Sweet, dense and loud at a low price — the Gulf house that social media carried far beyond the Gulf.
Overview
Lattafa Perfumes is a family-owned fragrance house from the United Arab Emirates. Its own account and the trade press trace it to Dubai in the 1980s and to two founders, Sheikh Shahid Ahmad and Shoaib Iqbal. It sells Arabian-style perfume at low prices and in very large numbers.
Its best-known release is Khamrah (2022), a spiced gourmand built on cinnamon, dates and vanilla. Every Lattafa fragrance I track is in the Catalog.
Founding and early history
The founding date differs by source. Luxus Magazine gives 1980 and Dubai. The house’s United States site says only “the 1980s”. The Polish trade title Wiadomości Kosmetyczne gives the fullest sequence: a family distribution company called Fakhruddin Holdings from the 1960s, the first Lattafa perfumes in 1980 and the Lattafa brand itself in 1992.
All three name the same founders. Wiadomości Kosmetyczne adds that Sheikh Shahid Ahmad came to Dubai from Pakistan and spent thirteen years in a perfume shop run by his uncle. Luxus Magazine describes a business now run by three generations of his family. The name is usually explained as an Arabic word for gentle or pleasant.
Wiadomości Kosmetyczne places the headquarters in Sharjah. It describes the early range as affordable perfume for local customers, built on oud and rose with incense and musk. Export came next: Africa and Asia first, then Europe.
The documented catalogue starts later than the company. The earliest launches I can date from two sources belong to 2014, though Fragrantica lists a first edition in 2000. For the longer story of perfume in the region, see the History of Perfume.
House style
The house style is sweetness, density and volume. A typical Lattafa composition sets a loud gourmand or amber accord over oud, saffron or rose. Vanilla, tonka bean and musk fill the base.
The range has moved in the last few years. The launches of 2014 to 2018 lean on oud, leather and rose in the Gulf manner. Since 2022 the centre of gravity is dessert: praline, caramel, pistachio and whipped cream. A sub-line called Give Me Gourmand makes the point in its name.
Khamrah is the type case. Its published notes run from cinnamon and nutmeg through a dates accord and praline to vanilla and benzoin.
The recurring criticism is resemblance. Reviewers routinely compare Khamrah with Angels’ Share by Kilian, and much of the catalogue invites the same kind of comparison with costlier perfumes.
The bottles are part of the proposition. Wiadomości Kosmetyczne describes oriental motifs, gold or silver accents and Arabic inscriptions.
Key fragrances
Perfumers
Lattafa rarely credits its perfumers. No name is published for Khamrah, Yara or Asad. I record all three as not credited, along with most of the catalogue.
That began to change in 2023 and 2024. Fragrantica and Parfumo both credit Quentin Bisch for Teriaq and Teriaq Intense, Fanny Bal for Asad Zanzibar and Alex Lee for Sondos and Dynasty. Both also credit Dalia Izem, Nanako Ogi, Nisrine Bouazzaoui Grillié and Jordi Fernández on recent launches. Fahad (2026) is credited to Gaël Montero and Christophe Raynaud.
Several other names rest on Fragrantica alone: Paul Guerlain, Julien Rasquinet, Kevin Mathys and Wesley Perumal.
The house’s own note lists point the same way. They name Akigalawood, Ambrofix and Mahonial, which are trade names of Givaudan materials.
Ownership and business history
Lattafa is not a licence and does not belong to a beauty group. Every source I have describes a family company that develops and sells its own perfume. I have found no published revenue figure and I give none.
Reach is easier to document, though the numbers come from the house. Luxus Magazine reported more than 60 countries. The United States site says more than 120, and a 2024 advertiser feature in Gulf News says 140.
That Gulf News feature credits social media for the growth. It quotes Emaan Shoaib, head of social media and digital marketing, saying the loyal customer base grew tenfold after the digital push. It also claims 338 million views on TikTok and two fragrances among Amazon’s top ten bestsellers. These are the company’s claims in paid content and I have not found independent confirmation.
The range is split into labels. Lattafa Pride is sold as a second brand on the house’s own sites, and Fragrantica lists a further label called Asdaaf. In Poland the perfumes reach shoppers through retail chains: Wiadomości Kosmetyczne names Douglas, Hebe, Notino and Super-Pharm.
Present position
Lattafa today is a high-volume house with a very fast launch rate. Fragrantica lists 396 perfumes under the name and Parfumo lists 446. I can date more than twenty launches to 2026 alone.
The successful names have become families. Khamrah, Yara, Asad and Eclaire each carry flankers. Fragrantica also records a collection for children in 2024. Many older perfumes have left the house’s own site.
Price is the constant. Wiadomości Kosmetyczne put a 100 ml bottle at roughly 60 to 100 złoty in Poland in 2025. The same article notes that the house reads as budget perfume in the Gulf and as something closer to luxury in Europe.
Historical assessment
I think Lattafa matters for what it did to price. It showed a very large audience that a dense, long-lasting perfume in a heavy bottle could cost a fraction of a designer one.
The cost of that achievement is originality. Too much of the catalogue is easiest to describe by naming a more expensive perfume, and a house that launches this often cannot give each one a reason to exist.
Khamrah is the one I would keep. Whatever it owes to others, it is a well-judged spiced gourmand and it carried a Gulf name a long way from the Gulf.
The decision to name perfumers is the most interesting recent turn. If it continues, Lattafa will be judged as a perfume house rather than as a price.