JEDDAH: Expert perfumer Albraa Adnan Ismail, 33, has had a passion for perfumes since a young age.
Growing up, he experimented with aromatic components to create perfumes and read many books on perfumery. With the support of his family, he enhanced his skills and, after years of experience in the field, launched his brand “Albraa Ismail” in 2016.
The Arabian perfumery store is based at the Casablanca hotel on Saqr Quraish Street in Jeddah’s Al-Salamah district.
The perfumery attracted more than 1,400 customers in its first year “and the number increases each year,” said Ismail.
The perfumery uses social media to market its products, and can be found on Instagram (@albraaismailshop).
Ismail plans to expand his reach to other Gulf countries. “It has been carefully studied and planned out,” he told Arab News.
“Perfumery takes more precision than surgery,” he said. “If you accidentally add one extra drop or two, the scent will change and you will end up with a different perfume product.”
He explained that a flower’s scent could differ depending on where it grows even though it is the same flower.
“For example, the damask rose grows in Taif, Istanbul, Bulgaria, Damascus and India, but they all have a different scent, depending on where they grow,” said Ismail.
Different types of perfumes with different components take different time periods to ferment.
“Flowers take the longest to ferment in perfume, where agarwood takes a shorter time. The shortest time period for the fermentation process is three days.” Ismail told Arab News.
“Of course, the longer the perfume ferments, the better the result.”
The perfumer said it is his dream to create a perfume for Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
“It would be an honor to create a perfume for the crown prince. I wish to have an opportunity to meet him, get to know his personality and his preferences in perfumes,” said Ismail.
