Ruby by Kajal Perfumes: Gourmand Depth, Gemstone Mythology

A Quick Orientation

• Ruby by Kajal Perfumes Paris is a 100 ml Eau de Parfum launched in 2025, composed by Turkish master perfumer Hüseyin Erdoğmuş, and built around an oriental vanilla structure that moves from tropical fruit through a dessert-like gourmand heart to a warm, balsamic base of vanilla, amber, and benzoin.
• The fragrance draws on gemstone mythology — the ruby as the eternal flame of the earth — to frame a composition described by the Maison as a tribute to love in all its forms.
• An original four-line poem, inscribed on the bottle itself, sets the emotional context before a single spray is applied.
• Ruby is accompanied by a branded Kajal Perfumes necklace, positioning the release explicitly as a gifting proposition for the GCC and Middle Eastern market.

The Mythology Behind the Stone

The creative brief for Ruby is grounded in ancient symbolism, not in a passing seasonal trend.

Kajal Perfumes draws on three distinct cultural traditions to frame the fragrance’s emotional scope. In Hindu tradition, the ruby was called ratnaraj — “king of gems” — and was thought to contain an inner fire that could never be extinguished. In Burmese practice, warriors implanted rubies beneath the skin before battle, believing the stones conferred invincibility. In medieval Europe, rubies were worn by royalty as talismans against misfortune, associated with vitality and protection.

That convergence of fire, devotion, and endurance gives the fragrance its conceptual weight. Kajal describes Ruby as “a tribute to love in all its forms — romantic, familial, or platonic,” which is a more ambitious brief than most gourmand perfumes carry. The composition is designed not to smell luxurious in a generic sense, but to carry the specific emotional register of permanence.

The Composition: Three Stages, One Conviction

Hüseyin Erdoğmuş — born in Isparta in 1951, trained as a Chemical Engineer at the Middle East Technical University, and the founder of EPS Fragrances in 1981 — brings technical rigour to what is, at its surface, an intensely indulgent brief.

Opening: Tropical and Stone Fruit

The top notes of cherry, red berries, pineapple, coconut, and almond open with a juicy, tart immediacy. The cherry is vivid rather than candied; the pineapple brings tropical brightness; the coconut and almond introduce a creamy, lactonic warmth that begins the transition towards the heart almost immediately. Community reviewers have described the opening as “a cherry pineapple milkshake” — which is accurate, and is meant as a compliment.

Heart: Deliberately Dessert-Like

Whipped cream, brown sugar, and ice cream constitute one of the most unapologetically gourmand hearts in contemporary niche perfumery. Ruby pushes the sweetness further than most of Kajal’s catalogue, including earlier releases from the house that followed the same fruity-to-gourmand architecture. The effect is caramelised and addictive — a quality that positions the fragrance firmly in the tradition of oriental vanillas that perform for the Gulf palette.

Base: Warm, Balsamic, Enduring

Vanilla, musk, tonka bean, amber, and benzoin provide the foundation. The benzoin extends the fragrance with a resinous quality that pulls it slightly away from pure confection and gives it a hint of depth. Musk softens the drydown into something skin-like and intimate; the amber provides the broad warm platform on which everything settles. Multiple reviewers report longevity exceeding 24 hours on fabric — a figure that will matter to GCC wearers accustomed to fragrances that project and persist through an evening.

The Poem and the Necklace: Two Gestures of Intention

Before the fragrance is experienced, it is read.

The poem on the Ruby flacon reads: “A burning flame glows from the heart, / Its embers enduring, with passion divine. / Entwined in a bond, never to part, / Eternally treasured, pure love will shine. / Forever, to be, my Ruby.” Kajal treats this not as packaging copy but as the first act of an encounter with the fragrance — transforming the opening of the bottle into a small ceremony rather than a casual gesture.

The accompanying branded necklace extends that logic into the tangible. Presented as “a token of love” and “a timeless symbol of affection and devotion,” the necklace pairs the invisible (scent) with the visible (jewellery) in a single presentation. For the GCC market, where the house has worked with an international roster of perfumers to build a following centred on generous concentrations and ornate presentation, this pairing is a particularly considered proposition. Kajal Perfumes Paris was founded in 2014 and has built a portfolio of 27 fragrances across collections including the Classic, Gem, Gold, Kiss, Arquam, Warde, and Fiddah families — and Ruby, with its gemstone mythology and physical necklace, is among the most fully realised expressions of that identity to date.

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