Can Ulta crack the Middle East fragrance market?

On Friday, Ulta Beauty opened the doors to its latest store — this time, halfway across the world from its Illinois headquarters: a 15,000-square-foot shop at The Avenues shopping mall in Kuwait, marking the first in its expansion across the Middle East. 

The arrival comes on the heels of Ulta’s global expansion kickoff, which included opening doors in Mexico in September and acquiring the British beauty retailer Space NK in July. With its Middle East expansion, however, Utla sees a particular opportunity to establish itself as a major player in fragrance. 

“We’ve had such an incredible year with the launch in Mexico, and we anticipate the Middle East to be really strong, as well,” said Jessica Philips, vp of emerging brands and strategic initiatives at Ulta Beauty. “We are really bullish on fragrance globally, and so this move to this market where fragrance is so at the center is going to be really cool as we become the destination in fragrance at retail.”

Ulta is far from the first Western beauty company to see the opportunity in the Middle Eastern fragrance market. Owing to the region’s appetite for fragrance, luxury European fragrance brands like Diptyque, Christian Louboutin and Ex Nihilo have catered to Middle East consumers with regional-exclusive scents and new store launches in recent years. 

“It’s a market heavily steeped in scent culture. So they love smells, but they like smells that last. They like smells that make a statement. It’s a part of their identity,” said Los Angeles-based perfumer Dana El Masri. “Especially on the Arabian Peninsula — we’re talking Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and Oman — they like to layer. They like to smell strong. They like to wear several scents at the same time or on different parts of their body.”

But with that demand comes intense competition. 

“The perfumery marketing in the Middle East and particularly in UAE malls is extremely competitive. The mass and masstige brands are sold across department stores, beauty retailers and standalone shops. And Russian retailers, such as Golden Apple and l’Etoile, have recently entered the market, as well,” said Rawya Catto, deputy general manager of the Middle East for CPL Aromas. “And let’s not forget the competition with local brands that play within that price point. Having said that, Ulta comes with strong brand equity and a differentiated brand mix.”  

In the perfume aisle, Ulta’s point of differentiation largely relies on masstige brands like Snif, known for its influencer collabs with the likes of Emelia O’Toole and Monet McMichael, and Better World Fragrance House, backed by Drake. At its Kuwait store, it also added the local fragrance brand Odict to the mix. But its Ulta-exclusive brands remain untested in the region.

“I’m curious to see if Ulta will switch up their offering, because their current offering, to me, is not that good for that market,” said El Masri. “They have a lot of fresh, fruity smells. They need more woody, ambery, rose, deeper.”

But El Masri noted that Ulta has a strong ambassador for its fragrance offerings in supermodel Bella Hadid, founder of Orebella. Hadid, whose Palestinian roots have earned her the moniker “Princess of Nazareth” among fans, launched her alcohol-free fragrance brand at Ulta in 2024. 

In tandem with Ulta’s expansion to the region, Hadid starred on the cover of the anniversary edition of Dazed MENA and appeared at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Ulta’s Kuwait store on Friday. Expanding to the Middle East has long been in the plans for Orebella, according to brand gm Alison Romash. 

“So much of the brand is inspired by [Bella’s] memories and her heritage, and growing up with half of her family on that side of the world. So [expanding to the Middle East] has always been top of mind for her,” said Romash. “We certainly are interested in making some regional-specific scents sooner than later. … And we definitely need to be in that, sort of, oud, much heavier [profile]. Bella really loves frankincense and myrrh and those sorts of incense-inspired notes.”

While Ulta may have one of the world’s top supermodels in its corner, its biggest competitor is already well established in the region, particularly in the fragrance category. Sepora first expanded to the Middle East in 2007 in partnership with the Chaloub Group and now has 66 stores across the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar and Kuwait. Its store in the Dubai Mall is reportedly its No. 1 store worldwide. 

Sephora, too, has boosted its fragrance offerings in the region. In May, Sephora expanded the hand sanitizer and body mist brand Touchland to the region, and in September, it expanded the masstige fragrance brand Phlur to its Middle East stores, as well. And it already has a strong player to appeal to the region’s fragrance consumers with the brand Kayali, which Sephora launched in 2018 with Dubai-based Iraqi-American entrepreneur Mona Kattan.

“I think [Sephora] definitely has an edge with Kayali,” said El Masri. “And Mona also hires French master perfumers. So that idea of foreign or Western prestige is built in and combined, and it speaks to the prestige of people in Dubai, in particular.” 

Ulta looks to take a similar path to expansion across the region as Sephora, with stores at the United Arab Emirates’ Mall of the Emirates and Dubai Mall, and Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Mall, already slated to open in early 2026.

While American entities have earned criticism for doing business in Saudi Arabia — in October, comedians like Pete Davidson and Bill Burr faced backlash from fans and human rights groups for performing at the Riyadh Comedy Festival — Philips said Ulta has not experienced pushback to its expansion to Saudi Arabia. 

“I feel like there’s a lot we’re going to learn to bring back to the U.S.,” said Philips. “Certainly, going into the market and bringing new brands in is important. But I think [we’ll also] bring back some of these trends we’re seeing to the U.S. market, particularly where we have Middle Eastern Americans living and shopping with us.”

Executive moves: 

• Bath & Body Works names Maly Bernstein chief commercial officer. The former Bluemercury CEO is the first to occupy the role for the popular mall body-care brand. The company also welcomed a new CEO, former Nike exec Daniel Heaf, earlier this year. 

• Erika Kussmann is named CEO of Osea Malibu, succeeding co-founder Melissa Palmer. Kussmann joins from Paula’s Choice, where she served as CEO. Palmer, who co-founded the skin-care brand in 1996, will stay on as chief brand officer.
  

News to know:

• Shay Mitchell’s Rini skin-care brand for kids sparks backlash. The actor and founder of the luggage brand Beis launched the K-beauty brand on Thursday, with products like sheet masks targeted at kids as young as age 3. Mitchell’s Instagram post on the brand inspired comments calling the launch “tone deaf” and “shameless.”

• A Coty subsidiary is suing Gucci and Kering in a U.K. court. HFC Prestige International Operations Switzerland Sàrl, a subsidiary of the beauty conglomerate that currently owns the Gucci beauty license, filed the lawsuit in October against Gucci America Inc, Guccio Gucci SpA and Kering SA. The lawsuit reportedly relates to the sale of Kering’s beauty division to L’Oréal, which will include Gucci when Coty’s licensing deal expires in 2028.

• Dior launches “Dior Sauvage Rare Blend,” a $16,500 flanker to its best-selling Sauvage fragrance. Just 15 bottles of the limited-edition launch will be available, each in a dark crystal Baccarat bottle. 

Stat of the week:

According to data from Adobe Analytics, consumers who arrived at retail sites from AI traffic sources were 16% more likely to make a purchase than those from non-AI traffic sources, such as paid search, affiliates, email, organic search and social media. The report also found that in October, traffic from generative AI sources increased by 1,200% year over year. 

In the headlines:

Michelle Obama on the restrictive beauty standards of being first lady. What everyone’s missing about Ami Colé founder Diarrha N’Diaye’s Skims move. Does the word luxury mean anything now?

Listen in: 

Bansk Beauty executive chairman Reuben Carranza joins the Glossy podcast to talk about building a distinct brand that lasts and his company’s recent acquisition of Byoma.

Need a Glossy recap? 

Beauty and wellness executives define their 5 next focuses. “We have to deliver and over-deliver”: InnBeauty Project’s Alisa Metzger on how to succeed at Sephora. Dedcool brand founder Carina Chaz on the brand’s rise from dorm room project to $30 million fragrance brand.