Heritage
A house, in its own words
Anfasic began in 2005 when entrepreneur Mohamed Hilal decided to translate his lifelong fascination with Arabian incense into a commercial venture. Hilal, who later founded Hind Al Oud and Khaltat, opened the brand’s first boutique in April 2007 at Mercato Mall in Dubai. The store’s interior broke conventional retail layouts, featuring open shelving and a minimalist palette that highlighted the raw materials. Within a few years the brand expanded its footprint to major malls in Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Oman, establishing a network of outlets that catered to a growing demand for niche Gulf scents. In 2012 the house released Shay Rouge, a limited‑edition fragrance sold exclusively at Galeries, marking its first collaboration with a high‑end department store. Over the next decade Anfasic introduced a series of seasonal releases – Shay Being, Shay Touch, and the November and May 18th collections – each anchored to a specific date that reflects a personal or cultural milestone. The brand’s growth has been documented in regional trade publications and in the Notes Shanghai 2026 brand spotlight, which highlighted Anfasic’s role in bridging Emirati perfumery heritage with modern design sensibilities. Today the house remains privately held, operating out of Dubai while maintaining a production pipeline that sources raw ingredients from traditional incense markets in the Middle East and from sustainable farms in South Asia. Anfasic treats scent as a conduit for memory, emotion and identity. The house believes that a fragrance should capture a moment as clearly as a photograph, allowing the wearer to revisit a place or feeling without words. Its creative vision emphasizes the dialogue between ancient Arabian incense rituals and contemporary lifestyle contexts. Anfasic selects themes that reference dates, personal narratives or regional landmarks, then translates those ideas into olfactory form through a disciplined composition process. The brand values transparency in ingredient sourcing, supporting local harvesters of frankincense, myrrh and oud while also integrating responsibly grown botanicals from overseas farms. Sustainability informs packaging decisions, and the company strives to minimize waste by using recyclable glass and metal components. Community engagement appears in the form of scent workshops held in its Dubai flagship, where visitors learn about the cultural roots of incense and the technical steps of perfume creation. By foregrounding story‑driven development, Anfasic aims to foster a deeper connection between scent and the individual’s lived experience.