Bourjois
Bourjois is an old perfume house. The earliest fragrance was created in 1909 and the latest in 2024. Bourjois fragrances were created in collaboration with perfumers François Demachy, Jacques Polge, Ernest Beaux, Henri Robert, Juliette Karagueuzoglou, Jacques Huclier and Alienor Massenet.
The history of the famous Bourjois brand begins during the heyday of French burlesque and the era of cabaret, namely in 1863, when an entrepreneur and manufacturer named Joseph-Albert Poncin began to produce powder in his apartment, which he supplied to many theaters, cabarets and stage workshops. But his plans included not just creating more powder, but making a product of perfect quality that would lie evenly on the face throughout the day. To this end, he borrows three thousand francs from his friend and opens a small laboratory. He did create his ideal product, and placed it in a round tin can, which became the brand’s hallmark.
A few years later, the successful businessman and former actor Ponsin decided to return to the theater, and handed over all the business to the manager of his workshop, Alexandre-Napoleon Bourgeois, who undertook to completely rebuild the business, and first of all, “modestly” gave the business his own surname – Bourjois. The range of production was constantly growing, the previously developed makeup sticks were now produced in dozens of shades, and fundamentally new things were added to them. In 1879, the first boutique of the brand was opened on the famous Boulevard Saint-Martin. By the end of the 19th century, namely in 1898, the Bourjois catalog had a fantastic 700! items. These were creams, toothpastes, powders, lipsticks, hair glosses, skin and body care products, and much more. Despite such phenomenal success, the brand entered the perfume market only twenty-six years later, in 1924, with the release of its debut perfume – Mon Parfum.
