Al Haramain: A one of a kind perfumery

Tucked away in a corner of Jamuna Future Park shopping mall, is an outlet of Al Haramain, one of the largest perfumeries in the world. This store, which has been a front-runner in this business for decades, has won the hearts of perfume lovers across the globe with their charming small glass of scents capable of stirring the mind and emotions with just one whiff.

Their very first perfume was released in the summer of 1970, which makes them a pretty old brand, but with age comes experience and till this day they have kept exploring and adapting, providing new trends and new tastes to their patrons.

The store started off as a trader of Agarwood in Makkah and was named after Masjid Al-Haram and the Masjid Al-Nabawi, two of the holiest mosques in the world. Founder of Al Haramain, late Kazi Abdul Haque, believed fragrances had the power to awaken desires, memories and bring serenity, and with this belief his heirs have held onto the culture of perfumes, spreading the tradition to the entire world.

When stepping into their stores, seeing the glistening bottles of concoctions nicely arranged in rows and experiencing the fragrances first hand is the moment when one knows that their beliefs and cultures have not faded. The other thing one will notice are the amazing interiors, with Arabian touch to its décor; go further and you will also see large glass dispensers, filled with different sorts of attars, ready to be poured into small bottles for their customers.

When at the store, it is kind of hard to miss the huge treasure-chest like trunks containing sets of four, six or more of the exquisitely designed bottles. These sets come with a hefty price tag of Tk 2.5 to 3.5 lakh. The price tags on these perfumes, as bulky as they might seem, are justified as they take around 21 years to manufacture and are made of pure agar.

DEODORANTS:

If perfumes aren't to your fancy, the store also has numerous deodorants, which have the same exact scents as their perfumes. So if someone is not into splurging on the perfumes or Attars, they can always get the same smell in deodorant form. Moreover, some deodorants have flower petals in them, amongst which the rose petal fragrances smell absolutely divine, and contain more than a hundred rose petals.

HOME FRAGRANCES:

"Our main inspiration was gathered from Islamic traditions, where portions of Agarwood were burnt to keep homes smelling hygienic and aromatic." Since this is a store of Arabian origin, it will not be complete without home fragrances. Wide varieties of Bakhoor and Oudh, with the most intense scents, and eye catching cases fill the shelves. You find one for every occasion there is, from guest greetings, to prayer times, to everyday use; there is something for all. The Nawab, the Noora and the Baraka are some of the bestsellers among the numerous choices. Lastly, there are also air fresheners for lighter scents, these unlike some other air fresheners are water based, which makes them longer lasting than regular air fresheners.

PERFUME:

Coming to their mains, the perfumes which not only look majestic, but smell enchanting too. Al Haramain has numerous categories and types of perfumes, so many that listing them would take forever, however the one thing that is constant with their fragrances is that they are completely halal. In their words, "Our fragrances are composed of special sort of alcohol which evaporates when sprayed, only leaving the scent behind." They have two main categories. The Oriental, with traditional compositions, scents and packaging, where one will find both pure oil and concentrated oil fragrances along with many more, and the Occidental, with scents that have more modern touches. Pure Midnight and Dazzle are some of the customer favourites amongst perfumes. Other than these the store also has a wide collection of perfume gift sets for both men and women, complete with fragrances and lotions in beautiful gift boxes of both Al Haramain itself, and other French perfumeries.

OUDH:

One of their specialties or upper hands are their Oudhs, which they take a lot of pride in, and present as "The Oudh Experience." Where every perfume is made with the best class ingredients and Agarwood, personally gathered by their directors from the tropics of India and deserts of Salalah, then carefully and intricately processed by the perfumers specialising in oriental fragrances, into the little jewels we see in stores. In their exact words, "Exceptional Oudh can only come from exceptional Agarwood"

The ingredients which play an integral part in perfume making for the Arabs, and ones you will come across often in Al Haramain stores are Oudh, Amber, Musk, Jasmine, Frankincense, Agarwood and many kinds of roses. Each of these have a certain uniqueness to them which have the power to raise spiritual effects in our memories and create positivity in the ambience.

In the early ages, perfumes were considered a luxury, although that "unattainability" has dimmed with time. But thankfully with the rise of Arabs, the tradition of perfumes rose again, and became an integral part of their lives from religion to culture to everyday use. Al Haramain wants to spread and keep alive this culture through their unique fragrances.

Al Haramain has stores in numerous cities around the world from Bahrain, Kuwait, Singapore, Malaysia, UK and the USA, and of course Bangladesh with around a thousand types of fragrances. Visit their three outlets in Jamuna Future Park, Ground Floor, GB 001, GC-008 and GC-009 or one in Baitul Mokarram, North side, 299-300 where the lingering scents will lift your senses. You can also visit their website www.alharamainperfumes.com for more insight into their fragrances and history.