Egyptian Oils And Perfumes

Egypt is most famous for its Pyramids, the Nile Cruise and the fabulous Red Sea. However, a lot of tourists seem to miss out on the fine perfumes that are available here. We were in Egypt last month and our guide arranged a visit to one of the Perfume factories in Giza. This particular factory was just walking distance away from the Pyramids and a much welcome respite from the heat!

Upon entering the cool air conditioned perfumery, we were first seated and shown how glass was blown to make exquisite perfume bottles. These bottles come in various shapes, sizes and beautiful colours like emerald green, royal purple, pretty pinks etc. and are found all over Egypt. Later we were taken into another room by a pretty young perfume factory guide sporting a French accent. As she handed us a list of perfumes I remember telling my hubby that strong scents gave me a headache and that I wasn’t interested in buying local perfumes. Little did I know then that I was in for a pleasant surprise. The perfume guide began explaining to us the different aromas listed in the brochure. She started with various essential oils like Sandalwood, Lavender and Peppermint which possess healing medicinal properties followed by single flower oils of which the Lotus Flower Oil and the Papyrus Oil were the most popular. Jars of oils were passed on to us and we were encouraged to dab a few drops on our wrists and sample the fragrances. The Papyrus Oil had a light musky fragrance whereas the Lotus Flower Oil was light, feminine and lily-ish. After this our perfume guide handed us a long list of blended oils. She told us that she had oils similar to any popular designer fragrance right from Dior to Chanel and everything in between. Not thinking much of it I asked to sample something similar to one of my all time favourite perfume - Clinique Happy. The guide confidently fetched a big jar of oil and dabbed a little onto my wrist, and I must say it was exactly identical to Clinique Happy! After this there was no looking back. Me and my hubby sampled many a oils including one which claimed to be an aphrodisiac used by Cleopatra herself. Our guide even went as far as explaining how and where this potent oil was to be worn! However, Ramses II and Secret of the Desert are the most sought after Egyptian Fragrances. All these oils are 100% natural, undiluted by aqua or alcohol and are extremely fresh and reasonably priced as compared to their Western counterparts. We were told that it took hundreds of flowers just to create a few drops of oil and that these exotic oils are not exported to other countries.We were absolutely spoilt for choice by our perfume guide who kept enticing us with a wide variety of these dreamy fragrances fabricating even dreamier tales around each one of them as we sipped on cool hibiscus tea. She even offered to throw in a couple of  pretty glass perfume containers free and we ended up purchasing about five bottles of perfumes.

We came out of the cool confines of the Perfumery into the scorching sun feeling extremely refreshed and shop happy. A visit to an Egyptian Perfumery offers a glimpse into the country's sensuous past and is an experience like no other!

{image source unknown}