I actually wrote this post in June of 2025, but due to all sorts of life events, I’m only getting around to publishing some of the many, many drafts I have just lying around. Sadly, my sweet Girl passed away in June, and all sorts of other things have happened since then – including a war (now two) in the Middle East. As I write this, I should be in Vietnam for my 40th, but plans have had to change.
Anyway, I’ve been a fan of Shobi Perfumery since around 2024, and have collected several of their 100ml perfumes with extra essence, as well as some of their body lotions and shower gels.
When I discovered them, I was looking for dupes of a few Middle Eastern fragrances that I love, but couldn’t buy without actually flying out there in person. I needed something relatively inexpensive and strong to take away with me on holiday. At this point, I discovered Shobi. As you know, I wrote a piece about Yusuf Bhai last year, and in truth, I prefer Shobi.
But who exactly are Shobi Perfumery?
They are a Greek perfume dupe house that recreate popular ‘inspired by’ fragrances at an affordable price.
Each order placed on their website is made to order. They have a large selection of fragrances they dupe, similar to what Yusuf Bhai in Dubai does, but there are a couple of things that set them apart from all other dupe houses, which has me in a chokehold.
What sets Shobi Perfumery apart from other dupe houses
- Quality dupes – this is important to me. Their fragrances are generally of good quality and have high longevity.
- They do dupes of original Arab fragrances – most of my fave Shobi Perfumes are inspired by Middle Eastern brands I like, e.g Khaltat Blends of Love and Hind Al Oud.
- You can select how many mls you want – from 100ml to 30ml
- Not only can you buy dupes of perfumes, you can also buy your favourite fragrance as shower gels, body lotions, body oils, car fragrance and even beard oil!
- Extra strong perfume option – this is where you can ask for the dupe to be stronger.
- Holidays – I don’t generally take my pricy perfumes with me abroad in case it smashes or my luggage is lost. So, I generally take my Shobi Perfumes with me instead.
What exactly is Extra Essence on Shobi Perfumery’s website?
This is probably the main thing that sets Shobi apart from any other dupe house I know of – once you’ve found the fragrance you’d like to buy on their site, you have the option to add extra essence. Essentially (see what I did there?), you can increase the concentration of oil in the fragrance. This makes the fragrance stronger, and gives it better longevity.
However, I recommended Shobi Perfumery to a colleague who bought a couple of fragrances without the extra essence and her verdict was that she believes they are all already strong enough and have great longevity.
Shobi Perfumery’s website recommend adding between 1ml (€2) and 3ml (€6) of extra essence but with the fragrances I’ve bought being woody based, I went for the maximum – 5ml extra essence.
These fragrances are ridiculously strong, they smell very similar to the originals they’re duping and have amazing longevity and sillage.
Caution with opting for 5ml Extra Essence with Shobi Perfumery
The temptation might be just to whack in an extra 5ml of essence to make your fragrance(s) super strong, and we seem to live in an age where more automatically equals better. Everyone wants astronauts spacewalking on the ISS to be able to smell their fragrance (thanks, TikTok), but before you go ahead and add that 5ml to basket, have a think.
If you’re purchasing a light, airy, fresh, leathery or gourmand fragrance, what is that going to smell like with that level of extra essence? Will it become nauseating, overpowering, headache-inducing? I went for 5ml extra essence on fragrances with woody notes, so it works, but it’s worth thinking about what you really want from your fragrance before going all in.
To emphasise this point, an acquaintance of mine bought their Bianco Latte dupe with an extra 3ml of essence, and they couldn’t cope with it, and ended up throwing it away.
All fragrances I own by Shobi Perfumery are woody based and all of them have 5ml of extra essence. This is fine, as no notes within these fragrances have a tendency of creating nausea for me – I know what I like well enough.
If I was to buy a fresh fragrance from them, for example, I would probably at most opt for 1ml of extra essence or likely none at all.
Buying smaller quantities
If you’re a newbie to Shobi Perfumery, I’d recommend buying smaller version of their dupes. This will help you understand whether you like it, whether it smells like the fragrance it’s inspired by, and whether or not extra essence is required. Then you can go back and buy the bigger bottle and tailor it to your preference.
The smallest size they sell on their site is 30ml and that generally costs €15, which is a bargain.
The largest you can buy is 100ml, which generally costs €30. With 5ml of extra essence, the overall cost increases to €40.
What about their shower gels, body creams and other products? Are they worth it?
Not only did I try the perfumes, I also got some of my favourite fragrances in the form of shower gels, body creams, body oils, body mists and body lotions. I’m a sucker for layering fragrances, and thought these would be perfect for that, but I wasn’t a fan of the body creams, body oils or body mists. The body lotions and shower gels are excellent though.
What fragrances should I get from Shobi Perfumery?
This really depends on your taste, but take a look around on their site, and see if you find a dupe of something you’ve been dying to buy.
Anything else?
Shobi perfumery are based in Greece and I’m based in the UK. I haven’t once been charged for customs and they also have the option to pay with PayPal.
Delivery usually takes around 2 weeks. Once they arrive, I stick them in the fridge for 5 days before I start using them – a tip I learned from Yusuf Bhai in Dubai.
What is Shobi Perfumery’s website?
Their website can be found here and this where you can place your order.
Are there any UK based alternatives?
If you prefer a UK based dupe house, Perfume Parlour also do dupe fragrances, including some Arab perfumes.
I’m loving their hand and body washes, as well as their plug in diffusers, which I’d say are much better quality than Bath & Body Works wallflowers. I’ll do a separate post on them another time.
