Lea

Lea has such an intimate touch, She'll warm you and hug you but never too much, Amaretto,vanille,mixing and blending, Now I smell musk, admiration unending. Others have tried to be just like her, Some have done well, with that I concur. But Lea just smiles and says follow me, Her trail delightful,I have to agree. Love this stuff! She's almost impossible to find anymore which makes her even more desirable for her fans. She's not cheap.....but she's worth it. There's undeniable almondy goodness in here!! It's a bit sharp at first spray and can be a bit off putting. I find many almonds can be a little nose hair singeing on the first spray. It doesn't take long before she calms down and becomes an absolute dream! The vanille and musk blend and soften her edges creating an amaretto~ish cloud. You can really smell all three ingrediants in perfect proportion. There's nothing like Lea. She's in a class all her own. She is approachable, warm, goodness. A truly beautiful go to scent. People will have to get close and give you a sniff. All of this of course is very dependant on chemistry. Lea's not for everyone. However if she works for you.....you'll never want to be without her.

I bought my bottle of Lea several years back from Lucky Scents. I paid over $100 for it, that's how much I loved it. That was in my higher end range for perfume. Lea served as a great feel-good casual fragrance that took the place of my old version of Sugar by Fresh which was one I bought over and over again years ago. (They don't smell alike, but were both sweet casual everyday fragrances.) When I first smelled Lea I thought "no way", waaaaaayyyyyy too sweet. Toothache sweet. Sweet almonds. I put my little decant away and forgot it. Then later I started sniffing it again and sampling it on my skin. I was hooked. Big compliment getter too! I was so sad when I went to get another bottle and it was extinct. Recently a friend said "live for today!" She meant that why should we hoard and save perfumes we love, we should enjoy them, so today I'm cracking open my lovely beauty and spraying some on. I'd love to find another sweet (affordable) almond fragrance like this. The dry down phase was so pretty! Almond gourmand goodness.

I'm gonna tell you guys a secret. This perfume is still available under the Montaigne Market brand. How no one else has figured this out all these years, well I don't know, but Lea is alive and kicking, just expensive to be shipped. A fellow Fragrantica friend and I split the shipping cost to have 2 bottles sent to the US. Montaigne Market unfortunately closed their online store just months ago, but if you message them on IG they will help you out. This new bottle smells exactly the same as the vintage decant I have. Beautiful almond vanilla with a bit of musk. I can't stop wearing it. I hope they eventually find a bigger distributor because this perfume deserves more attention. Edit: I recently tried a sample of More Than The Stars by Olivine and it bears a strong resemblance to Lea. The almond/vanilla/musk of Lea is here! The gardenia is stronger at first but fades with time. Grab a sample of MTTS for $5, it may help fill your Lea void.

I really wish they'd put the EDP on here, instead of just the EDT, because the scents are a little different. The EDP is stronger and longer lasting, too. It's my signature perfume these days, and if I switch it out for longer than a day at a time, I find myself missing it. I particularly love stepping into the shower the next day and smelling it rising off my skin in the steam. Beautiful smell, just the right amounts of sweet and bitter, and not a smoky, campfire vanilla. I'm one that gets frequent migraines from perfume, but this one has never given me one, and I haven't had a single complaint of it being too strong in the office, like so many other perfumes are. I get compliments on it all the time.

I remember getting a sample vial from Lucky Scent almost a decade ago. I loved it so I ordered a bottle. It was a HUGE bottle! Needless to say, although the scent is lovely -- it's fleeting and is gone within an hour. Sadly...because it really is nice. I still have my what might be considered "vintage" bottle, and take a whiff every now and then. Might be a good nighttime dreamy scent. I may try that. :)