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Dubai is hosting a dedicated niche perfumery show, and the first edition already has a date and a name. Notes Dubai runs from 21 to 23 January 2027 at the Dubai Mall Exhibition Centre, organised by Messe Frankfurt Middle East and its sister chapter, Notes Shanghai, with its debut theme, Genesis. Cannes hosted the unveiling on 29 September, timed to fall inside TFWA World Exhibition & Conference week.
Messe Frankfurt Middle East also runs Beautyworld Dubai, which covers the whole beauty industry and dropped its old name, Beautyworld Middle East, for its 30th edition. Notes Dubai narrows the lens to niche, independent and artistic perfumery, on a smaller and more curated scale. Its partner, Notes Shanghai, runs twice a year, in spring and autumn. The new-look Beautyworld, which opens at Dubai World Trade Centre on 6 October and runs to the 8th, gives fragrance the largest dedicated footprint in its history, with more than 220 exhibitors across 19,000 square metres in Za’abeel Hall 7, among them Lattafa Perfumes and Givaudan. Notes Dubai follows a little over three months after that one closes, with a narrower brief. Beautyworld’s 2025 edition welcomed visitors from 178 countries, and international attendance rose 31 per cent year on year.
Event Director Ravi Ramchandani, who oversees both, says Dubai has the consumers and the retail but “never a niche perfumery show to call its own”. Regional brands have competed on the world stage for years, he says, without a platform of equal calibre on home ground, while international houses get a way into what he describes as one of the highest-spending beauty markets anywhere. The show’s own pitch is aimed at founders, perfumers, retailers and distributors, along with collectors and editors, and leans on the idea that collectors now drive the category and that story outsells celebrity. Doors open at 10 am and close at 6 pm each day, and ticket information and prices are still to come.
Genesis looks at where a fragrance begins, whether in a memory or an ingredient, and follows the creative process through to the first time someone smells the finished scent. Cannes was the first time the show’s story reached an international audience, and the evening doubled as a preview of the January line-up.
Paradis Des Sens, one of the houses confirmed for January, co-hosted the evening at Rado Plage and used it to launch The Overdrive Collection. Co-founder Wasem Al Ghazi describes the starting question as how far a fragrance can be pushed before it becomes something different and says the answer was to intensify what defines each scent, with more depth and texture, without replacing the originals. The two launches are extrait interpretations of existing Paradis Des Sens fragrances, Valhalla Extreme and Felicity Extreme.
Valhalla Extreme stays fruity, with dark plum and mango at the centre and musk and amber behind them. Felicity Extreme goes darker and spicier, layering tea and suede leather with oakmoss and woods. Tea and woody notes were highlighted by Notes Shanghai exhibitors this spring, and visitors there also showed interest in bold, spicy fragrances. Both Overdrive launches will be featured at Notes Dubai 2027.
Notes Shanghai’s spring edition ran from 2 to 5 April at the West Bund International Convention and Exhibition Centre under the theme Boundless, which set out to push past geographical and cultural boundaries and drew 17,661 visitors from 37 countries. The exhibitor roster ran to roughly 200 brands from close to 30 countries and regions, joined by 10 boutique retailers and 12 fragrance houses. Exhibitors said tea, fruity and milky notes held their appeal, while interest in woody and metallic facets was building, and more than 100 new products launched over the four days. The programme included ten special showcases, more than 40 forums and seminars, and dedicated shows around perfumer Dominique Ropion and the Osmothèque.
Founder Alex Wu says he created the Shanghai fair after seeing a new generation of independent Chinese fragrance brands emerge, and its next edition, from 14 to 17 October, carries the theme Another Way.
The organisers describe the Dubai Mall as the world’s leading luxury retail destination. The exhibition centre sits inside it, among 1,200 stores, and the show’s site names Amouage and Parfums de Marly among the fragrance houses already trading there, a setting the organisers say puts the niche perfume community at the core of the category. Visitors can register their interest on the Notes Dubai website to receive priority updates and registration announcements.
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