Every conceivable perfume is available in the UAE. Large perfume stores sell all the Western brands at very good prices. Smaller shops in the souqs stock local perfumes, a fragrant mix of Arabian oil blended to suit your requirements, but beware they are strong! You can also purchase incense such as frankincense.

Arabic perfumes or attar are very strong and spicy, unlike western perfumes, which tend to be flowery and light. You can find perfume in shopping centres, but the best place to buy perfume is the Perfume Souq. A little word of caution: Arabic perfumes are oil based and they can leave a mark on your clothes. The perfume shops usually sell and enormous amount of incense, which can be in form of compressed powder, crystal, rock or wood. Frankincense is probably the most common type of incense.

Arabic perfumes are very strong and spicy, in contrast to light floral western perfumes. Bargaining is the norm in all of the souks but bear in mind that most of the stalls are closed from 1200hrs to 1700hrs.

At the Perfume Souk you can literally find thousands of aromas, and even if you can't find the one that you want, shopkeepers would be able to conjure up a unique concoction that suits your tastes exactly.