Chatting with Geir Ness was similar to sharing a bottle of champagne with a wonderful friend. Even through the phone lines his enthusiasm and joy for life is contagious. As I conducted my interview with Geir, he was walking on a street in Manhattan, and I could hear the hustle and bustle of the city in the background. However, I knew in the midst of all the activity of people and traffic around him, Geir would stand out because of his aura. I also suspect he was wearing his well-known men’s fragrance called "Geir."

Geir Ness was born 38 years ago and grew up in Oslo, the capital of Norway. His father grew up in Bergen and his mother in northern Norway. He is the second of 3 sons in his family. One of his brothers has a rock band called "Toini and The Tom Cats" who have toured in the U.S. and Europe. His childhood home was next to the Norwegian Royal Palace in Oslo. Geir told me the word for palace in Norwegian is "Slott." 

As he discusses his childhood one can sense the abundant joy, contentment, and happiness which existed in his family home. He talks of climbing the mountains as a child with his mother and enjoying the beauty of the Norwegian countryside. Geir feels living in a beautiful country and being part of such a wonderful family contributed greatly to his philosophy and the way he lives his life each day.

It seems Geir never stands still for very long. In fact, the day after our conversation he was leaving New York City for Mallorca, Spain to celebrate a friend’s birthday. Previous to coming to the United States, Geir spent time in Spain and the Canary Islands pursuing careers in modeling, acting, and fitness training. In the early 1990s, he started film school in Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. During this time, since he had no money, a friend invited him to demonstrate fragrances with her on the weekend at a well-known department store. While serving in this position he discovered that Norway had no signature perfume of its own.

This motivated Geir to create a fragrance, which later became known as "Laila, the Essence of Norway." He dedicated the fragrance to his mother and gave it her name. He contacted a perfumer in France, and followed his advice to gather ingredients from his home country. After experimenting with several combinations of the Norwegian wild flowers, herbs and natural oils, they finally settled on a fragrance which is light, airy, fresh and sexy. 

During the experimental stages of the final product, Geir would send his mother samples without her knowing what his plan was. When the fragrance which she had unknowingly contributed to, was finished, he presented her with the first bottle on Mother’s Day. She was extremely pleased, and he had accomplished one of his favorite goals – surprising the people he loves with something wonderful.

In addition to "Laila," he created "Geir, the Power of Norway" for men. With "Geir" he captured the crisp Norwegian mountains … blended with herbs, wetwood and natural oils. It is a clean, out-doorsy, distinctive sensual scent for men. He is presently working on and close to unveiling a new scent for women, which is a combination "Laila" and "Geir." His products are all made with natural oils and are not tested on animals.

From the beginning, Geir has been active in marketing and selling his fragrances. He travels approximately 300 days each year. He has wonderful stories of how he began this new career as a perfume creator. Of the stories he shared with me, my favorite is when he attended a European perfume festival several years ago. The top 40 perfumers including Chanel, St. Laurent, Dior and others attended and displayed products at this festival. Most manufacturers had upscale, enticing displays. Geir took 100 bottles of "Laila" and set up a simplistic booth. Using his magnetic personality and confidence in his product he sold all 100 bottles of "Laila" while having a wonderful time entertaining and chatting with his customers.

One of Geir’s philosophies is when you feel good, alive, energetic and at peace with yourself, you will attract people. Giving others anything less of himself is not acceptable. Most of all, Geir is a firm believer that "sexy" is okay!

When I asked Geir what his plans are for the future, he shared with me a little about the movie he is presently working on about his life. He will play himself, and it will be a comedy. After talking to him I somehow knew that doing a comedic role would best fit his personality.

I believe we are going to see a lot more of Geir Ness in both the fragrance sections of upscale department stores and on the silver screen. Geir will be doing something he loves to do - making us laugh and enjoying ourselves through his life experiences. Geir is not only a successful entrepreneur, but a beautiful human being, too, who wishes everyone could feel the happiness and joy in their own life each and every day as he does in his.

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