Fragrance revolution: The global bloom of Middle Eastern fragrance

Khaleej Times

a day ago

For decades, the beauty and grooming world has been tightly held by iconic European and American perfume houses, with little room for disruption. Then came Korea's skincare wave, and now, it's the Middle East's turn to reshape the fragrance narrative. What was once a regional affair, steeped in ancient tradition and limited reach, has evolved into a global sensation.
Today, Middle Eastern perfumery is not only gaining traction among fragrance lovers in the US, the UK, Europe, and even South America, but it's also challenging legacy brands with its distinctive notes, immersive storytelling, and standout presentation. These perfumes, once confined to Khaleeji traditions, have now become coveted collector's items and everyday luxuries for a global audience seeking something deeper, richer, and more rooted. Fragrances from the Middle East are gaining worldwide attention and favour with consumers, who are enamoured by their blends, versatility, mystique, and elaborate packaging.
A look at into the recent history of perfumes reflects that Arabian perfumery despite a rich legacy dating back 4,000 years, lingered as a fringe phenomenon until recently. Modern perfume industry remained a strong bastion of brands established in late 19th century Europe and the US. While brands like Chanel, Guerlain and Dior rose to iconic status with many of their fragrances becoming cult classics, many modern designers and niche brands followed suit, creating a prominent space for themselves.
With exception to Abdul Samad Qureshi established in 1850, that shares an almost parallel history with Guerlain (1828), and wide international retail presence, Middle Eastern fragrance houses in the region, remained either local or at best a regional phenomenon, catering to largely Gulf population across the region. Any exports were limited to countries with some degree of cultural semblance with the larger gulf region or Islamic culture.
Rediscovering the oriental mystique
In 1925, Guerlain launched the Shalimar, the first oriental fragrance by a western perfume house incorporating — sandalwood, tonka bean and frankincense — notes strongly associated with Arabic perfumery. Shalimar — 'Temple of Love' inspired by one of the gardens of Taj Mahal — a symbol of the eternal love story of Emperor Shahjahan and his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Despite the legendary success and the cult status of the fragrance, it was a one-off venture. It would take another 70 odd years for Arabian perfumes to make a mark.
By late 90's, there was a major shift in the industry catalysed by the western brands need to tap the petro-dollar fuelled economies of the Gulf. The high disposable incomes of the Gulf countries and the prolific usage of perfumes made the region into one of the biggest and the fastest growing markets in the world. All the major fragrance brands started debuting fragrances with notes of oud, amber, rose, sandalwood and frankincense to woo the Middle Eastern customers.
From YSL, Gucci, and Dior to newer designers like Tom Ford, fragrances infused with Arabian notes were positioned as the ultimate olfactory elixirs, drenched in the mystique of the
Orient and crafted with exotic ingredients from antiquity, offering greater projection and sensuality. The enigmatic scent trail that followed Khaleeji fragrance patrons soon became a global fascination. At the heart of this lingering allure was a single, transformative ingredient that captured the world's imagination: Oud.
Resurrecting 4,000 years of tradition
One of the most potent tools deployed by global fragrance houses has been their ability to create resonance through adaptation and localisation. As part of this drive, the rich perfume heritage of the Middle East was rediscovered and reintroduced to the world.
It soon became clear that Arabia holds one of the oldest perfume traditions in the world, dating back over 4,000 years. Influenced by Mesopotamian and Egyptian practices, perfumery flourished in the Arabian Peninsula, especially after the advent of Islam. The 9th-century Abbasid scientist Abu Yusuf Yaqub bin Ishaaq al-Kindi regarded as the father of Arabic perfumery documented over 100 recipes for fragrance oils in his seminal work, The Book of the Chemistry of Perfume and Distillations. Meanwhile, the pioneering distillation techniques of Jabir ibn Hayyan including methods of filtration and evaporation, continue to underpin the extraction of natural fragrance oils even today.
Adding to this mystique is the romance of ancient caravans traversing over 2,000 kilometres of incense trade routes. This third-century BC network of land and sea passages carried frankincense, myrrh, spices, and luxury goods from Mediterranean ports through the Levant and Egypt, across Northeast Africa and Arabia, all the way to India and beyond. Many European perfume traditions, in fact, trace their roots to the Islamic rule of Constantinople during the Middle Ages, a testament to the enduring influence of Arabian perfumery.
The wider international success
While the international brands had intended to tap the Gulf markets, but unintentionally, they created a space and mainstream acceptance for notes and oud in populations that were earlier dismissive of Arabic notes as being too overwhelming and unwearable. The legend of the Arabian fragrances has grown, and people are fascinated by the opulence, richness, elegance and the longevity of fragrances. Little did the brands know that they were creating competition.
Middle Eastern fragrances conquer the world
While the international brands looked towards Middle East as a new market, the Middle East brands awoke to the possibility of reaching out to the world and global consumers. The Oud note, by now an international favourite, coveted for its complex scent that traversed through many deluges before settling into its lush bloom, was to become their ace to international success. After all, who could beat the Middle Eastern brands at the 'art of oud'. Unlike the synthetic oud note used in Western perfumes, the Middle Eastern houses used natural Oud oil, which is unmatched in its richness and splendour.
However, the single largest factor that has truly disrupted the global perfume market has been the ability of the Arabian perfume brands to pack a punch without puncturing the pocket. The affordability factor has been instrumental in waking people to the possibility of 'Smelling Good while paying Less'. Arabian brands have consistently come up with compositions that have left the western counterparts pale in comparison. The UAE has emerged as Middle East's fragrance capital, leading in innovation, quality, diversity, and desirability.
Brands like Arabiyat Prestige from the House of My Perfumes have been quick to adapt the international notes with the most fascinating palette of Arabian accords, creating fragrances that enthral the customers with their composition, character and packaging. State-of-the-art production facilities along with best practises in raw material procurement and production ensure top-notch quality.
Today, the Arabian perfumery is in its most exciting phase where it is has truly gone global and making the perfume giants sit up and take notice.
The mandate from iconoclast fragrance reviews
The Middle Eastern fragrance houses despite their restraints of limited marketing budgets have hugely benefitted from a new class of opinion moulders — the fragrance reviewers. The rise of unbiased young voices across the globe open to experimentation and endorsement beyond the legacy brands has hugely contributed to the expansion of the fragrance industry at a stupendous pace. The influence of the fragrance reviewers on consumer purchase patterns is evident from the fact that some of them can drive huge sales while also holding the power to debunk products and brands. The good thing is that they are talking about the quality and desirability of perfumes from this part of the world.
The need of legacy brands to carve new markets has turned out to be the biggest opportunity for Middle Eastern perfume brands. Finally, Arabian perfumery is stepping into its own at the world stage and the consumers worldwide are lapping up the legacy, the magic and the mystique.