London, United Kingdom. London-based perfumer Omar Suleyman says his work at Alashiya is shaped by memory, family history and the natural scents of Cyprus. He created his first fragrance during the 2020 lockdown, when he could not travel to the island.
Fragrance and memory
Suleyman said the experience of being unable to fly to Cyprus made him miss the island more intensely. His first scent, Ashera, was a jasmine-based fragrance inspired by childhood summers there.
He said that scent bypasses language and image and can take a person directly to a place, time or feeling. His family spent holidays in Cyprus after they were displaced to London in 1974.
Roots in Cyprus
Suleyman was born in the diaspora to a family from Paphos and Limassol. He described himself as one of those “in between worlds” children, splitting his childhood between London and Cyprus and spending months at a time on the island each year.
Before entering perfumery, he studied biology and worked in research in London and Cambridge. He later turned to natural fragrance after developing physical reactions to synthetic perfumes.
He said that generic fragrances triggered migraines and physical reactions, while natural essences did not have the same effect.
Alashiya and natural ingredients
Through Alashiya, Suleyman makes oil-based perfumes using natural ingredients including jasmine, rose, orange blossom and labdanum. He said these plants are closely tied to Cyprus and the wider Eastern Mediterranean.
His work also draws on a lesser-known chapter in the island’s history: the discovery of a Bronze Age perfume workshop at Pyrgos, dating back around 4,000 years.
Ancient perfume workshop at Pyrgos
Suleyman said he had not learned that what is considered the world’s oldest perfumery was found in Cyprus until years after he had begun experimenting with perfume.
Archaeologists discovered the workshop in Pyrgos in 2003. They found evidence that people there were distilling plants such as rose, lavender and coriander using copper stills thousands of years ago.
Suleyman said learning about that history became a core inspiration for his brand and its philosophy. He said it felt like a calling to follow the path he had been exploring and to educate himself and others about a forgotten history.
Rather than reproducing ancient formulas exactly, he uses historically relevant materials and reinterprets them for a contemporary perspective.
