Asalam waliykum sisters,
As you are all aware of by now, I am off on Umrah. One thing we Muslims know is that while in the state of Ihram/purity that are many do's and Don'ts which I have addressed briefly in a previous post Here!!
One thing that is not permissible while in ihram is to wear perfume, that goes for both men and women. Some may think I only mean perfume that you spray on. Actually I mean any product that contains perfume and scents. Yes, you read correctly no perfume at all.
So from when I do the ritual bath/ghusul I should not use scented products, on my journey also I should not use scented products until I complete all the rights of Umrah. Even after this, women should not use perfume while going to the Masjid Harram the same as visiting any mosque or going outside. However, you can resume to use your normal products such as shampoo, hand wash, etc etc.
That is super tricky for me and for others too, because all the products I use have natural scents. In my old posts I talked about my love of Lush, Well all their products are full of natural scents and guess what I can not use them while in the state of Ihram. That includes my moisturisers, body wash, shampoo, conditioner, cleanser and even deodorant! Now, I am not saying that while in Ihram you have to be stinky and unclean, not at all! But you need to use products which are completely scent free, nada, no scents even artificial perfumes.
Perhaps 10-20 years ago this could of caused a lot of difficulties as brands did not cater to people who required products scent free. So I can imagine many people only able to wash with water. If you are lucky you may of had access to products from Arab countries that are scent free. However, if not that may of meant only washing with water and being unable to control body odour, with no fault of your own.
When I realised the restriction of scents, I to had a moment of horror thinking about not being able to moisturise, smell fresh and wash my hair etc. Alhamdulillah I came across, by total accident, a company that cater to Muslims going on Hajj/umrah. I also tried Google to find other products but usually only one or two items I could find.
El-hajj is the first of its kind, to cater to Muslims making this spiritual journey. You can check out their site Here. Alhamdulillah they have an online store to provide for Muslims all around the world. They are based in Malaysia, Mashallah they have everything there!
Inshallah I hope to do a full review once I have used all the products, so you should expect to see that start of September, Inshallah. They sell everything you need, for a man, I can assure you zawji would get by with shampoo and shower gel and be quiet happy. Me on the other hand is a different story, so Alhamdulillah El-Hajj provide lots of products.
