As one of the world’s oldest perfumers, the House of Guerlain has been making customers feel pretty and pampered with all of the cosmetics, fragrances, and skin care products it has been creating for nearly two hundred years.
Pierre François Pascal Guerlain founded Guerlain in 1828 in Paris. A chemist and master perfumer, Guerlain developed custom fragrances for Parisian high society. Additionally, he the first to create kohl eyeliner and mascara and introduced the first lipsticks in 1840.
To celebrate her marriage to Emperor Napoleon III in 1853, Guerlain made Eau de Cologne Impériale for Empress Eugenie. The perfume house embellished the bottle with bees, an emblem of the French Empire. Bees remained a motif for Guerlain, and the insects still appear in many of its products.
By the turn of the century, Guerlain’s sons, Aimé and Gabriel, were running the company, which was growing in size and the number of products offered. Aimé created some of Guerlain’s most famous scents, including Jicky, Eau de Cologne du Coq, and Fleur d’Italie. Among the fragrances created by the family’s third generation were Après L’Ondée, L’Heure Bleue, and Shalimar, the world’s first Oriental scent and the brand’s most legendary, developed by Gabriel’s son, Jacques Guerlain.
Another family master perfumer, Jean-Paul Guerlain, modernized the company and made it the big name it is today. Under his leadership, Guerlain expanded its product lines to include various lotions, potions, and cosmetics. He sold the House of Guerlain in 1994 to Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Over nearly two centuries, Guerlain has created more than six hundred different fragrances and today it continues to hold its own in the designer perfume market and symbolize luxury.
For collectors, Guerlain’s most popular perfumes include Jicky, Shalimar, Eau de Guerlain, Guerlinade, La Petite Robe Noire, and Mitsouko, each with their own distinctive bottle. Also collectible are eyeshadows, lipsticks, and powder cases by Emilio Pucci. Collectors can also find gift sets, soaps, blush, foundation, mascara, body lotion, and face creams.
If you would like to learn more about the House of Guerlain, check out our WorthPoint® tools:
To see other marks used by Guerlain, click our Guerlain Marks page.
To learn more about Guerlain, read our Guerlain Dictionary page.
Adina K. Francis has been a writer and editor in the antiques and collectibles field for more than 20 years. She has a bit of an obsession with the Victorians and thinks that dogs are one of life’s greatest gifts.
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