The Best Oud Perfume in Dubai Mall

List of the Best Perfume Shops in Dubai

Oud is one classy way to get an authentic souvenir from Dubai. It is known to be a cultural token as it is a perfume only made in this area. If you’re on the way to shop for this in the Dubai Mall, I’ll cover the how’s, what’s and why’s of the best authentic Oud you can get at the mall.

Oud is a rare, unique, and expensive ingredient that manufacturers use while making their perfumes. This fragrant oil is created from a resin heartwood and is traditionally worn by Emirati men and women. It is a commodity that people all over the world love, and the Middle East is home to the real deal stuff. One of the most expensive resources in the world, it is valued at about 1.5 times the price of gold. This makes it a great idea for a gift or souvenir to take home from your trip to Dubai.

Where can you buy the best oud in the Dubai Mall? When you’re visiting the UAE, the Dubai Mall is home to numerous shops and vendors that sell oud of varying qualities and scents. Determine which brand you prefer, then visit their shop to make a purchase. 

Check out our tips for choosing your signature oud scent and where to buy it when you visit the Dubai Mall in the United Arab Emirates.

Where to Buy Oud in Dubai

If you are visiting Dubai for the first time, one of the parts of the culture you cannot miss is the oud. In the perfume industry, it is known as “black gold.” It was known to be used in ancient history for various purposes on the body and in the home. 

Over the years, it has grown in popularity and spread to many more nations around the world. It is now a crucial ingredient used by many perfume houses worldwide. Perfume lovers in Arabian and Western markets adore the sensual aroma it provides.

If you are looking for a cheap route to getting introduced to oud, you can find street vendors in Deira and other locations who will sell you unmarked bottles of oud. Many will even mix up different scent combinations right in front of you to get the most customized scent. However, these street vendors will often not have the quality of the product you need to truly enjoy oud.

For the more expensive, high-quality oud, head to the Dubai Mall. They sell ouds from many luxury perfume houses. Here are the brands of oud you can find in the Dubai Mall:

  • Abdul Samad Al Qurashi
  • Ajmal Perfumes
  • Al Jazeera Perfumes
  • Al Muataq Perfumes
  • Alexandre.J
  • Amouage
  • Arabian Oud
  • Atelier Cologne
  • Bloomingdale’s
  • Ghawali
  • Henry Jacques
  • Junaid for Perfumes
  • King of Gaharu
  • Plethora
  • Yas The Royal Name of Perfume

Visit the Dubai Mall website to see a full directory of their shops and vendors. Here’s a little preview of where you can shop:

Ajmal Perfumes

The first on our list to visit at the Dubai Mall is Ajmal Perfumes. This shop is one of the most popular places to buy oud in the Dubai Mall. Located on the ground floor of the mall, this shop has a rich heritage and over 60 years of experience in the perfume industry. They are knowledgeable in the intricate art of making perfumes, and their mission is to help people “craft memories” with their scents. 

The owners of Ajmal say nothing unlocks an old memory like a smell can. Ajmal makes it their goal to help their customers recreate precious memories through the various scents and aromas they produce.

Ajmal sells over 300 fragrances in their 180 retail stores across the Middle East. At their Dubai Mall location, you can check out fragrances for the home, gift sets, signature scents, and more. This store will also allow you to mix and customize different perfumes to design your perfect scent.

You can visit this store for economical perfumes and quality perfume oils. They are a great affordable option because they do not add a lot of extra ingredients into their perfumes like some other brands. You will still get a quality product for a great price. Try the Syofi Dihn Oud or the Amiri for well-rounded picks for beginners.

Arabian Oud

Arabian Oud is another popular perfume house in the Dubai Mall. You can find them on the ground floor when you visit. This perfume shop was founded in 1982 and is now one of the largest fragrance manufacturers and retailers in the world. They manufacture and sell over 400 unique fragrances with a mix of oriental and western scents. Their 900 stores span around the globe. They owe their success and popularity to their close attention to detail when developing scents and designing their packaging.

The Arabian Oud perfume house has won numerous awards from the Fragrance Foundation. That is because they keep the details in mind when crafting their fragrances. They strive to deliver quality, diversity, and perfection to their customers. In addition to scents for both men and women, Arabian Oud also sells gift sets, oil perfumes, incense, and quality bakhoors.

Yas The Royal House of Perfume

The next popular spot to purchase oud in the Dubai Mall is Yas The Royal House of Perfume. This perfume house is a respected name in perfumery with many locations in most malls. You can find this store on the first floor of the Dubai Mall.

Yas is an Emirates company that was established in 1999 by Chairman Abdulla Al Qaissieh. The name represents the luxury that the brand wants to create with their products. Their captivating fragrances evoke the essence of ancient royalty that reigned generations ago. 

After its founding, the company began as a manufacturer of high-quality French and Arabain fragrances. Now, they use modern techniques to create authentic traditional perfumes for their 26 locations in the United Arab Emirates and others around the Middle East.

Yas uses ingredients that are high-quality and natural. You can choose from many different scents of perfume, creams, and more. Also, their prices are pretty reasonable compared to some higher-end brands.

Amouage

Founded in 1983 by the Sultan of Oman, Amouage is another great perfume house, located on the first floor of the Dubai Mall. The sultan’s goal was to create a luxury fragrance house that would restore the amazing Arabian art and perfumery in the area. Each of their fragrances is inspired by the culture of Oman.

Amouage uses traditional ingredients in the Middle Eastern perfume industry. Some popular ingredients include agarwood, spices, incense, musk, and rose.

This perfume house sells fragrances for men and women, and the bottle for each is unique as well. Bottles for women are shaped to resemble the Palace Ruwi Mosque in Muskat. Bottles for men are shaped like Khanjar, the traditional dagger used in Oman. Dubai has the best Oud perfume for ladies so it’s a good place to buy.

From Amouage, you can purchase products for your home, bath, and more. They even sell fun discovery sets that allow you to sample a small amount of multiple fragrances to find the perfect one for you. It is important to keep in mind that Amouage products tend to be more expensive than others on our list. However, the price tag is worth it because their perfumes smell great. Choose from over 90 fragrances.

Alexandre.J

Alexandre.J is a French perfume brand founded in 2012. You can find this perfume house on the first floor of the Dubai Mall. With this brand, luxury perfume meets fashion. It was founded by Alexandre.J, a French Creative Designer. When creating his collection, he drew inspiration from many cultures around the world.

In addition to perfumes and home fragrances, Alexandre.J offers home decor, jewelry, watches, and leather products. The packaging for these perfumes is a gift in and of itself. Each bottle is sturdy and stylish. You will surely want to keep them around even after the bottle is empty of perfume.

You can visit their website to learn more about their products. You can even shop for specific olfactive families (fragrances based on aromatic, cyprus, floral, oriental, and other scents). This can help you narrow down the perfumes based on a scent you already enjoy.

Ghawali

Ghawali is a perfume house founded in the UAE that offers oriental fragrances. They practice the honored tradition of fragrance layering. This refers to the process of combining and layering various fragrances to create new, unique scent combinations. 

The scent collections developed by Ghawalil were designed to complement each other and facilitate layering. The end result is a beautiful scent that will permeate and stay with the wearer for many hours of the day.

“Ghawali” is actually a term that refers to the expensive and luxurious scents that traveling merchants would bring into the region. They would offer these scents to the royal family, and soon, their scents became a well-known part of the culture.

Visit this perfume house for their perfumes, oils, Bakhoor, oud, and bath products. With their scent layering technique, they wish to treat the senses of the wearer and those around them. You can choose from over 14 scents that launched since their founding in 2016.

Exploring the Different Types of Oud Fragrances

In ancient times, oud became a greatly desired ingredient in the Middle East. That is because it came from one of the most expensive woods in the world, the agar (or aquilaria) tree. It was valued for its unique aroma, and people used it during meditation, to create harmony in the home, and to heal and permeate garments. Now, it is a popular scent to wear on your clothing and skin.

As mentioned above, some of the most well-known brands are Rasasi, Swiss Arabian, and Ajmal. From floral scents to citrusy smells to more masculine woody aromas, there is surely something for everyone in oud perfumes and oils. It can almost be overwhelming stepping into a lush perfume store—there are so many options in every direction you look.

Because there are so many options available when you visit Dubai, it is first crucial to learn and understand the different categories of perfume. Some brands even offer fragrances that are gender-neutral and enjoyed by both sexes. Once you know the type of scent that fits your style preferences and your needs, you can more easily choose your signature scent. 

Fragrances come in various levels of concentration. Essentially, when the concentration is higher, the price increases as well. The concentration is ideal because perfumes with a higher concentration will have a more powerful scent and often last longer. Depending on your budget and scent needs, you can choose the most ideal concentration type for you. 

Learn more about the various types of perfume available:

Eau de Cologne

In our Western retail world, most colognes are marked as masculine fragrances. However, traditionally, Eau de Cologne is a designation for feminine perfumes as well. This label means that the product has a low concentration of fragrance elements in it. One of the most diluted perfumes, Eau de Cologne has a low concentration of fragrance, about 2-4% fragrance. This also means it has a very high concentration of alcohol. 

It is an extremely light product. They usually come in larger packaging, because more of the product needs to be used in order to make an impact.

These fragrances are cheaper and may cause irritation for people who have sensitive skin. The scent you get from an Eau de Cologne will generally last up to two hours.

Eau de Toilette

A step up from colognes, Eau de Toilette has a fragrance concentration between 5-15%. This makes a really light product that is most often sold in spray bottles. Unfortunately, with its low concentration of essential oils, Eau de Toilette has a lot more alcohol than the high-end fragrances on our list. It may not be an ideal choice if you experience skin irritation after applying products that are high in alcohol content.

Because of its cheapness, quick application, and ease of use, this is the most commonly used fragrance for the day time. The scent can usually last two to three hours. Many people will wear a Eau de Toilette for a few hours during the day, and then they will switch to a stronger, heavier scent for the evening hours.

Eau de Parfum

Next, Eau de Parfum is a step above Eau de Toilette. These products will have a higher concentration of fragrance at about 15-20%. These scents tend to be lighter than a parfum, which means that they also do not last as long. You can use Eau de Parfum for up to five hours. 

While this fragrance will have a higher concentration of alcohol and water than parfums do, it still maintains a decent level of essential perfume oils. These products are suitable for everyday wear, and can even suffice for date night. They can even be a good option for people who have sensitive skin, as they contain less alcohol. 

Eau de Parfums are one of the most common types of fragrances. They are pretty high quality, but usually cheaper than perfume. They remain a good choice on the higher end of the fragrance spectrum.

Parfum

This product is also known as “extrait de parfum” or pure perfume. Parfum has the highest concentration of fragrance, with some brands having up to 40% fragrance in each bottle. These often tend to be products that are denser and more oily than others. These are the types of fragrances that are ideal for people with sensitive skin because they contain a lot less alcohol and are less likely to dry out the wearer’s skin.

In a fragrance shop, parfum is easy to identify among the other types of fragrances. They tend to stand out. These products are usually packaged in heavier bottles with ornate stoppers and luxurious design.

Because it has the strongest concentration of fragrances, that also means it will be more expensive than other types. To apply this fragrance, dab it on the pulse points of your body (wrist, neck, behind the ears, inside the elbow, and behind the knees), as opposed to sprayed in multiple areas all over the body.

The scent from a high-end parfum can last up to eight hours.

Attar

Also known as Ittar, Attar are the most concentrated of the fragrances; they are basically essential oils. They are manufactured from botanical sources and distilled with water.

Makers of the best Attar in Dubai will use a wood base like sandalwood or agarwood, and then age the fragrance over time. This process can take up to ten years in some cases.

The final result is a strong, concentrated aroma. You can drop a small amount on your skin and that will be enough to last you the entire day.

What to Look for When Choosing a Scent

With its intoxicating smell that often resembles incense, oud has been used for centuries for manufacturing Oriental fragrances. People all over the world adore its unique and sensual aroma. When you are smelling these perfumes for the first time, however, it can be a bit strong or even overwhelming. 

Don’t let that first impression turn you away from these intense and valued perfumes, though. There is a way to ease into oud if you are experiencing them for the first time. Let the clerk know you are trying oud for the first time. Then, ask if you can test the scent and let it sit for a while. To test out scents, drop a bit of the spritz on your skin, then let it settle for a few minutes. After the perfume has the time to mellow out on your skin, then you can take in the aroma.

Perfumes made from oud have rich, smoky aromas. To make them, oud is extracted from a resin that formed as a reaction to mold on the Asia aquilaria tree. When this tree becomes infected, it produces excess sap that will harden as a resin. Manufacturers will harvest this resin, then distill it into the dark brown oil known as oud. The oud is then diluted with carrier oils to create fragrances to scent rooms and clothes. 

Many perfume manufacturers have brought this cherished ingredient to the mainstream in recent years. While this means that more people are being introduced to oud, it also means that there are replications and dupes that are not as high-quality as luxury brands. 

When you are choosing an oud for yourself, it is important to know what to look for. There are many fakes out there on the market that use synthetic material and are not as valued. Even the real-deal oud brands can vary in quality. When you are ready to start picking out a good quality oud, consider these tips:

  • Good quality oud will have a depth to its scent. It is a unique smell compared to the scents manufactured and sold in America. The various oud scents tend to be bold and take a lot of confidence to wear. Consult with the oud vendor to try out different scents until you find one that matches your style and personality. 
  • Good quality oud will last a long time when applied to the skin. A quality oud will last a long time, even with a small amount of spray. It will continue to work hours after application. Avoid buying an oud perfume that wears away too quickly. 
  • Quality oud shops will allow you to mix and customize your scent. There is an ancient practice of layering fragrances to create new, unique combinations. Ask the clerks and salespeople at the perfume house if you are able to combine fragrances.
  • The scent of many quality ouds will mature with age. This means you can keep it for a long time and use it on special occasions. Just make sure no other ingredients or fragrances enter the bottle, so they do not interfere with the natural component of the oud.

Oud is present in various forms in perfumery. Manufacturers use Agarwood chips from many different places like Cambodia, India, and Malaysia. It may be a fun experience to learn more about the origins of the oud in the perfume you buy from various brands.

Because oud perfumes come from various brands, each will have their own elements of high or low quality. Of course, the quality and variety of ingredients will affect the price you pay. Here is what you can expect from each:

High-end Oud Brands

For the most authentic oud, you will have to spend a little bit more money. For example, one 30ml bottle of Roja Dove can cost you about £795 (~$1,038). Fortunately, though, these well-crafted perfumes are worth the price tag. 

Other high-end brands you can enjoy include Aoud, Killian’s Pure Oud, and Creed’s Royal Oud. Because these brands are on the high-end of ouds, less is more when it comes to application. You don’t have to apply a lot of their oud perfumes in order to get a good, long-lasting scent.

Many mainstream ouds will not have the same qualities as these genuine brands. Real oud is smooth and warm; it does not have the harsh woodiness or smokiness you smell in synthetic versions. It will have a warm undertone with leather and animalic notes.

Middle-grade Ouds

Middle-grade oud perfumes are the most well-known. Brands in this category include Tom Ford’s Oud Wood or Tobacco Oud. These perfumes do not have as high an intensity of the ingredient as the more expensive ones. They tend to be less dramatic and in-your-face. These middle-grade oud perfumes are a great choice for people just getting started. These brands broaden the appeal of oud by incorporating and balancing other ingredients.

When you are being introduced to oud, try Terry’s Terrific Oud. This is a mainstream brand that uses genuine oud and isn’t too harsh on the nose for beginners.

Experimental Ouds

Similar to how a chef combines new ingredients to find interesting and new flavor combinations, perfume manufacturers also play around with their mixtures of oud and other ingredients. Tom Ford’s Private Blend Oud Minérale is a unique combination of aromas. It combines rich, warm wood with notes of salty, marine fragrances. Check out some new, experimental combinations to discover an inspiring perfume that could become your signature scent. 

There are many different brands, types, and qualities of oud perfumes. That’s why it is great to start your oud journey at the Dubai Mall. You can visit many different shops, learn about the various perfume houses, and shop around to find the most unique and special fragrance for you. Make sure to take advantage of the salespeople in the perfume shops. They can guide you through their collection and help you decide on a souvenir to take home.

Explore Other Great Destinations Like Dubai

Dubai is a beautiful destination that many people visit from all around the world. Because of its popularity, the city sees millions of visitors each year. It is home to a rich and unique culture, where you can learn many new things. While you are there, you can discover many great souvenirs and awesome finds to take home with you—or gift a friend!

After deciding on where to buy oud in the Dubai Mall, continue planning your Dubai trip by reading more helpful articles like this one. Get prepared for an amazing time!

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