Al Haramain

Founded 1970 · Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Al Haramain is among the oldest perfumers in the Gulf and one of the few still making attar — the traditional Arabic perfume, alcohol-free and oil-based — alongside its Western line in spray. Its name refers to the two holy mosques, and much of its historic catalogue was sold to pilgrims.

History

The house was established in Dubai in 1970, four years before the United Arab Emirates existed as a country, working in oud, musk and the concentrated oils sold by the tola. For decades its market was the Gulf itself and the pilgrimage routes. The opening to the West came late and by way of the eau de parfum spray, a format foreign to its tradition: Amber Oud, launched last decade, became its international calling card and today has more variants than any other line in the house.

Iconic models

Amber Oud (and its family of variants)
The one that opened the house to the West. It exists in so many versions — Gold, Blue, Carbon — that the line works almost as a brand of its own.
L'Aventure
Its reading of the designer masculine aromatic, among the best sellers outside the Gulf.
Attar al Kaaba
From the traditional catalogue: a concentrated oil without alcohol, the format the house was born in.

Worth knowing

Attar is not sprayed but applied with a wand to the pulse points, and carries no alcohol because the tradition of those who wear it does not allow it. It is a perfumery with different rules, not a poor version of the Western one.