Rasasi has been making fragrances in Dubai since 1979, and it sits at the more polished end of Arabian perfumery. The house built its reputation on oud, oils and attars long before it became known internationally, and it now runs one of the largest catalogues in the region, working with established European perfumers alongside its own blenders. Where a lot of Middle Eastern houses chase raw intensity, Rasasi tends towards smooth, well-blended compositions that wear like designer fragrances but perform considerably better.

The Hawas line is what made the name global. Released in 2015, the original Hawas is a fresh aquatic built on apple, bergamot and cinnamon over a watery plum heart, finishing on ambergris, musk and driftwood. It has spent a decade as one of the most recommended Arabian fragrances at any price, and every flanker since has been measured against it. It is also the sweetest of the core range, which is worth knowing before you buy.

The flankers are genuinely different fragrances, not minor variations. Hawas Ice sharpens the formula with Italian lemon, Sicilian bergamot and star anise, and it is the pick if the original reads too sweet for you. Hawas Fire goes the opposite way, a bold sweet-and-salty composition on clary sage, Egyptian jasmine and amber with the biggest projection in the line. Hawas Tropical abandons the template entirely for coconut water, fig and mint, and it is one of the better warm-weather bottles we stock. Hawas Malibu opens on tart pineapple and grapefruit before turning powdery and soft. And Hawas Elixir is the outlier: a cold-weather herbal gourmand of spearmint, dark chocolate and vanilla with nothing aquatic in it at all.

Beyond Hawas, the house runs separate ranges including the Duo Collection, home to Rafan, a salty aquatic built on sea salt, seaweed and vetiver that wears cleaner and quieter than anything in the Hawas family.

What Rasasi does well. Performance is the consistent story. Eight to ten hours is normal across the range, often longer on clothing, and projection runs generous through the opening hours. The blending is clean rather than rough, which is why these fragrances suit office and daily wear as comfortably as evenings.

One thing to watch. Rasasi releases quickly and the note lists published by third-party retailers are frequently wrong, with pyramids from one Hawas regularly appearing on the listing for another. Every note list in this collection has been checked against Rasasi’s own published pyramids and Fragrantica, and where sources disagree we say so on the product page.

Every bottle here is genuine, covered by our authenticity guarantee and shipped from our own UK warehouse with same day dispatch before 2pm on working days. Explore related edits including Fresh & Citrus, Oud & Woody and Arabian Fragrances.