When it was founded in 1877, Cosmydor specialised in the manufacture of eaux de toilette - ranges extended quickly to soaps, creams and many other cosmetics articles. The brand was hugely successful for almost a century thanks to the quality of its products, the originality of its fragrances and packaging, and the beauty of the illustrations used in its advertisements – including the iconic woman painted in 1891 by Jules Chéret, a famous artist of the time. The brand, which won prizes at the Universal Exhibitions in Paris in 1889 and 1900, disappeared in the late 1960s due to a succession crisis and relaunched a few years ago.
How it started
Below is an extract from La France Médicale, a medical magazine, dated October 17th, 1877.
Translation: “The medical and scientific press has just drawn attention to a sanitary product intended to provide immense services to hygiene, and therefore to public health.
Cosmydor, composed exclusively of plant products, enjoys the most diverse and useful properties.
The author, drawing inspiration from the work of the eminent chemists of our time, PAYEN, PELIGOT and the illustrious ORFILA, managed to combine together the sweetest perfumes while taking care to avoid acids and vinegars; because no one is unaware today that all doctors defend the use of these corrosive and irritating products.
We take this opportunity to be useful to our readers, but we will return to this important question, let us content ourselves for the moment with noting that Cosmydor is a successful application of science, that the use of this product must be popularised by all possible means.
Let us congratulate the author for his work and his patient research; because not only is Cosmydor a hygienic product of the highest importance, but it is also an incomparable eau de toilette meeting the particular and daily needs of all those who wish to maintain their body in a perfect state of health.”
Several interesting facts worth noting from this 1877 article:
Since its very beginning, Cosmydor has promoted 100% natural products, made exclusively of plant products. What seems normal today was very unusual then. Cosmydor’s 21st-century formulas stand very close to this heritage, with an average of 99.5% natural ingredients and the rejection of petrochemicals.
Cosmydor has always been backed by science and has evolved with it. Nowadays our R&D team uses chromatography and AI-based data to identify the most powerful ingredients and ingredient combinations…
At the time, people were using acids and vinegar for hygiene, not an efficient way nor advised for beautiful skin!
Why history matters: heritage at the root of luxury
True luxury is often synonymous with timelessness, which means having deep and meaningful roots, as well as being modern and looking forward to innovation and the future.
History also teaches how to avoid leaning too much on short-term trends, or fashions. It provides ideas and inspiration on what is truly essential, including beautiful design, the highest manufacturing quality, and sustainability.
History is also a key factor in the development of a unique proprietary know-how, such as Cosmydor’s artisanal manufacturing.
Why history does not matter: products and brands need permanent re-invention
Cosmetics require permanent re-invention and innovation. Not for a new “magical” molecule derived from oil - which is usually either a marketing trick or a way to produce industrially at an ever cheaper cost - but for a constant, permanent, obsessional improvement of everyday gestures of our artisans, our manufacturing processes, a constant study of the incredible benefits of plants for our skin both through experimentation at the lab and by following the progress of scientific research.
Very few of Cosmydor’s original formulas from the 19th century are relevant today, especially as the strict European regulation on cosmetics forbids the use of thousands of previously used ingredients - including many plants - for the protection of consumers’ health.
Ah, Paris…
Cosmydor was born in Paris, having had its original Entrepot General (main offices and warehouse) at 53, boulevard Sebastopol, today in Paris’s 1st district not far from the Centre Pompidou and Samaritaine department store. Its manufacturing facilities were set up in the absolute vicinity of Paris, in Levallois-Perret.
The brand has always kept its Parisian-chic identity, as the design of its first-ever billboard in 1891 by Jules Chéret witnesses:
