Arab Perfume Culture From an Arab Perspective: It’s More Than Just Lattafa
As someone from the Middle East living in Saudi Arabia I often see discussions about “Arab perfumes” from western influencers that don’t really reflect how fragrance is experienced here
A lot of Western fragrance content focuses on brands like Lattafa, Maison Alhambra, Armaf, etc. While these brands are popular internationally many people around me don’t actually wear them regularly
When I think of Arab perfume culture I think of things like using white musk or misk al tahara after showering to maintain that clean scent.burning bakhoor(incense)at home. layering fragrances. wearing authentic oud oil for special occasions and evenings
Some brands I personally see much more often include
-Reef perfumes
-Amouage
-Abdul Samad Al Qurashi
-Qissah
-Ahmed Al Maghribi
-Arabian Oud
-Rasasi
-Ajmal
-Swiss arabian
-IBRAQ
In my experience.these brands are generally more representative of contemporary Gulf fragrance culture than the clone-focused brands that dominate the western content.
(Of course the Middle East isn’t a monolith and preferences vary from country to country this is simply my perspective from Saudi Arabia.
I’d be interested to hear from others in the region.does your experience match mine?)