Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Ali Attar. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Ali , you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
The Perfumist’s confidence came from our belief that whatever goes around comes around. The world is a constant field of energy so whatever we do in it comes back to us, that’s why through our art, perfumery, and passion we try to change the world by showing others the beautiful side of things, specifically scent. From that aspect, our generosity with our work, time, effort, and dedication towards crafting and client service comes from our belief in doing something for the higher good and showing others a more beautiful and appreciative side of life through scent.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
“As early as the 1700s, Sayed Mohammed al-Attar established the House of the Perfumer in Istanbul, Turkey. The title itself (al-attar) means the Perfumist, a family title used in many countries in the middle east distinguishing the profession of making perfumes and natural materials. The name comes from the Arabic, Urdu, and Hindi word “Itr” meaning perfume.
Sayed Mohammed wasn’t originally a perfume maker, he was a religious scholar with an interest in chemistry, botany, and biology. his passion was to learn from the best masters around the world and travel and explore the world to sustain his passion and studies he opened a store for natural materials and perfumes in Istanbul Turkey.
being familiar with the science of chemistry, botany, and biology he started making mixtures as both medications as herbal remedies, and perfumes. Being a devolved man who believed in a fair business and an honest approach to work and life his name got known in the city, as being an honest seller, experienced and knowledgeable.
At that time the ottoman empire was the pinnacle of perfume development and research, and the empire followed the steps of the fathers of perfumery al-kindi and Jabber bin Hayan. even though this was almost a thousand years after Al-kindi and Jabber bin Hayan who have contributed the most to chemistry and perfumery. The Ottomans loved perfumes and many of the sultans were directly involved in the development and the establishment of perfume distilleries.
The Perfumist passion and ability made him a prominent figure in the perfume community then, opening the door for him to meet and sell to the sultan and the royal palace. The sultan admired his dedication and knowledge and decided to give him the title of “The Perfumist of the Sultan” or the perfume maker of the royal Ottoman palace. This was a great honor and privilege as he will be directly interacting with the sultan and his family and be able to research and work with an open budget to make perfumes for the royal palace.
His dream was happening, and he took the best advantage of that as in his life he attempted some of the most difficult and demanding distillation and worked with some of the most intricate and exotic materials. rose, musk, ambergris, oud, and sandalwood. Based on the records his family have he has attempted some of the most challenging perfume distillations.
He traveled to India to learn the arts of distillation and to trade, then to Morocco to explore exotic roses and herbs of the region, Persia, and Yemen, then back to Damascus where he started his first distillery in the old market in Damascus. after many years of traveling and learning he went back to Turkey, got married, and started his second distillery in Istanbul near what is now the grand bazaar area.
He wrote and taught the science and art of perfumery and many of his apprentices moved to other places and regions and become masters themselves, some moved to Baghdad and opened the perfume market in Bagdad which still exists, some moved to Damascus and opened some of the oldest attar shops in the city, and some moved to mecca and Oman.
His teachings were both spiritual and scientific as he believed there is a thin line that can encompass and embrace the heart and the mind where the spirit and the mind can meet in perfumery. He always talked about the old Arabic and Persian poets who used the rose as one of the most important symbols within the mystical Muslim tradition known as Sufism. Rose is also considered a symbol of the prophet Muhammad, therefore, rose oil and rose water are highly esteemed and often used in religious ceremonies and rituals throughout Turkey and the Middle East.
Musk and how the scent of heaven is made from musk and the power and healing properties musk has to the body and the mind. It is not widely known that Each year during the Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca, known as Hajj, the black cloth of the Ka’ba (the holiest shrine in Islam, located at the mosque in Mecca) is sprinkled with rose water brought in from Taif regions in Saudi, Iran or Turkey, and rose oil is burnt in Ka’ba’s oil lamps to emit a rose fragrance to the environment. some of his work is still present in the family archive and considered by many as the crown jewel of the modern attar /perfumery art. that is encompassing ancient methods and the modern scientific approach toward perfumery.
So people may wonder, why the house of the Perfumist is currently in the USA even though it was originally established in Istanbul turkey, the reason is that the current owner and his family all moved to the USA many years ago, where he studied and lived and moved his business, not only to introduce the art of attars and natural perfumery to the world but to be with his family who is currently residing and living in Houston Texas in the USA.
The current owner and mater Perfumist of the house the 6th generation master Ali Attar is still the maker and producer of most of the Perfumist work. Their office in Houston is open for bespoke and private clients by invitation only. They don’t take walk-ins, refuse to have any agents or representatives, and don’t offer their products in any department store.
Most of their work is extremely limited in quantity and extremely high quality, even though the majority of us probably won’t be able to afford any of their exotic and sometimes scented oils and perfumes, but for those who appreciate their work and art and have a passion for this kind of perfumery they are considered the undisputed benchmark of quality.
Their work is a little secretive and mysterious as they rarely promote or advertise their productions, possibly because they produce in so small quantities they are almost always out, but if you manage to get your hand or nose on one of their creations you will realize how different it is. I say different and not better because the truth is their work is one of these things that you even love or hate. Their work is very pungent, extreme, and pure. as they claim that they use the highest quality materials in the world and have lab tests of their products and oils on their website. they also guarantee that their perfumes and attars are pure and not mixed and they issue a hand-signed certification of that with every order personally signed by the owner of the house. talking about the commitment I think that is enough commitment to make them have one of the most loyal following in the niche perfume industry. Visit their website and see how many magazines, representations, and reviewers have spoken about them.”
Published in an article, in collaboration with the Perfumist LLC. USA
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The Five Pillars of The Perfumist
Experience:
Our perfume house was established in Istanbul turkey more than three centuries ago in the 1700s by the great-grandfather of Mr. Ali (the current master perfumist and owner). We are considered by many experts and historians as the oldest existing family-owned perfume house in the world, with an official documented letter from Sultan Mehmed V (the 35th sultan of the Ottoman Empire) in the 1900s.
Knowledge:
The master perfumists of our house over the last 300 years have mixed, distilled, and made over ten thousand different kinds of perfume oil from all around the world, the majority of those oils are now considered officially extinct.
Exoticness:
Our perfumist house has created some of the most extravagant, exotic, and expensive perfume distillations ever attempted in history. With sultans, kings, and presidents sponsoring and supporting the ultimate pursuit of the best perfume, we spared no expense in making and distilling some of the rarest oils in the world.
Exclusivity:
From the 1700s until 2018, we have been making and selling perfumes strictly and exclusively for a very limited clientele based on special requests and fully bespoke creation; on 08/08/2018 we started offering our work and scents to the public, and on the very first day of our launch, we fully sold out on 7 out of the 15 different kinds of oils that we carried (half of our inventory).
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
we belive in community and embrace the power of people in helping and presenting others to the world, our world is getting smaller and more open in matters of communications and media and we would love to have other groups, editors, magazines, and influencers collaborate with us and the present our art and introduce it to more people.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.theperfumist.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.perfumist/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/the.perfumist.house
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/the_perfumist
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@ThePerfumist
- Other: https://www.fragrantica.com/designers/The-Perfumist.html
Image Credits
all images are our personal property and we own all copyrights for.
