UAE Stories and Cultural Learning: Perfumes
The mysterious and exotic world of Arabian perfume oils is something alien to the Western world. Perfumes are an enduring and essential part of the Arabic lifestyle. Throughout history, Arabs have used fragrance as a form of art, a symbol of reverence and a token of beauty. You may find yourself lost into a typical Middle Eastern perfumery, so here’s some tips to know more about Arabian perfumes.
There are many different concentrated perfume oils, oud blends, pure ouds, and attars. The most coveted brands use oud in the purest form from the sustainable Agar Wood plantations from all over the world. Delicate and intense at the same time, the oud oil is considered the rarest and most precious to this day, one of the most expensive in the world. The price usually correlates with quality. From few dirhams to thousand of dollar for a single bottle of perfume oil.
These perfumes are super-concentrated, they are <blow-your-mind> strong; so in reality, one tola – an ancient Arabic unit of measurement that is usually translated as 12mls – one of these fragrances would likely last way much more than a common Western spray perfume. You might smell it for days.
Every person has their own unique scent and it is proven in Emirati mothers. You would distinguish your mother’s scent even if she was sitting among other ladies. Her scent becomes part of her character, a scent she developed over many years by mixing different essential oils.
The article is part of the book UAE 101 Stories and Cultural Learning
