scented beauty product from the private collection of Fatima Ahmead Obaid Zayed Almogani Alnaqbi, as documented by Suheyla Takesh and Clint McLean (photographer) as a part of Suheyla Takesh's Summer 2014 FIND Fellowship
Object: Beauty Product 014
Type: Oil
Name: Jasmine Hair Oil
Place of origin: Karachi, Pakistan
Date of production: This bottle was purchased in 2012, but this product existed in the Emirates prior to the federal unification of 1971. An identical bottle is displayed in the Sharjah Heritage Museum, as part of the beauty and adornment section.
Brand Name: Bathgate Perfumery Products, Karachi
Materials: glass bottle, metal cap
Volume: 250 ml
Oils (or "dihn") were very important in the beauty regiment of every woman, because they are more long lasting than alcohol based perfumes, and are pleasant to the touch. They could also be mixed with one another by the woman herself in a domestic setting, creating her own blends of fragrances. The 6 primary types of oils that most (if not all) women owned, as described by A.S.Kanafani, 1983, are:
1. Agarwood or aloewood ("oud")
2. Ambergris ("ambar")
3. Saffron ("zaafaran")
4. Musk ("misk")
5. Rose ("ward")
6. Jasmine ("yasmin")
Details