Sicily’s scents are sweet and sprightly. Now, they are wafting through London’s Sloane Square.

This past October, Ilaria Balduino Sartori and Sue Townsend opened their jewel-box of a shop as a vivid showcase for Ortigia, the new Italian line of soaps, scents, creams, and candles that the two women had launched—mostly to friends and family—late the previous year. While this is their first stand-alone shop, more are in the works, and their fragrances are available internationally.

Ilaria, who lives in Florence with husband Count Giuseppe Balduino and their two young children, is a scion of one of Sicily’s oldest families, so it’s no wonder the collection pays homage to the region’s rich history and tropical bounty.

Text by Sabine Rothman
Photograph by Frank Herholdt