Founder
Founder · Head perfumer
Nourah Al-Fahad
Trained in Grasse, returned to Riyadh in 2018 to work with Gulf materials at Gulf temperatures. Writes every Lacuna formula.
About · عن لاكونا
A gap in the market, and a gap in the air where a scent used to be.
Lacuna means the missing piece. We opened in 2019 because Riyadh had counters and it had oud shops, and almost nothing in between.
The house
Twenty bottles in seven years is not a small shop. It is an edited one.
Lacuna is independent and unfunded, so nothing reaches the shelf because a distributor pushed it. Every fragrance we stock has been worn for a full working week by someone here, in Riyadh heat, before it is offered to anyone. Roughly nine in ten of the bottles we test do not make it.
Everything is bought through official channels and arrives sealed. We publish the full pyramid, the concentration and the size on every page, and we will tell you plainly when a cheaper bottle does the same job as an expensive one.
The atelier sits in Al Olaya. Appointments are one at a time, because a nose that has smelled eleven things cannot judge the twelfth.
Atelier, Al Olaya
Comparison
Niche perfume, designer fragrance, and where your money actually goes
| Attribute | Department-store counter | Lacuna — عطور نيش |
|---|---|---|
| Range | Whatever the group owns | Twenty bottles, each one wear-tested here |
| Trying before buying | A paper strip under bright light | Five 2 ml decants, worn for a week at home |
| Advice | Whatever carries the highest margin | Including “buy the cheaper one” |
| Heat testing | None — the range is global | Logged at hour one, four and nine in Riyadh summer |
| Information published | A marketing line and a price | Full pyramid, concentration, size and how it wears |
| Bespoke work | Not offered | A formula written for you and archived under your name |
| Who answers you | A call centre | The people who chose the shelf |
People
Two noses and a bench
Evaluation
Evaluation · Sourcing
Yazeed Al-Harbi
Runs the wear trials and the supplier relationships. Says no to roughly nine formulas in ten.
Come smell them properly. One appointment at a time.
Al Olaya, Riyadh · Sunday to Thursday, 11:00–21:00.