogart Silver Scent has very astonishing similarities to Altamir by Ted Lapidus and Sculpture by Nikos. I reckon that it is not a pure coincidence, at least not with the former. The Bogart Group owns licenses for both Jacques Bogart and Ted Lapidus perfumes, so I wouldn't be surprised if JBSS and TLA shared the same vibe and aura. Besides, the three of them have nearly all the dominant main notes in common, such as orange blossom, tonka bean, lemon, and amber, plus some other notes eventually present in two of then and not in the other. Altamir and Silver Scent being for cold and dry winter's days, whereas Sculpture being for hot and wet summer's days. Anyway, that does not mean JBSS is either a copy or a clone of the other two... rather, it is an excellent perfume per se.

By the way, Silver Scent is a fragrance with many contrasts both fresh and warm, modern with a classical distinction. Its opening is surprising with the vibrancy of its citrus notes and the natural freshness of orange blossom. The lemon note is more like the aroma of the fresh juice, stinging and sour, rather than the zesty aroma from the peel, yet very good.

Let the citrus facet calm down a bit and a bitter aromatic spicy aroma starts spreading away. The wild green geranium and the dark lavender, together with the balsamic cardamom introduce the heart of this scent. This powerful mix fills your nose and reaches your mind, completely soothing your soul. it is dark, deep, mysterious. Silver Scent is my first JB scent, and I think I love it. This is the stage where the resemblance with TLA is more prominent.

As a final note, after several hours, an attractive accord of vetiver strengthened by teak wood blends into the intense sensuality of tonka beans. this stage is sweet and musky, truly masculine. Even though I know very well the smell of the lychee, my favorite Xmas fruit, I do not get any in there, rather a musky and mossy note is clearly recognizable.

I really enjoy this fragrance. Great longevity and sillage. I was wearing it on a working day, none of my colleagues got offended, and yet I got some whiff of it at evening on my way back home. Suitable for late fall and throughout winter, for people of middle 20 and above. An excellent value!

I am looking forward to buying some other JB fragrances!

Have a nice day,
Gianluca

My wife brought this home because her work had it in the "free to a good home" basket. We sprayed it on paper and threw it in the bin shortly thereafter.

Another deodorant in a bottle. Aldehydes with a fruity twist, a light accord of green-floral notes (lavender) on a generic woody base, artificially metallic as many others in this price and quality range. Still a bit more pleasant than many others, even showing some interesting features, notably that unusual, soft, aromatic and cozy fruity note, a bit on the bubblegum side but discreet and nice (and above all, quite new to me, whatever it is). Soft and near-to-eternal drydown. Dull, but honest for the price and decent enough to stand a bit above the average.

6/10