São Paulo – Patchouli, amber, oud, musk, jasmine and sandalwood fragrances are not usually the most worn by men and women in Brazil, but this Wednesday (23rd) the city of São Paulo welcomed new scents with the inauguration of Al Zahra, store dedicated to sales of perfumes from the Middle East.
The place is owned by Brazilian businesswoman Julia De Biase. Since 2013, she imports and sells the fragrances by the brand Asgharali, from Bahrain, in stores in São Paulo and in the state. The perfumes available in the new store are from this brand, but De Biase plans to diversify the range of products offered.
“This year I visited again the Middle East and talked to some businessmen from the sector. We will have perfumes from the Middle East with typical fragrances from the region. The goal is to bring brands from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Bahrain, Jordan and some brands by French perfumeries that adopt the same Eastern line”, explains the businesswoman.
She says that, unlike the West, in the Arab world there isn’t a clear separation between men’s and women’s fragrances. However, according to Brazilian preferences, the businesswoman believes that there are around 50 women’s and 10 men’s fragrances in her store. Besides perfumes, Al Zahra sells bakhoor, a type of coal used as incense, and Arab incense burnersdecorated with gemstones that can be used as nice interior decoration pieces.
The perfume cases are an attraction in themselves at Al Zahra. Shaped after daggers and jars, among others, and covered with colored stones, the cases are the first items to draw the attention of those entering the store. “Perfume in the East is like a jewelry, just like gold, therefore the cases are very beautiful”, says De Biase.
The fixation of the Arab perfumes, says De Biase, is also better than the majority of the Western fragrances. “The [Arab] ‘eau de parfum’, normally, is very similar to the European perfume. It lasts about five to six hours. Now, the concentrated perfume, you apply in the morning and it stays on your skin for 24 hours. The concentrated perfume doesn’t contain any alcohol. The more alcohol in the perfume, the less it stays in your skin”, points out the businesswoman.
Besides the different scents, the Al Zahra’s perfumes vary in their presentations. In the store, the perfumes can be found in the traditional spray format, with liquid perfume, but there are also the concentrated perfumes, which are essential oils, and the solid perfumes, in cream form.
Business
According to De Biase, the average sales of the fragrances by Asgharali in Brazil stand at five thousand perfumes per year. “They are very expensive perfumes, unique scents. I explain and give a class on Eastern perfumery to my clients because they have to understand what they are buying”, says the businesswoman. Until the opening of her own store, the fragrances were sold at 13 points of sale, which will continue to offer the Arab perfumes.
At Al Zahra, the prices of the perfumes go from R$ 400 (US$ 96.41) to R$ 4,000 (US$ 964). “The Oud Pure is the most expensive. There isn’t anything but oud in the fragrance. It’s a strong perfume, synonymous with power. The oud comes from a tree, and the extraction of its resin takes 40 years. You extract the substance and it’s transformed into an essential oil”, says De Biase.
Besides new stores in Brazil, De Biase plans to open points of sale in other South American countries, such as Chile, Peru and Uruguay.
Contact
Al Zahra
Address: Rua Melo Alves, 490, Jardins, São Paulo – SP
Website: www.itsalzahra.com
Phone: +55 (11) 3857-7523
*Translated by Sérgio Kakitani
