The problem with ‘Arabian’ Oud
Jul 1st, 2008 by Ensar
I received a threat email today, stating that if I do not make amends for my statement regarding “the Arabs, with their synthetic Oud ‘mukhallats’,” some really bad publicity would ensue.
The frustrated mukhallat partisan goes on to say: “I feel this is not telling the truth, as you probably know that ‘mukhallat’ means mixture, not ‘synthetic’. This is a disservice to the people who have established a long tradition of unique attars, as many have used the word Mukhallat and their product contains real Oud. Yes, I know many of them are synthetic, but it is not fair on your part to make such a blanket statement which will influence the minds of many who have not experienced the tradition of Arabian perfume.”
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Dear Mukhallat Friend,
Kind greetings! I am very familiar with the Arab Agar Bazaar, and all the Dubai-based Oud companies they deal with: Haramain, Ajmal, Al Qurashi, etc. I have been at the office of the chief Oud supplier in Dubai, who all of these companies purchase from, and I am very familiar with the Oud they offer, as well as their business philosophy.
Their marketing strategy is what we call the Madison Avenue approach. In a nutshell, what it entails is that the packaging of the product is more costly, elaborate and presentable than the product itself. It is all hype meant to capture the imagination, with little reality to it. These companies dilute their Agarwood oils with DOP – a colorless, scentless (and yes, synthetic) invention of the Indians which blends with it perfectly, without altering its scent or consistency.
As for their perfumes (aka “mukhallat”), the above-mentioned Oud merchant and CEO of the company which I visited openly confessed to me that it is impossible to manufacture natural perfumes – and still make money.
As sad as it is, you will find a far better source for these historically Muslim attars in the West than you will in the Middle East or the Gulf countries, where synthetics and chemicals are the rule. All of the so-called “Oud” companies mentioned above – I would not touch their products with a stick, let alone put them on my skin.
Skin is porous, my dear friend; whatever you put on it, it absorbs. This is why cream quickly disappears from it once applied; it all gets absorbed into your system. So those who know better will apply only pure Oud on their skin, and no “mukhallats”. In any case, once you get into the naturals it is impossible to go back to synthetics.
In the end, your nose will educate you profoundly. You will not be able to bear the smell of anything compounded of synthetic chemicals. They will stick in your nose like glue and create a really uncomfortable feeling. They may smell good for a minute or two but then they begin to fall apart. A true essence is a harmonious unit from beginning to end. Each one has a unique personality which you often have to study individually over the course of many days. In the end, it really depends on the purity of our own understanding and heart.
Kind regards,
Ensar
Dear Brother,
Assalaamu alaikum. There is a lot to say on the present olfactory culture of the Arabs, on their glorious past and on their somehow less glorious present, and on the responsibility of their merchants’ “philosophy” for their completely biased, distorted and perverted taste in perfumes. They just do not like it if it is not synthetic, and they do not at all like anything natural, except Oud and Rose, which most of them prefer anyway if it is heavily doctored with a synthetic musk of some kind.
There is a spirituality in perfumes that was taught to us by the Arabs of the past. In fact, love of perfumes is a sign of spirituality, it shows the capacity of a person to enjoy heavenly pleasures as well, not only material ones. The power of perfume to provoke emotions is true only to the measure in which a person can contain emotions.
The love of naturals is an education and I have seen many people who can no longer stand synthetics after having been used to naturals, but the innate love of naturals, so much lacking in the Arab people as a whole, is not only an education, it springs from a quality of the soul that makes you recognize truth when you meet it.
These observations are from a perfumer who, like you, traveled a lot in the Middle East; who, like you, enjoyed the grand hospitality of the Arabs, their generosity and their nobility of character. Our Arab brothers have a lot to teach us new Muslims, but in perfumery, they have to learn from us natural perfumers, who are reviving the antique Arabic tradition of the “medic-perfumer.” The chemical horrors that the European and Asian producers are showering on them is not only poisoning their bodies, but also their heart.