Bourjois is a French

cosmetics Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either Natural product, natural source ...

company owned by the French group

Coty Coty Inc. is an American multinational beauty company founded in 1904 by François Coty. With its subsidiaries, it develops, manufactures, markets, and distributes fragrances, cosmetics, skin care, nail care, and both professional and retail hai ...

. Bourjois creates

make-up Cosmetics are substances that are intended for application to the body for cleansing, beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering appearance. They are mixtures of chemical compounds derived from either natural sources or created syn ...

fragrance An aroma compound, also known as an odorant, aroma, fragrance, flavoring or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. For an individual chemical or class of chemical compounds to impart a smell or fragrance, it must be sufficien ...

and

skincare Skin care or skincare is the practice of maintaining and improving the health and appearance of the skin. It includes washing, moisturizing, protecting from the sun, and treating skin problems like acne and dryness. Skin care can help prevent i ...

products, which are sold in approximately 26,000 points of sales in more than 80 countries worldwide, as of 2015.

History

* 1862: Actor Joseph-Albert Ponsin created a skin product that would whiten the skin of artists, actors and actresses from theater and boulevard companies, to replace the greasy stage makeup in use by theatre artists. * 1863: Ponsin launched his makeup company by preparing make up and perfume for actors and actresses. * 1868: Alexandre-Napoleon Bourjois, a partner in the company was entrusted with Ponsin's entire activity. * 1879: Word spread beyond theatre about their products and with the creation of a Java Rice Powder, a product to lighten the skin and leave it velvety, their target market widened to women and extended to the mass market worldwide. * 1917:

Pierre Wertheimer Pierre Wertheimer (8 January 1888 – 24 April 1965) was a French businessman, who co-founded Chanel with Coco Chanel. Early life Wertheimer was born 8 January 1888, the second of two sons, to Ernest Wertheimer and Mathilde Wertheimer (née Bol ...

and his brother Paul took over the directorship of the company. The Wertheimer family, later also holders of the Chanel group, would own Bourjois for nearly 100 years. * 1924: The first perfume of Bourjois, ''Mon Parfum'', was designed by

Ernest Beaux Ernest Beaux (; – 9 June 1961) was a Russian-French perfumer who is best known for creating Chanel No. 5, which is perhaps the world's most famous perfume. Family background Born in Moscow, Ernest Beaux was the son of Edouard Hyppolite Beau ...

, the perfumer most famous for creating

Chanel No. 5 Chanel No. 5 is the first perfume launched by French couturier Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel in 1921. The scent formula for the fragrance was compounded by French-Russian chemist and perfumer Ernest Beaux. The design of its bottle has been an imp ...

. * 1928: Bourjois created its most famous perfume, ''Soir de Paris''. The blue bottled perfume was a great success in the United States, where it was called ''Evening in Paris''. It was one of the most popular fragrances during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and is highly valued by collectors nowadays. * 1936: As women had started their fight of independence; Bourjois adapted to suit their market by promoting the use of make up for personal pleasure and to affirm personality. The company supported women's right to vote by one of its campaigns while the idea was still just a discussion in the French parliament. * 1938: Constantin Weriguine was hired as a perfumer at Bourjois. He would go on to create fragrances such as ''Mais Oui'' (1938), ''Ramage'' (1951) and ''Glamour'' (1953) for the company. * 1960: By this time Bourjois had developed a variety of perfumes, gift boxes, kits and make up products. * 2014: In April 2015, the American group

bought Bourjois from the brothers Wertheimer for approximately 239 million American dollars.

References

{{reflist

External links

*http://www.bourjois.com Cosmetics companies of France French brands Manufacturing companies established in 1863 French companies established in 1863 Companies based in Île-de-France Coty Inc. 2015 mergers and acquisitions