There are different kinds of attars, and knowing about it will enable you to know its characteristics. This leads you to choose clearly the One that is truly right for you.
Upon researching attars, it led me to find the kind of Attar that would be the most appealing to me and the One that would mesmerize me the most. It is made of botanicals, hence natural and understated yet Enticing.
As of the moment of writing, I don’t have an Attar in my ‘kit’ because Attar is being produced in India and middle East Countries. But this does not mean it would prevent me from loving and knowing more about Attars. Reading articles, made me understand Botanical attar ingredients. Being familiar with Essentail oils and heart notes, base notes, and top notes enabled me to envision Attar fragrance and understand the relationship between oils and botanicals in it.
Attars are said to be richly aromatic and their scent’s uniqueness depends on the botanical or natural ingredient used. Their fragrance varies from floral, grassy, woodsy, musky, and smoky notes. (1) Some of its materials are sourced from plant and animal origins. (2) and some of it’s natural materials are cultivated, while some are from nature. (3) Attar’s fragrance is achieved through the blending and maturing of its raw materials. (2) and there are different kinds of attars based on the raw materials used (3)
Types of Attars
1. Floral Attars
This kind of attar is produced by using single specie of flower (3) that’s distilled with oil. This is perfect for people who love to have only One kind of floral fragrance in their perfume.
2. Herbal and Spicy Attars
This Attar is a blend of different natural ingredients of floral, herbal, and spicy materials. (3) It is more complex that even for someone who has a discerning nose, it would be challenging for that person to identify the aromatic botanicals used in it as the ingredients blend well together.
3. Petrichor Attar
Also called as “attar mitti,” this type of attar smells like petrichor or the earth’s scent after a rainfall (1) This is achieved by using half-baked alluvial clay in the distillation (1,3). Its scent is described as smoky, and dumpy. (1) Depending on the other raw materials added it could also have a sweet and spicy odor.
4. animal-scented attar
The other kind of attar smells animalistic. They use musk which is derived from the Himalayas mature male deer – Moschus moschiferus. (4) Its scent is obtained by killing deers (4) while its synthetic scent is known as “white” musk’. (4) The other source is from the Ambergris, or Anbar which is the excreted sperm of whales. (4)
Behind every Perfume are stories that are untold, and some are in process of emerging. Perfume stories continue to evolve. This is the reason, why people are so drawn to Certain fragrances. In other parts of the world, there are Fragrances that are so rare that you patiently and hope to have. The distance where Attar is being produced might be too far, but I’m glad that its history connects us and continue to inspire us and makes me look forward to having my own real Attar.
May this post be a guide for you to understand ‘attar’ and clearly choose The One for you and never doubt that it’s the right choice for ‘you’
Harmonize Authentic and Natural ingredients ❤
References:
- (1) How did Kannauj Become a perfume capital https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/how-did-kannauj-become-a-perfume-capital
- (2) Marwah J. Historical Study of Attars and essence making in Kannauj: Research Report
- (3) Raj M. Technological Interventions in Improving Kannauj Attar (Perfume) Craft as per the Perceptions of the Perfume-makers and Experts from S&T Institutions and Industry. Alternative Futures. 2018
- (4) Ittar https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ittar
Oil Therapy 