Rasasi

Founded 1979 · Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Rasasi is among the Gulf houses that took technical perfumery seriously earliest: it has its own laboratory, perfumers on staff and a catalogue that moves between traditional oud and composition of a French cut. Hombre 2 and La Yuqawam are its two big names.

History

The house was founded in Dubai in 1979 and grew through the eighties and nineties inside the Gulf market, with oud and musk as its backbone. Unlike other Arabic houses that entered the West selling cheap rereadings, Rasasi did it with compositions of its own: La Yuqawam — "the irresistible" — is one of the few Gulf fragrances Western critics discuss on its merits rather than its price. It is now present in more than sixty countries.

Iconic models

La Yuqawam
Leather, tobacco and fruit; the composition that earned the house the respect of Western critics.
Hombre 2
A widely popular masculine aromatic, the house's best seller in the Americas.
Shuhrah
From its classic oriental line, with oud and amber.

Worth knowing

"La Yuqawam" means "the irresistible" in Arabic, and it is one of the very few Gulf fragrances discussed by Western critics for how it smells rather than what it costs.