Non-alcoholic perfumes see greater demand

Nampally: As the holy month of Ramzan begins, the demand for attar, a non-alcoholic perfume, is on rise. Devout offer prayers in public places, mosques and specially arranged Taraweeh during the holy month, and they prefer to apply attar, the traditional perfume.

Attar is also now available easily near mosques. Shops that sell attar expect good profits in the season, given the fact that most Muslims avoid the use of perfumes, as they contains alcohol and in Islam consumption of alcohol is prohibited. Muslims prefer traditional attar over modern perfumes, especially in the holy month.

The use of attar goes up in the holy month of Ramzan. There are thousands of fragrances of attar available in the market these days. The natural fragrances, however, are only Sandal, Khus, Heena, Oudh, Musk, Muqallat and other types of flowers.

Apart from these, there are thousands of synthetic attars, which are made by mixing natural fragrances, said Mohammed Abdul Faheem, owner of SA United Perfumes, a perfume shop located in Nampally.

Faheem said that the prices of original attars like Oudh range from Rs 2,000 to 25,000. Pure Sandal ranges between Rs 9,000 to Rs 11,000. Musk, which ranges from Rs 1,400 to Rs 10,000, is said to be prepared from a substance with a persistent odour obtained from a gland of male Musk Deer. Ambar, which is made up of whale's vomit, uses in any fragrance as it holds the smell for a long time, MA Faheem said.

Saad Khaled Bin Mehfooz, the owner of Bin Mehfooz Shop, which is located at Moazzam Jahi Market, said that it is possible to make thousands of fragrances by using different combinations of compounds. Attar has a mix of aphrodisiac essence, which gives a soothing effect and plays as an anti-depressant.

Arabic perfumes, such as Mugallat-e-Sultan, Muqallat-Al-Arab, Al-Jawahera, Muqallat-Al-Shams, Hijaar, continue to be in demand. Some of which are combinations of saffron and sandal. The original attars like Oudh that is 60 %, 80 % and 100 % pure range between Rs 2,000 to Rs 25,000. White musk is made up of floral, and it starts from Rs 200 to Rs 1,000.

The prices of other perfumes like Mogra range from Rs 100 to 10,000. One ton of Mogra is used to take out 60 gm of perfume. The price of Sandal starts from Rs 200 to 26,000, and it is made from pure oil of sandal. Gulaab starts from Rs 100 to 10,000.

"The fragrances most commonly used in attar in the season are Mehak, Ehbab, Hijaar, Baksoor, Mehfil, Sandal and Jannat-ul-Firdous.Some of the old fragrances like Shamama, Heena, Suhaag, Amber, Khus, Mitti, Gulab also remain in high demand. Attar commonly used by women is Mehak, Amarage, Mothiya, Gulab, Angel and Suhaag," said owner of Hameed & Co perfumes in Moazzamjahi Market.