Bidiya teen scents opportunity in handmade perfumes
Bidiya, with its windswept desert expanses peppered with lush oases, is a far cry from the exotic world of luxury perfumes and exotic fragrances. Yet, in an urban corner of this wilayat — best known for its camel rearing traditions and natural attractions — a high school student is already charting for herself a successful future around artisanal perfumery.
Demure and soft-spoken, Medhawi bint Fahad al Hajriyah, hardly looks suited to the world of haute couture. Yet, the 15-year-old budding entrepreneur already has a small, but promising, product portfolio to her name, complete with stylish, internationalclass brand, logo and packaging.
It all began two years ago when Medhawi joined hands with her classmate to compete in the annual Injaz Oman programme — a competition that recognises and rewards young Omanis with a business or entrepreneurial mindset. Medhawi’s entry — handmade Omani perfumes and soaps — did not make the cut, but it ignited in her an unremitting fascination for all things perfumed and fragrant.
“I was barely 13 then! But the realisation that you could mix and match essences to create out-of-this-world fragrances opened my eyes to the potential for a full-scale business opportunity centred around perfumery’’, said Medhawi.
Thus, what started out as a mundane curricular activity has since burgeoned into a full-blown entrepreneurial pursuit for the young girl. Weekends and holidays are now spent in what passes as a rudimentary home lab featuring neat rows of bottles of raw ingredients — fragrant essential oils, aroma compounds, fixatives, solvents and other exotica.
An exciting two-year journey of creativity, experimentation and discovery has since given birth to ‘Medhawi’ — a handmade Omani perfume brand named after its young creator. Available in nine different fragrances, the product is marketed in 50, 75 and 100ml sizes. The median price is around RO 7 per 50ml size. High quality bottles and elegant packaging have helped position the brand in the premium category just below the luxury range.
A signature ingredient in all of her perfume products is frankincense oil, distilled from the finest incense sourced from Salalah. Oils from choice agar wood (oudh) also help in the concoction of heady scents that are distinctive in fragrance and uniquely Omani in character, says the young artisanal perfumer.
“’Medhawi’ is positioned as an upmarket product that makes for an excellent gift to friends, family members or office colleagues’’, said the perfumer. “I get inquiries and orders primarily via my social media accounts, but some local outlets in Bidiya have shown interest in displaying my products as well.”
Recently, a surprise order from Kuwait underscored ‘Medhawi’s potential to become a bestseller. “I was over the moon when a Kuwaiti trader got in touch asking for an initial supply of 100 bottles’’, said Medhavi.
As a family-centric endeavour without any paid hand to support her, Medhawi can count on her parents and siblings to pitch in with help when there’s a flurry of orders. “Usually, there’s increased interest in my products during Eid holidays. Thus, while I focus on the mixing and blending of the perfumes, my family members help with the packaging and sorting. Often, the entire family is involved in this enterprise.”
While her focus is currently on her studies, she is in no doubt that her future lies in the world of fragrances. To this end, the young girl plans to major either in Chemistry or Business Management in college, aimed at garnering the skillsets necessary to take her business to the next level. The longer-term goal, she says, is to invest in a modern factory suitably equipped to churn out a wide range of perfumes and fragrances, supplemented with body and hair care products as well.
Indeed, in tradition-bound Bidiya, young girls like Medhawi are breaking new ground in exploring career choices once deemed taboo by women. Entrepreneurship is increasingly appealing to young women, as it does to menfolk, potentially paving the way for the growth of a thriving SME sector — a key objective of Vision 2040 as well.
To Medhawi’s good fortune, entrepreneurship has long been a family trait. Her father, Fahad al Hajri, is one of Bidiya’s better known entrepreneurs, having built a reputation for himself as an ‘agripreneur’ specialising in the agriculture and farming business. Fahad, who owns threeacre farm in Bidiya, is often in the local news for his successful exploits in cultivating fruits and vegetables farmed for the first time in these parts. Using modern farming practices and soil nutrients, he has managed to grow strawberries, eggplants, capsicums and other such crops in commercial quantities — an activity that keeps him busy all through the year.
As for his daughter’s ambitions to become a perfumer, the proud father adds: “We parents have a duty to encourage our children to explore business, entrepreneurial or selfemployment opportunities, so we don’t add to the burden on the government in creating jobs for Omanis. Hopefully, Medhawi’s example will be an inspiration to her peers!”