I remember when I met Afnan perfumes for thefirst time. It was in Dubai, in some shopping place – maybe it was a local mall with a supermarket, or perhapsDubai Mall. I was spending some time there, after anexhibition at night, when a beautiful lady came to me with a perfumed blotter. It smelled great – but I definitely knew its very characteristic smell. For the new collection Afnan Edict, asanotherexample,we also tried to be innovative, working without any connections to other fragrances, but you know, consumers are trying to link everything with other perfumes and will always find a similarity withsomething else.Think of Hacivat by Nishane, for example; maybe they did not have Aventus Creed in mind when they created the perfume – but consumers still connect Hacivat to Aventus first. In the same way, people often try to link fragrancesfrom UAE to other well-known perfumes.

SERGEY: Let me ask you – what do you prefer to wear yourself? Do you wear Afnan perfumes or some other niche or luxury brands? SERGEY BORISOV: Dear Mr. Fazlani, I am Russian and, like most of us, a very straightforward person. Please don't take it personally. People say that Afnan perfumesare similar to or remind them of other popular perfumes. What's your answer to that?We started to work with a French perfumer on the projectwho knew which ingredients I wanted to be featured. And guess what – we made it out of these ingredients, and now people are telling me that 9PM is similar to Ultra Male Jean-Paul Gaultier. And I have never tried Ultra Male; Idon't know the fragrance! That came as a surpriseto me… Maybe the perfumer of Ultra Male had the same ideas as me? Or the same panel of ingredients? IMRAN FAZLANI: It is a fact; we are a perfume house that is not a hundred years old. We werenot a companyventuring into the industry with a niche brand or creating surprisingly new fragrances. Most UAE brands are offeringinspired fragrances, and I think that's becauseit's the easiest way to enter the industry and a good way to start a business. But once we set foot in the industry and spentthe next15 years exploring the market of fine fragrances out of our passion,we learned so much about fragrances that now, we try to come up with fresh and new ideas. The perfumes you findin our Highness Collectioncome from very fresh and original ideas. Our new perfume Tribute Blue is not inspired by any other creation, and it's one of our most successful fragrances. You would not be able to link it with any other fragrance, as it's very creative!

Dubai — Afnan Perfumes, a brand built from the passion and the sensory expertise of its owner Imran Fazlani, proudly relaunched Highness, an exclusive perfume collection. Following its international success, Afnan perfumes decided to re-introduce the fragrance into the Middle East bringing the sense of royalty into the market.IMRAN: I am not theperfumer, but in a way, I am the nose of Afnan. You could call it art director or creative director- I am the one who selects the fragrances to launch. And also, I give perfumers the direction of where I want to go and what I want to explore, and we go over all the changes, twists, and modifications. One of them, Supremacy Silver by Afnan, was afinalist in the BeautyWorld Middle East Awards 2020. So we went through trying a fewmore Afnan fragrances and spentsome time talking about perfumes, and I left feeling that perfumery in UAE is a thrivingbusiness. This year, at BeautyWorld Middle East 2022,I met with Mr. Imran Fazlani, the managing and creative director of Afnan Perfumes, and I started with the following question. IMRAN: Yes, of course! And I expect my consumer to be loyal to me because our fragrances prove to be super-efficient and the prices very good. IMRAN: I like my perfumes, and I ONLY wear my own fragrances. Like His Highness Green by Afnan, it's a more mature fragrance, or Tribute Blue by Afnan, which is more fresh and young. These two are my favorite fragrances. IMRAN: This year, we will launch 9AM Dive, a new morning fragrance to last all day – a fresh, clean scent with a sweet nuance to be with you all day. I love this fragrance – even though you could find other fragrances featuredin it. Bleu de Chanel, Sauvage, Invictus – whatever comes to your head.