Ligea (Ligea la Sirena)

This Guerlainesque creation (by which I mean pre-Y2K Guerlain...) strikes me as a hybrid between Jicky and Shalimar. The opening has a strong clove note (at least to my nose--but I'm sensitive to clove...), which made me think that I was going to suffer through the wear. To my pleasant surprise, Ligea just kept getting better and better, until by the end I felt like I'd love to have a bottle. The perfume is strong, so a small vial has afforded multiple wears, and I feel that a few important points emerge. First, lavender is very present. Second, that Guerlainesque vanilla is present. Third, spices, especially clove, are very present. So it's easy to see why I find this composition to be something like a hybrid between Jicky and Shalimar. It smells good and seems very well made, as are all of the perfumes from Carthusia, most of which appear to have been composed by Laura Tonatto. The rich base and the lavender reminded me a bit of Cooper Square as well (from Bond no 9), but in this case the overall feeling is more feminine than masculine--probably because of the obvious vanilla. I like Ligera and recommend it for testing by those who appreciate such perfumes as Jicky and Shalimar. If you don't like lavender and vanilla in your fragrance, then you will not like this.

This is simply put, Christmas in a bottle for me. It reminds me of browsing my way through German Christmas markets, especially of the hot gluhwein that I am always up for. The citruses and cloves take centerstage for me, albeit their sharpness tempered by musk and vanilla. Happy to have accidentally stumbled into this one.

This is a perfume that I bought immediately after first smelling it. After wearing a few days in a row I realize that I should have gotten a sample first. I do like the scent. The opoponax stands out and it is a very creamy resinous smell, but I feel like it is lacking something. It needs a little more edge. It's almost too soft, and by that I don't mean the sillage or staying power. Both are quite good. It's just that the creamy powdery smell of the resin leaves me craving a little bit more. I plan on exploring this perfume layered with other scents that may be a bit more racy. I think it would actually go nice with Boyfriend by Kate Walsh, or maybe over an amber or patchouli oil.

Opens with fleeting mandarin and very nice carnation and eventually moves into a very creamy sandalwood with lots of powdery opoponax. Once again I've encountered a pleasant well-made perfume that is extremely overpriced for what it is. For the price you could buy Shalimar or Bois des Iles, which are better versions of this. Ligea failed with Ulysses and her siren song failed to lure me either. Sillage: 2-3 feet Persistence: good, 5-8 hours Fabulosity: Sunday brunch Price to value ratio: very poor 4/10

Ligea la Sirena is a fragrance I find really appealing. The scent opens with an aromatic citrus-lavender mix, but it soon develops a spicy clove note which can be a bit overpowering at first - you can feel like an eugenol bomb for some time. The addition of incense and, especially, vanilla modifies it and weakens it a lot. That incense-vanilla-clove combo is rather unusual and it really smells wonderful for my taste. The drydown is a phase which substitutes cloves for various resinous substances, mostly opoponax. Now, the vanilla from the drydown really feels Guerlainesque, Shalimar-like - it is dry, powdery and elegant. I don't feel any flowers or patchouli in this one. Ligea has a solid longevity of maybe seven or eight hours. Its scent cloud doesn't have a long diameter, but is certainly thick - the person who comes close to you will feel it heavily. I find this one appropriate for winter and evening wear. Also, I feel like this one is suitable for both men and women, as I don't think vanilla is for one gender only. This one is really a nice, warm fragrance, and one more from Carthusia I think is a must-try. 8.5/10