Io Capri
Carthusia (2000)

Soft, fuzzy peach, green tea essence, a hint of citrus, and a pinch of tomato leaf for green, all over that Snuggle fabric softener chemical. It's strong and lasts forever.

Aside from a quickly fading hint of bile coming from that tomato leaf, there's nothing specifically bad about how Io Capri is put together, but the pleasant combination of familiar chemicals feels more like a cheap reed diffuser or an upscale laundry detergent than a proper perfume. Meh.

I have a general sympathy for the brand (I hope that's not just due to nostalgic holiday memories from Southern Italy but to the mix of tradition and quality), anyway, I prefer it to the omnipresent Acqua di Parma line. Of course, the Carthusia scents want to be, in the first place, debonair and pleasing, but they do take some risks, and "Io Capri" is an example for it. Sweetly fresh, cool and minty, and in the same time, there is a little barb - some herbaceous and even metallic bitterness. For hot summers, I personally prefer the somewhat "warmer" grassy (even if more linear) "Herba fresca" by Guerlain, but I appreciate the complexity of "Io Capri".

Named after a goddess, according to Carthusia's web site, this is a very fresh summer scent and is completely unisex.

Mint combines with sweet, milky tea, and wild fig to create a very earthy, yet light, fragrance, that is very refreshing. Turin is reminded of spearmint toothpaste, while I and a number of other reviewers here must disagree.

I am reminded of Le Premier Figuier, the first scent to use fig as a central ingredient, but the Carthusia IO Capri is not as dense. It's more the feeling that you are walking in a garden, rather than wearing an applied scent. You are wafting the atmosphere you are breathing.

This is the third Carthusia scent I have tried and so far all winners.

Genre: Woods

IO Capri's juicy green fig, lemon, and mint top notes took me by surprise. They're unusually bright and vivid, and the breezy, tart accord they build practically shouts “Mediterranean!” For some reason, the prominent fig note dispels all toothpaste associations for me, and what I perceive is more broadly herbaceous than minty in nature. In any case, the mint blends and then subsides within the first few minutes of wear.

As the scent matures on my skin it becomes more emphatically leafy in character, but the lemon briskness persists for some time alongside the greens. Once it fades, IO Capri reads as a more conventional fig scent. While its fig accord seems very natural, it's less milky than the sap-drenched Philosykos, and lacks the fruity-floral buoyancy of Parfumerie Generale's delightful Jardins de Kérylos. This leaves it smelling a touch less characterful in its later stages. By the time it's faded I find myself wishing IO Capri had maintained some of the quirky individuality of its first fifteen or twenty minutes. In short, a nice fig with a fun opening, but far from my favorite.

Finally a Carthusia fragrance that suits both men and women.

Io Capri is a beautiful, fresh, clean and exotic blend of mint, tea and wild fig. A touch of soap in this fragrance makes it so perfect for warm weather.

The mint in this fragrance smells nothing like toothpaste or sugared mints. It's more herbaceous, like a mint leaf picked fresh from a plant and then ground into a cup of hot tea with a side plate of figs.

It's a touch green, but nothing grassy or mossy. The rich tea note does tend to dominate, however the scent is rather soft, so it's nothing like the monster Eau Parfumee au The Rouge by Bvlgari which reminds me of teacher's staffrooms.

Io Capri is rather true to the Mediterranean weather; pleasant, wearable and never overbearing. If I were to travel on a cruise-ship tomorrow, this is what I'd choose to wear.

I particularly like this fragrance's rather casual and laid-back approach. It makes me feel comfortable just being me. This fragrance doesn't need to be masculine and/or feminine, sexy, loud or sharp to make a statement. It's beautiful on its own.