Yusuf Muhammad Ali, also known as Yusuf Bhai, is an expert perfume maker in Dubai. He is best known for creating exquisite fragrances. He is extremely famous because he can create any fragrance that he smells. If you want a custom-made perfume, Yusuf can make it according to your preferences. People from around the world come to his shop “Teeb Emirates Perfumes” to get fragrances custom-made.
About Yusuf Bhai
Popularly known as Yusuf Bhai in the streets of Deira, Yusuf has lived in Dubai for more than 35 years. He was originally from Kerala, India and He belongs to a family of perfume artisans, carrying on the family tradition.
After working as a photographer in Qatar, Yusuf Bhai came to Dubai and started a career in perfumery. He joined his brother’s business in Deira selling branded perfumes.
Yusuf Bhai learned the art of fragrance creation from his late older brother. His custom fragrances attract people worldwide. He is not just an owner of a perfume business, but a celebrity Known for his warmth, he brings smiles to faces across the Emirates.
He decided to launch his UAE-based brand where he offered a perfume bar. At the perfume bar, the clients could get fragrances custom made.
Yusuf Bhai calls himself “the doctor of fragrances” and his shop displays various fragrances, from typical citrus to unique scents like karak chai, milk, butter, and chocolate. Customers can mix and match to create personalized blends.
Recreating Memories of loved ones in scents
Many of Yusuf’s clients come to recreate fragrances that they are unable to find or are discontinued. However, Yusuf finds most joy in creating fragrances that remind people of their loved ones.
He shared an instance where a woman came to him from Mauritius to get a scent recreated. She brought a small bottle with residue of perfume in it. The royal family gave that scent to her grandfather which was then passed down to her. She wanted to get it recreated to remember him.
In yet another meeting with a client who was a woman from India and wanted to get her late husband’s perfume recreated. The scent was too dear for her and she was unwilling to give it to Yusuf. However, after convincing her Yusuf got the scent created and recalls the woman crying when he recreated the scent.
Recreation is often difficult
According to Yusuf, some scents are difficult to recreate exactly the way the original is. If a perfume is kept for ten years or more, the alcohol kills the perfume. In such a case, Yusuf and his team focus extra hard to determine the exact scent.
What success means to him
For Yusuf success is when he sees a tear in a client’s eyes because the scent that he created reminds them of their loved ones. For him bringing memory to someone is the best success.
Sweet smells from Yusuf’s childhood
Yusuf also finds solace in the fragrances of his childhood, which bring cherished memories of days gone by. He was hyper-aware of the smells in his surroundings.
Growing up in Kerala, India, Madappen’s childhood was filled with the delightful scents of mangoes and pineapples from nearby orchards, and the sweet fragrance of jasmine flowers in his mother’s garden. These memories remain close to his heart.
He is from the coastal town of Chavakkad in Thrissur City where his father worked at the fish market. He remembers the scent of the ocean and how his father would apply perfume to mask the scent of fish.
Even now when he gets ready to work he applies perfume on his signature fedora. A scent which he recreated to remind him of his father.
The Art of Perfume Mixing
Yusuf shares the different elements of a perfume and the skill required to create one, whether he’s recreating a scent or experimenting with a new perfume for his brand.
According to him, you smell the alcohol content as soon as you spray the perfume. Then, the top note like lime stays for approximately 15 minutes.
Then you smell the middle not which can be smelled from 20 minutes to an hour after spraying such as leather or musk.
Lastly, you smell the base note for example vanilla which stays for the rest of the period.
The notes at the top are highly volatile which means that they evaporate faster while the bottom notes do not and hence last longer.
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