AbdesSalaam Attar - The Scents of the Soul has a creative genius behind it, Dominique Dubrana.  Dubrana was raised in France, is a Sufi convert, and spends much of his time in his lab in Italy working with rows of natural essences and tinctures creating unique fragrances. The New York Times did a wonderful article on Dominique Dubrana and AbdesSalaam Attar.

Everything used for AbdesSalaam Attar is natural, there are no synthetics used in any of his fragrances.  Dominique taught himself perfumery, following his fascination with smells.  He did not intentionally set out to be a completely natural perfumer, but as he studied and worked with the raw materials, he found that natural essences were the ones that gave him the most beautiful smells.  He says - "I chose to make natural perfumes as someone chooses to work with precious metals and rare gems instead of plastic beads and pearls of colored glass."

AbdesSalaam Attars are entirely handcrafted at Dominique's perfume shop in Rimini, Italy, where he lives with his wife and two daughters.

His approach to getting AbdesSalaam Attars (The Scents of the Soul) into the hands of the public has been unique.  Some of his perfumes are a result of working on projects publicly on Basenotes, enlisting those interested in fragrance to give input as he creates, sending out a new round of samples for them to try, they give feedback, and it's back to the studio to create, adjust, hone his artistry, and another round is sent out. (Oud Caravan #3 and Tawaf)

Dominique Dubrana is an artist, and an artist at work in an area of perfumery that used to be looked down upon as a craft and not art.  Luca Turin, author of "Perfumes: The Guide" had this to say about Dominique's work with AbdesSalaam Attar The Scents of the Soul -  “He’s one of these very rare examples of a natural-born perfumer. He seems to be incredibly sure-footed, in a way which reminds me of François Coty. There are dozens of all-natural perfumers; I don’t pay much attention to them, because every time I do I get a bunch of hideous crap. But I love his fragrances. I don’t think anyone can touch him in the field of natural perfumery.”

Try an AbdesSalaam Attar Mecca Balsam sample as an example of one of the best perfumes in this line, highly reviewed on perfume blogs.  Try an AbdesSalaam Attar Tawaf sample as an example of a great indolic floral. 

You can buy full bottles of the AbdesSalaam Attar - The Scents of the Soul directly from their website.

You can find AbdesSalaam Attar Perfume Reviews at:   Basenotes