Today’s Honoree is Geir Ness

Geir Ness is the designer and creator of Laila pronounced Lila). Born and raised in Norway, Geir takes an extremely active role in the promotion of this first international Norwegian fragrance.

As a little boy Geir’s mother would take him up into the mountains of Norway where they would pick beautiful wildflowers. Even as a child, he was taken by the beauty of that experience. Years later, in school, Geir needed some extra money, so he worked weekends promoting perfumes. Although he always had an appreciation for frangrance, he knew nothing about the industry. Barely able to speak English, people would ask where he was from followed by the question of why Norway/Scandanavia never produced a perfume. Geir’s research began.

In time, Geir found a perfumer who advised him to begin his search by finding ingredients he liked. Of course, Norwegian wildflowers were the first thing that came to mind. He remembered that wonderful childhood experience when he would go to the mountains. He gathered flowers and herbs and brought them to the perfumer, made appropriate changes and spent years perfecting the final result. After adding a touch of watermelon to the formula, the response was sensational. Laila was described as fresh, clean and crsip. Laila was now…perfect!

Laila got its name because this frangrance means so much to Geir. He copied his Mom’s signature without her knowing it, had it silk screened on the bottle and surprised her with it on Mother’s Day. The little boy who went with his mom to the mountains years ago, was now able to thank her for her love and inspiration.

Laila is the true essence of Norway, beauty, freshness and woman.

A video on the Geir Ness Story: