Deer musk and ambergris in the medieval ghaliya form, with a smoke series running dark beside it.
Elixir Attar was founded in 2019 by Ahmed Mostafa, who came to perfumery from materials science, and works with a small team that includes scientists for material analysis. The ghaliyas are the soft end, floral enfleurages over deer musk and ambergris in aged Mysore sandalwood, honeyed and powdery with an animal hum underneath. The Smoke Series runs colder.
- Origin Laguna Beach, USA
- Founded 2019
- Known for Ghaliyas, oud and kinam smoke
- Here 4 fragrances
- Founder
- Ahmed Mostafa
- Concept
- Agarwood, deer musk and ambergris in extrait and attar
01
From Abu Dhabi incense to materials science
Ahmed Mostafa grew up in 1980s Abu Dhabi, where his mother, a journalist, knew and worked with members of the UAE royal family and received gifts of incense woods and perfumes. He placed ninth in the world in A-level chemistry, took a master's in materials science and engineering, worked briefly as an engineer, then served as a diplomat from 2012 to 2017. He went full time into perfumery in 2018 and launched Elixir Attar in 2019. In 2025 he and Arthur Clayton Emrick of Jinx swapped formulas and each reworked one of the other's perfumes.
02
Kinam, ghaliya and the Smoke Series
Agarwood, deer musk, ambergris and iris irones are the materials that keep returning. Collections follow cultures, with Chinese and Japanese lines, beside a classical line of chypres and fougères made with oakmoss absolute. The ghaliyas are built on deer musk and ambergris, prized components of medieval perfumery. The Smoke Series went from Elixir Attar Dark Matter to Elixir Attar Kinam Kodo, then Elixir Attar Dark Matter II, an extrait dense enough to wear like an attar. Mostafa has studied kinam at the molecular level since 2019 and ties its smell to chromones.
03
Kinam smoke from the wood itself
For Kinam Kodo, Mostafa and a scientific team analysed the smoke of kinam and kyara woods, isolated chromones from real kinam and sinking-grade agarwood, captured the smoke of green soil kinam for the top, and matched the profile at 25 per cent. In AlGhaliya Bulgare Fleuri et Animalique, Nepali, Kashmiri and Siberian deer musks are macerated in aged Mysore sandalwood while the ambergris is melted in, over enfleurages of lilac, freesia, Bulgarian rose, gardenia and tuberose. Orders ship from warehouses in Los Angeles, Cairo, Muscat, Bishkek and Dubai.
Who founded Elixir Attar?
Elixir Attar was founded by Ahmed Mostafa.
Where is Elixir Attar based?
Elixir Attar is based in Laguna Beach, United States.
When was Elixir Attar founded?
Elixir Attar was founded in 2019.
Who composed the Elixir Attar fragrances we carry?
Ahmed Mostafa.