DUBAI — The Gulf’s biggest fragrance market is getting a niche perfumery show of its own.
Messe Frankfurt Middle East, which organizes Beauty World Dubai, will debut Notes Dubai, a trade fair for niche, independent and artistic fragrance, taking place Jan. 21 to 23 at the Dubai Mall Exhibition Center. It is the sister event to Notes Shanghai, the organizer’s niche perfumery platform in Asia.
The organizer revealed “Genesis” as the theme of the first edition on Tuesday in Cannes, during TFWA World Exhibition & Conference.
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Notes Dubai is being positioned as a curated alternative to a conventional trade show. Its mission is to connect heritage houses and independent perfumers with retailers, distributors and buyers in a market where, by the organizer’s count, fragrance makes up 49 percent of luxury beauty spending.
“Dubai has the consumers, the houses, the retail and the taste of one of the world’s great fragrance cities, but never a niche perfumery show to call its own, until now,” said Ravi Ramchandani, event director of both Notes Dubai and Beauty World Dubai.
The “Genesis” theme centers on how a fragrance comes into being, from an idea or memory to raw materials, first accords and the moment it is first worn. The organizer said the theme also reflects the fair’s own start.
“Regional brands have long competed on the world stage; what they haven’t had is a platform of that same caliber on home ground. For international houses, Notes Dubai opens the door to one of the highest-spending beauty markets anywhere, and an audience as fragrance-literate as any in the world,” Ramchandani said.
The event in Cannes also celebrated the launch of the Overdrive collection by Paradis Des Sens, a niche fragrance house that designs scents around specific emotional and sensory states. Their new collection includes Valhalla Extreme and Felicity Extreme, more concentrated extrait versions of two of the house’s signature fragrances.
For Notes Dubai, the evening was a preview of what is to come at the fair in January. Organizers want the show to be a place where independent houses can unveil new scents directly to the retailers and distributors who decide what reaches shelves. “Our collaboration with Notes Dubai brought together partners, retailers, industry friends and the wider fragrance community, making the launch of Valhalla Extreme and Felicity Extreme even more significant,” said Mohamad Saleh, cofounder of Paradis Des Sens.
The show arrives as the Gulf’s fragrance culture is going global. Arabian fragrances, the oud-, musk- and amber-heavy perfumes rooted in Gulf tradition, reached $4.9 billion in retail sales worldwide in 2025, according to Euromonitor International. That is up from $2.8 billion in 2023. About $2.9 billion of those sales were made in the GCC, with Saudi Arabia accounting for the majority. Online sales of the category grew 50 percent last year, led by brands such as Lattafa. Notes Dubai is betting the region’s next wave of perfumers will want to be discovered on home ground.
