By Lisa Jane Davis, Founder of Levant Perfume
Levant No. 2 Eau de Parfum was inspired by Sicily. Arriving at the port early one morning while cruising the Mediterranean, our founder Lisa fell in love with the island’s sunshine, its colourful gardens, and the sweet aroma of lily of the valley drifting through the air. This is the story of the fragrance that captured that feeling.
An early morning arrival in Sicily
Levant No. 2 was definitely inspired by Sicily.
We were cruising around the Mediterranean, and we arrived in Sicily early one morning at the port. There is something about arriving somewhere by sea just as the day is beginning. The light is soft. The air is still cool. And the whole island feels like it is waking up alongside you.
I stepped off and began to explore, with no real plan other than to wander and take it all in.
Falling for the gardens and the light
As I explored the island, I remember thinking, “Oh my God, the gardens.” Everything was so light.
I fell in love with the sunshine. The colourful gardens are spilling over with flowers. And most of all, the sweet aroma that drifted through the air as I walked.
It was lily of the valley. Soft, green and delicate. And paired with a warm note of honey, it gave the sweetest aroma I had ever come across. It was captivating. It carried a feeling of peacefulness, of unhurried afternoons and the kind of unforgettable memories that stay with you for years.
That is the feeling I wanted to hold onto. Not a photograph of Sicily, but the scent of it. The way the island smelt on a bright, peaceful morning.
Turning a Sicilian morning into a scent
Some feelings are too good to leave behind. This was one of them.
No. 2 is built around that same sweet, sunlit softness. Red rose, lily of the valley and jasmine bloom at the top, bright and alive, like the gardens I walked through. Beneath them, a warm heart of saffron, lavender and honey brings that captivating sweetness I could not stop breathing in. And a soft base of cedarwood, amber and musk gives it warmth and lets it linger on the skin.
It is a blooming floral with an Eastern soul. Light and joyful, but never fleeting. The scent of a peaceful morning that stays with you all day.
Why a place makes a better perfume
There is a reason No. 2 does not smell like anything else on a shelf.
Most floral perfumes are designed to smell pleasant and familiar. No. 2 was designed to smell like a specific place, on a specific morning, through the memory of someone who was actually there. That is what gives it its character. You cannot fake a real morning in Sicily. You can only bottle it.
Every spray of Levant No. 2 takes me back to those feelings I had as we wandered around the island. The sunshine. The gardens. The sweetness in the air. And I love that it can now do the same for the people who wear it, even if they have never set foot in Sicily.
Levant No. 2 was born from a peaceful Sicilian morning, its sunshine, its colourful gardens, and the sweet aroma of lily of the valley and honey drifting through the air. A blooming floral with an Eastern heart, it is handcrafted in the UK, vegan, and made to last.
This is part of our series on where each Levant fragrance was born. Follow along as we share the real places and feelings behind every number.