Ortigia Sicilia

The story

Ortigia Sicilia was born from love at first sight. Sue Townsend, one of the founders of Crabtree & Evelyn, came to Sicily and was won over by it: in 2006 she founded a small Italian soap and scent company there and named it after the island of Ortigia, at the edge of the ancient fortified city of Siracusa, where baroque façades look out to sea on three sides. Since then Sicily has been the house's raw material: the orange and lemon groves on the slopes of Etna, the almond trees, the prickly pears, the colours and the history of an island fought over through the centuries by Greeks, Arabs, Normans and Aragonese.

The idea is simple and rigorous. At the base of every product are perfume and the natural ingredients the house declares: olive oil, vegetable glycerine and organic colours. No SLS, silicones, nickel or parabens, and no animal testing. Everything is made in Italy by small family companies that take pride in the quality of their work. The eye has its share too: the packaging, decorated with palms and leopards, is designed by Sue Townsend herself and draws on the island's most exotic images and colours.

The perfumes are signed by Lorenzo Villoresi, the Florentine master perfumer who distils them for Ortigia, in the house's words, from the flowers of Sicily. Each fragrance tells of a corner of the island. Zagara takes you back to the orange groves in bloom, with orange blossom over a base of neroli, petitgrain and wood. Florio is the bouquet of spring wildflowers: narcissus, jasmine and wild iris. Fico d'India, which the house presents as its most loved scent, is fresh, dry and velvety like the cactus with orange flowers that grows all over Sicily. Aragona brings together Sicilian almond, jasmine and ylang ylang in a soft powdery perfume; the design of its packaging comes from an 18th-century Chinese snuff bottle in the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin. Ambra Nera, resins and spices over an amber base of labdanum, musk and galbanum, is the favourite of the men who choose Ortigia.

Each fragrance then becomes a complete ritual: the same scent moves from the perfume to the bath and body products and on to the home fragrances, to layer on the skin or to give as a gift. Today Ortigia has its own boutiques in Siracusa, Palermo, Cefalù, Noto, Scicli, Florence, Rome, London and Sitges. OUD Profumeria Artistica offers five of its fragrances, each as an Eau de Parfum and in its body line.

The range: perfume, body and home

• Eau de Parfum (30 ml): the perfumes signed by Lorenzo Villoresi. Ambra Nera (amber spicy), Zagara (citrus floral), Aragona (floral powdery), Fico d'India (fruity woody), Florio (floral).
• Shower gel (100 and 250 ml): bath and shower gel with a base of olive oil and glycerine. Ambra Nera, Zagara, Aragona, Fico d'India, Florio.
• Body cream (100 and 300 ml): light and fresh, with lanolin, olive oil and almond oil. Ambra Nera, Zagara, Aragona, Fico d'India, Florio.
• Liquid soap (300 ml): glycerine soap with olive oil, for hands and body. Ambra Nera, Zagara, Fico d'India, Florio.
• Shampoo (100 ml): leaves hair looking healthy and scented with the fragrance you choose. Ambra Nera, Zagara, Fico d'India, Florio.
• Scented crystals (250 g): nuggets of natural gum arabic infused with perfume, for the home. Zagara, Fico d'India.

For all its products Ortigia declares that they are free from SLS, silicones, nickel and parabens. OUD Profumeria Artistica is an authorised Ortigia Sicilia retailer, online and in its shop in Nettuno (Rome).

Frequently asked questions

What kind of brand is Ortigia Sicilia?
Ortigia Sicilia is an Italian soap and scent company founded in Sicily by Sue Townsend in 2006. It takes its name from the island of Ortigia, in Siracusa, and brings the island's flowers, fruits and colours into perfumes, soaps and creams. The fragrances are signed by master perfumer Lorenzo Villoresi and the products are made in Italy by small family companies.

Which is Ortigia's best-loved perfume?
Fico d'India: the house itself presents it as its most loved scent. It is a fresh, dry, velvety fruity woody fragrance with cactus, fig, orange blossom and cedarwood, inspired by the plant with orange flowers that grows all over Sicily.

What does Zagara by Ortigia smell like?
Zagara is the Sicilian name for citrus blossom. Zagara by Ortigia is a citrus floral that takes you back to the island's orange groves: neroli and petitgrain in the opening, a heart of orange blossom and a woody base.

Which Ortigia perfume is for men?
In our catalogue the Ortigia Eau de Parfums are all unisex, but it is the house that names Ambra Nera as the favourite of the men who wear Ortigia: a warm, rich amber spicy fragrance with galbanum and spices, resins, labdanum and patchouli, over a base of amber, oakmoss and vetiver. Those who prefer a fresher perfume can look to Fico d'India and Zagara.

How do you use Ortigia scented crystals?
They are nuggets of natural gum arabic infused with perfume, a contemporary take on potpourri: pour them into a bowl or a dish and leave them in the room you want to scent. To refresh them the house offers refill pipettes. At OUD Profumeria Artistica you will find them in the Zagara and Fico d'India fragrances.

Where can I buy Ortigia Sicilia products?
At OUD Profumeria Artistica, an authorised Ortigia Sicilia retailer: online, with free shipping in Italy on orders over €60 and 10 free samples on orders over €100, and in the shop in Nettuno, in the province of Rome.