Laila

Like many people, I first encountered Laila at Epcot. It was around the year 2000, and I was on a high school trip, having wandered off to Epcot by myself while everyone else chose to go to Magic Kingdom. I remembered being wowed by this beautiful perfume of wildflowers, but didn’t have it in my high school budget to purchase this perfume. However, the memory of Laila stayed with me from that one sniff over 20 years ago, and from time to time I would check eBay but never went ahead with the blind buy. Would Laila smell up to the expectations of my memories? Would it instead give me a migraine? Recently I got into perfume, and I decided to find out. Having been warned by dozens of reviews here and on the Nordstrom website, I decided to stay away from the current formulation and look for a vintage bottle similar to what I remembered. I picked up a round bottle off eBay, crossing my fingers that I hadn’t paid for a fake or one that had soured. She arrived in the mail today, in pristine unsprayed condition. One light spritz and Laila was here as I remembered. The opening is herbal and floral, almost bitter. I remember this perfume being quite strong, so I applied the most sparing spritz. I can easily see this getting into clean laundry or dryer sheet territory if applied with a heavy hand as is the modern style, but I believe Laila was always meant to be worn lightly. The watermelon note is here as I remember, in a light and realistic way, not in an overbearing Jolly Rancher or BBW Cucumber Melon way. Overall the impression as worn on me is running through a meadow of alpine flowers, the watermelon giving just enough sweetness to the flowers to give it an ethereal perfume quality rather than photorealistic flowers, and a touch of lavender and other sweet, grassy herbs. Once again with a light touch, this stays away from any aquatic or ozonic quality, which I am truly thankful for, as both notes can give me a migraine easily. In fact, I was experiencing a mild migraine when I put this on, but this perfume helped me feel more relaxed and did not aggravate the migraine at all! I’m so pleased to find this vintage formulation that is floral-forward without the heavy base notes I detest. There’s a soft musky-woody quality that serves only to ground the scent without being noticeable. Vintage Laila is the perfume of dreams, and is one of the scents I put on that feels like an immediate signature. While I haven’t had an opportunity to try the new Laila, I remember the original was advertised as being “a blend of natural oils with no synthetic additives,” making it a great choice for migraine sufferers if you can seek out an original. I suggest always applying with a very light hand! Laila appears light and ethereal, but less is more with this delicate flower.

I don't know where you all are getting watermelon; perhaps my nose is broken. I'm sitting here with my bottle and I am NOT getting melon. I did see above that there is the bottle in the pale blue box, the one I buy at Nordstrom (the only available retailer in the US last time I checked) and then I saw a pink tinted bottle and box. Is there more than one version? Perhaps this pink box version differs slightly? My only complaint has to do with the bottles - they have a serious evaporation problem even if they sit upright on a table. If you travel with it, plan to double or triple ziploc bag the bottle or even the most ardent fan will be overwhelmed by the amount of product that ends up on your clothes! I'd also like to see more availability of the shower gel (can NEVER get it at Nordstrom) and other things like Excess Baggage, an eye product I got in a holiday gift set I have never seen again. And it really worked well!

Laila is a child of the 90's. She is in the same family as Issey Miyake L'Eau d'Issey and Yves Rocher Ming Shu. An intensely clean, fresh, pure and ozonic fragrance. The scent reminds me of crystal clear mountain brooks, crisp air and wild, dainty forest flowers. Laila is the scent of clean, untouched nature in its purest form. Nature in the shape of an Angel. The longevity is insane. Fresh fragrances usually vanish on my skin after 3-4 hours. Laila is vaguely detectable 24 hours after application.

This is my partner’s signature scent and I find it absolutely intoxicating. It's the scent that drew me in, with its irresistibly fresh and clean aura, reminiscent of being enveloped in a warm, sun-drenched meadow of wildflowers, emerging from the chill of winter's grasp. It’s not the most complex scent as it only has about three notes, but the chemistry between those notes may have rewired my brain chemistry. I think this could be a great year round fragrance suitable for any occasion.

Very light for a floral fruity, which I appreciate - there are just too many foody ones available. I get the watermelon, but it's not an overripe smell like f.f.'s often have. Goes on light and green, a gentle sweet, fresh melon. As the melon fades, you get very waxy white flowers, just a hint of sour and a light, powdery muskiness at the base. To me, it's more of a straight floral. I really like it, a beautiful perfume, fairly subtle and good for day.

Here is a scent that I like to wear when I want to feel girly and pretty. Very easy to wear. Quite linear. I really don't smell watermelon, try as I may, and that's a good thing in my book. This is the kind of scent that I was looking for when I was in high school, and could never find; fresh, floral and friendly. For that reason alone, and the fact that sometimes I just want to feel girly and pretty Laila fits the bill.

This fresh scent perfume is really long lasting.. for me it smells the best on the dry down. I will say that it is a mature fresh scent not in an older women way but a classic way and may not be for those who prefer the newer style scents like clean reserve warm cotton or philosophy’s pure grace.. this does have a vintage appeal but it’s really nice and last much longer than the ones I named

My mother wore this when I was a child, so this has significant, sentimental meaning to me. I spray it whenever I miss her <3 Just feels happy to me, and not in an obnoxious obvious way, just simply light and sweet. Reminds me of winter, snow, and the color blue - totally useless in a review, I imagine. I see many women/girls wearing this, any age, any occasion. An understated beauty.

This sits perfectly between Ocean Dream, Wrappings and L'eau D'Issey. It's more concentrated than any other in this catigory it. It stays all day. The original notes from back in the day - Top: Watermelon, Citrus, Peach Middle: Wildflowers, Lavender, Lily of the valley Carnation, Rose, Jasmine Base: Cedar, Musk, Sandalwood, Vetiver, Benzoin

It was love at first smell for me. I discovered this perfume in Disney World's Epcot in Norway. The smell is unique, floral, and exquisite. It is not an every day scent, I use it sparingly and for special occasions. It is quite strong. I don't get the watermelon tone, but it is beautiful :)

This is such a gorgeous cold, clean, snowy floral. Absolutely reminds me of beautiful women in Norway and relief from the heat. And Epcot but in the best way possible. I recognized this on another nurse while wearing a mask across the hospital room and it made me so happy.

I first tried Laila at Nordstrom and it was love at first sniff. It has a lovely balance of floral and freshness. I feel like Laila would make an excellent scent for a bride on her wedding day because it is unobtrusive, clean and feminine. Superb!

I have been wearing this scent for over a decade when I found it at Epcot in Disneyworld. It is so clean and fresh smelling. I don't see it on Fragrantica but Norsk Sno by Geir Ness is even better. Great for winter, like fresh air, cool breeze.

This is another one of my favorites. I just got this one in December of 2011 and I love it. When I spray this one on me I do not smell melons or a fruity smell. I smell violets. When I wear this fragrance I receive a lot of compliments.

I'm at disney right now. The Norway shop smelled fantastic and I asked what it was and they said this. It doesn't match the notes listed here. It's very unisex, I smell cool, aquatic, woods and clean linen.

I love, love, LOVE Laila!!! I found it at Disney World In Epcot in †he Norway section in a gift shop. I've noticed that it smells exactly like Tokidoki Siberia, though!

Not sure what it reminds me of. Do not smell any melons. It smells fresh and yummy maybe a little musky. Doesn't give me a headache which is lovely!

This has been one of my go to scents for nearly 20 years. It’s my most complimented perfume. It’s a fresh floral scent without being overly floral.

This is one of my mom's favorite fragrances. It's very clean and fresh. It smells more natural to me than Issey Miyake. It's also stronger.

One of my all time fragrances, it's very nice and airy, fresh a little fruity, but not over powering. Great for the summer.

I wrote a review for this before but deleted it to track down an old bottle that hadn’t turned. No such luck. I practically grew up at WDW so this is a scent memory fragrance for me. One whiff and I’m instantly at the Norway pavilion at EPCOT standing in the shade by the lagoon eating rice cream pudding after a ride on Maelstrom. That being said something has changed in the fragrance. It still evokes the memory without fail, but it has this overwhelming soapiness to it now and is cloyingly strong. Maybe the original was too, but I never noticed? All of the vintage bottles I’ve bought and the one I bought myself at EPCOT have turned. I noticed the change when the bottle changed so I’ve assumed a formula change. It was a fresh, clean, juicy floral. Very unique. Like eating watermelon in a wildflower-filled field on a crisp summer day. Not a warm summer. A cool summer. And of course cool by my definition as a Floridian is 70 degrees. It was refreshing in the killer heat. Not so much anymore. It still smells like Laila but a louder Laila. I keep my new bottle to sniff for the memory, but I almost never wear it.

I bought this perfume because of the lovely name, the Norwegian connection (my dad's side of the family) and because it smelled gorgeous on one of my best friends. Although I do enjoy the scent, I liked it better when smelling it on my friend than on myself. It's one of those where you love to get a whiff of it, then leave the room, and come back later and smell it all over again after you've had a break from it. It's quite a bit stronger after application, then settles down to a quiet little number after about an hour. Projection and lasting time are about average, not extreme either way. I like the melony note here but it seems a bit confusing to be put in a Norwegian perfume, but whatever, it's pretty. I'll wear it now and again but will never repurchase it.

This scent is ozonic, airy, fresh, clean, light, and yet all encompassing at once. The longevity of this is absolutely insane. I've put it on in the morning, and have been able to catch wafts of it when I woke up the next morning. It's youthful and bright, and a great signature scent. However, I definitely like it on other people more than I like it on me! This is my best friend's signature scent, and it seems to radiate off of her when she wears it. On me, it does seem a bit one note, and it kind of just "sits" there.

Tried this one on today. At first it was very floral and it reminded me of a softer version of Jessica McClintock. As it wore down it still smelled softly floral when I brought my wrist to my nose but at a distance when I caught faint traces of it I smelled the watermelon more than anything else. It was like a soft watermelon jolly rancher. Up close though the watermelon is barely detectable. Somewhat of an odd trait.

My daughter gave me a bottle of this for Mother's Day this past May. She bought it at the Norway pavilion at Epcot. Geir Ness was there and autographed the bottle. She knows I love perfume and we have Norwegian ancestry, so this made for a very thoughtful gift. It's a light and fresh aquatic fragrance similar to L'Eau d'Issey. It's perfect for the spring and summer. I'm very happy to have this in my collection. :)

7/10. A mixture of violet and lily of the valley. Transparent and not much base, but strong on the top and middle. A little bit spicy in a green leafy way. I am impressed with the dry down. At first this seems like cologne grade and normally those perfumes start bold and quickly die away or become unpleasant. This has a slow and consistent dry down and lasts for over 8 hours developing a heliotrope aspect.

Floral, sweet and clean are the words that come to mind with this scent. Sadly, it doesn't go very well on me. But it's so beautiful that I got a bottle for my mom. It has not turned out to be one of her favorites either. However, I have to say that this fragrance evokes the feeling of pure love that its creator surely had in mind when naming it after his mother.

This scent is fairly linear, yet smells more like citrus and woody notes than what's listed here (watermelon? I don't think so.). It is very reminiscent of Escape, yet much cleaner smelling, and less musky/woody. It's fresh and focusing, but better on other people than on me. It's worth trying to see if you've won the chemistry roulette on this one.

Tried on at Norway in Epcot. It is a nice clean floral. It didn't smell like watermelon to me. I thought the sillage was going to be weak, but there was an aroma lingering at arm length that is magically absent at any other closeness. Enchanting perfume and goes nicely with my chemistry.

Clean, aquatic floral. Definitely has soapy vibes (like Dove bar soap). Also kind of reminds me of dryer sheets and clean laundry. It’s one of those scents that gives “just showered and wearing fresh-pressed clothes” vibes. Decently strong and projecting for an aquatic fragrance as well.

I sniff this and imagine fresh, crisp linens. Light florals with a clean, grassy green touch. It can come off a bit like a room deodorizer spray by Glade or Fabreeze; however, a higher end, more refined room spray. I like it for cloudy or rainy days because it elevates my mood.

Fits right in with Ralph Lauren, Tommy girl, Davidoff cool water. If you like those then this would be a safe blind buy. Very fresh and clean. Very linear but good lasting power.

First smell: Oef, what is this sharp start it has? "Dove soap". Although it faintly made me think of JLo live... this is a lot sharper for my nose.

So, this fragrance puzzles me a bit. I can't really find any notes anywhere, other than "floral notes." (And possibly watermelon as well?) Laila definitely has that aquatic-floral 90's vibe to it. But what it actually smells like it soap. And I don't mean soap like a white ivory bar of soap in the shower, I mean like some generic Dial hand soap. Stuff they probably have at any given restaurant in the washrooms. And yet, it's not a bad smell. It's obviously very clean smelling, the florals are nice, the aquatic element is nice...it's even a little comforting. But when I realized it smelled like that pink bathroom soap that you come across all the time, it boggled my mind a bit. I have a bottle though, and I enjoy wearing it.

I blind bought this-I wish I hadn’t. Very sharp, very 90s in style...reminds me of Cool Water for women. No flowers, no melon-lots of sharp, salty aquatic notes. In no way reminds me of Norway where I have visited many times. It’s not terrible, but make sure you sample it first.

Nice clean girl scent. I don’t really get strong florals though, it’s mostly fresh.

I was expecting something lighter and more original, something like fir forests, snow, and cold fishy fjords, which is how I imagine Norway. However, it smells like a very ordinary commercial fruity-floral with a bit of aquatic to go with the other generic notes. I guess the “essence of Norway” is not what you would smell by going cross-country skiing, but rather the fumes inside a Se--ora shop where customers have been spraying too many celebrity scents. I don’t really smell watermelon, other than as a general aquatic note that could be almost anything, or maybe artificial watermelon flavored Jolly Rancher hard candies, which fall somewhere near the very bottom of my candy-preference list. Anyway, why should watermelon be typical of Norway? I really don’t get it. The scent is almost completely linear, with big, big sillage, and lasts far longer that I want to smell it. Scrubbing does not remove it, so it’s still good for a 24-hour stay. As long as it doesn’t give me a headache, this sort of perfume is entertaining in a perverse way, because wearing it prompts me to fantasize that I’m the idealized "average, normal US woman", the sort who has a 9-to-5 job, goes to the shopping mall, watches TV, and washes and conditions her long, silky blonde hair every day with this product. For a generic fruity-floral, it’s one of the better ones, but it’s the antithesis of my own style.

So I've had this one sitting around in my perfume drawer for quite some time now. This was a Disney impulse buy. The shop smelled amazing and they said it was this perfume! A light mist of melon and musky woods. Sadly, that's not how she dries down on me. The melon and barely there flowers disappears in minutes and she becomes VERY peppery. I sort of smell like a bit of a spiced steak waiting for its turn on the grill. It's not awful, but it's certainly not what I wanted either. I've even tried layering it but the pepper just BUSTS through anything else I put on with it. My husband absolutely hates it too. I spritzed it to refresh my memory for this review and he came in and asked disappointedly, "Are you wearing that one today?😟 ..." I think it's high time I sold this one on...

a sort of rotten/sour/turned smelling aquatic with a bit of briny saltiness and greenness. It reminds me faintly of Womanity but without the sex/semen vibe. Faintly floral. Mostly ambergris. A slight herbal quality. The base is white florals but not sweet or very pretty, just the faded remains with some oakmoss/woods and maybe almost a lotus wateriness.

This is my mom's signature scent right now. I am not a big fan of florals and this is all floral, but I do like how the aquatic notes freshen it up and make it nice and crisp. Very feminine and kind of reminds me of a fancy hand soap.

This is very sharp on me and almost migraine-inducing. Bummer. Available for US interest

I don't really care for this one. It smells exactly like watermelon soap, nothing else.

This is the Weird Barbie perfume. After spending my youth chasing amber, different resins and patchouli, I am trying all the fresh, aquatic scents that my Mother wanted me to wear back then. She thought it suits my washed out Baltic features. Laila is very ozonic, very sharp at the start, and it almost gave me a full blown panic attack (certain smells do it to me). It is very, very clean to the point of being bleachy and i swear there is a bleach note there somewhere. Halfway through development there was a strange burnt note, not yummy but as in a plastic factory on fire. And then, there are also flowers. I can't tell you what flower is in there, because it could not exist in nature. There is no petals, no stem, no leaves. However, there is a gorgeous fabric softener somewhere in it. Maybe if there were flowers in space, that would be it. Made it to the drydown. The scent didn't develop much, what is left on my skin is a scent of plastic doll heads, the persistent ozone and a hint of pink Downie. A strong 90s vibe throughout and unfortunately a big no for me.

We've been experiencing some fairly Norwegian weather this winter in Boston, so it seemed like a good time to try out Geir Ness LAILA, which claims to be "the essence of Norway". Well, I'm afraid that I have some bad news for the people of Norway: LAILA smells just like Calvin Klein ESCAPE, an oceanic, melon-aquatic perfume produced in 1991, four years before LAILA. I do not believe that Geir Ness set out to copy ESCAPE, any more than I believe that L'EAU D'ISSEY is a "knock off" of the same, but sometimes cultural and market forces conspire to produce very similar perfumes, even in very different parts of the world by perfumers who probably do not know each other. ESCAPE got there first, so everyone else who creates this sort of iconic melon aquatic is going to be accused of plagiarism by less charitable souls than myself. If you like ESCAPE, you'll like LAILA. If not, you won't. They both have excellent longevity and are strong, declarative compositions. But they both are melon aquatics, which is a genre that no longer really appeals to me.

Im surprised that there are a number of meh reviews. Im the perfume addict that lost my sense of smell so I chose perfumes by reviews. This had outstanding reviews on perfumeemporium so I bought it. When I wear it I get compliments from people that usually have basic pleasantries to say and keep moving. This stops people in their tracks. Ive been called to from across a room to say someone likes my perfume, really likes my perfume. My ex bf loves it, his sister loves it, her husbsnd loves it, cousin joe loves it. It surpassed the spare ribs at the family barbecue. I cant believe I keep buying perfumes and wear something different everyday with the compliments I get with this one. I suppose psychologically, im waiting for the one I can smell.

this scent lured into the merch shop at norway area in disney epcot, it was so delightful i HAD to get it 😂 Fresh laundry, crisp clean cold breeze, really feels like you just hung your laundry up on a snowy mountain; Its so pleasant and incredibly refreshing, lasts quite long and projects very strongly. My bottle macerated a little and the opening is quite harsh and crisp now, but past that I get cool snowy mountain air with a touch of florals. I love spraying the sheets with it before getting in, its so relaxing and refreshing it elevates my lounging experience alot...its very very good in the heat and humidity too and projects really nicely, the crispness cuts through the thick warm air and creates an irresistibly pleasant sillage

I got this for my mom for Mother’s Day when I was 7, in partnership with my dad. I remember I loved the watermelon note and my dad thought my mom would like it as it’s made by a Norwegian brand and she’s half-Norwegian. Unbeknownst to me and incredibly my dad as well, the only perfume my mom has ever worn is Estée Lauder Youth Dew which she quit wearing after having me due to migraines. My mom was a wonderful about it thought, much more than she needed to be and wore it quite a few times before I forgot about the gift. She’s told me before she treasured it because it was one of the first gifts I got her of my own volition. She still has the bottle somewhere last I heard, I think I’m going to ask about it so I can smell this again.

I do not smell watermelons at all! This is now my new favorite perfume, I bought a bottle from Nordstroms without ever having smelled it and it smelled like L'eau D'Issey to me except a little bit stronger and sweeter, but almost exactly like it, I would't really say it's sweet, just sweeter than Issey, an since L'eau D'Issey was my previous favorite I instantly fell in love. I also like Escape, but I do not think this smells anything like it at all. But it is beautiful and long lasting and I plan to purchase at least three more bottles.

I love this fragrance! It is so delicate and beautiful. It makes me feel happy when I wear this bouquet of flowers in a bottle. It's like taking a stroll in a flower filled garden, on a sunny day. You begin to admire the way the rays of the sun gently carress every leaf, blade of grass and, flower petal.The gentle wind compelles you to inhale deeply and, while exhaling..... you are in awe of that one very special moment in life, in which you are living in. Even the birds sing a happier song.

My twin brother got me this as a gift because we both have a scent memory of the gift shop in Epcot's Norway Pavilion. After all these years, my memory did not fail me. Icy, ozonic, aquatic, retro in a good way. Very 90s/early 2000s profile of synthetic calone (watermelon) and naturalistic wildflowers. Like if L'eau D'Issey was more refreshing or if Inis was less oceanic. Laila (pronounced Lie-lah) has truly remained the same, but I can understand if its not for everyone.