OJAR

OJAR, officially styled OJÁR, is a contemporary luxury fragrance house from Oman, founded by Omani entrepreneur Sheikha Hind Bahwan [4]. Its name comes from "HOJARI," the grade of frankincense resin harvested in the Dhofar mountains of southern Oman that the brand describes as the finest available [2]. The house builds its identity on Middle Eastern perfume-making traditions reworked for an international audience, and its fragrances are formulated with the Swiss perfume company Givaudan.

No single source states the founding year outright, but it is consistently placed in 2020: a Muscat Daily feature presented the house as a new launch in November of that year [6], and a 2021 interview described OJAR as having been "presented to the world last year" [7]. The launch coincided with the early COVID-19 pandemic.

⚑ Thinner sourcing. The article relies largely on the brand's own statements (T2–T3). Glowpedia is seeking independent sources.

OJAR was created by Sheikha Hind Bahwan, who grew up in the coastal city of Sur surrounded by the aromas of spices, frankincense and oud, with a mother who made traditional perfumes [5]. According to The Perfume Society's house profile, she studied at Harvard Business School and founded the technology company Bahwan CyberTek before moving into perfumery [5]. Her father is the Omani businessman Sheikh Suhail Bahwan [7].

The brand's name is rooted in place. "OJAR" derives from "HOJARI," which the company calls the finest quality frankincense resin, sourced from the Dhofar mountains. Bahwan has framed the venture as personal rather than purely commercial: "I see perfume as a lifestyle, it is a signature that you bring wherever you go," she told one interviewer.

OJAR presents itself as a meeting of two traditions, combining what it calls Eastern heritage with Western savoir-faire. The house is positioned as niche luxury; The Perfume Society describes it as "haute parfumerie" representing a "fragrant fusion of East and West" [5]. Its own tagline frames the range as "a fusion of fragrances from the East and the West."

A recurring theme is personal expression. The company encourages wearers to experiment and layer scents to build an individual signature, organising much of its range around six core ingredients — rose, honey, sandalwood, musk, frankincense and oud — that double as named collections. Three of these are tied directly to Oman: rose from Jebel Akhdar, honey from Rustaq, and frankincense from the Dhofar mountains [4].

OJAR's fragrances are unisex and span several formats, including extrait de parfum, eau de parfum, an alcohol-free perfume oil, and discovery and gift sets. Editorial coverage at launch put the debut range at 18 fragrances built on the six core ingredients [8].

The house's signature product is its Absolute perfume oil, an alcohol-free, highly concentrated oil presented in a 20ml travel format with a dual cap combining a roll-on and a glass-stick applicator [7]. Its alcohol-free composition connects it to a long tradition of oil-based attar perfumery in the Gulf. Later additions to the line include EVER LIT, which the company introduced as a fragrance "forged from transformation," and Infusion Velours.

The fragrances are produced in collaboration with Givaudan, described in coverage as a leading global fragrance company, with no individual perfumer named [6].

OJAR is part of the Hind Bahwan Group, a corporate group connected to its founder [4]. The group's own profile presents the house as honouring the rituals of Middle Eastern perfume-making "reimagined through a contemporary lens" by Bahwan.

OJAR is an active brand. It operates an e-commerce site and published a series of journal posts through May 2026, with the most recent recorded entry dated 26 May 2026 [3]. Its online store offers prices in several Gulf currencies and an Arabic-language option, reflecting a strong Middle Eastern presence alongside international stockists; among the latter, the London department store Harrods was reported as a retail partner at launch [6].