Cleopatra's Boudoir: Rimmel

Rimmel was established in 1834 by two Frenchmen, Eugene Rimmel and his father.

c1930 advertisement

The story of Rimmel begins in France. Hyacinthe Mars Rimmel, born in 1796, trained with the famous French perfumer, Pierre-François Lubin. Due to his mastery of the perfume business, he was invited to manage a perfumery on New Bond Street in London owned by the widow of perfumer Joseph Delacroix. So in 1830, Rimmel accepted the position and moved his family to Britain.

With the financial help of partners Louis Jean Baptiste Vaudeau (b.1806-d.1860) and Pierre Joseph Gabriel Augustin Bessan, Hyacinthe Rimmel was able to open his own perfumery, the House of Rimmel in 1834. The original shop was located on Albemarle Street in the area known as "Little France." In the same year Rimmel produced his first cosmetic products. The Albemarle Street shop was closed in favor of two other perfumery shops opened at 210 Regent Street, London and 39 Gerrard Street, Soho.

A 1835 advertisement reads: "H. Rimmel, eleve de Lubin a Paris (student of Lubin from Paris), Perfumer to his late Majesty George the Fourth, Emperor of Russia, Duke of Orleans, &., Importer of all Foreign Perfumery, No. 210, Regent Street, and 39, Gerard Street, Soho Square, London, respectfully begs leave to inform the Nobility and Gentry of the City of Aberdeen and its vicinity, that he has supplied Messrs. P. Williamson & Co. of Union Street, with a choice selection of his various Articles, of which he particularly invites attention to the undermentioned Perfumes."

However, Rimmel avoided paying his creditors and the partnership of Rimmel, Bessan and Vaudeau was dissolved by mutual consent in 1837 after declaring bankruptcy.

His son, Eugene Rimmel, born in France in 1820, was determined to follow in the footsteps of his father. Eugene at the age of fourteen, started an apprenticeship with his father in the art of cosmetics and perfumes. He also learned how to run a business while apprenticing with the merchants of the East India Company. In 1842, Eugene took over the business. With his continued talents, the business thrived and expanded throughout Britain and its colonies as well as in Paris.

By the age of 24, Eugène Rimmel had become a talented perfumer and early cosmetics innovator. Considered by many beauty historians as a trailblazer of the beauty and healthcare industries, Rimmel contributed greatly to the concept of hygiene and bathing. He was also among the first to develop scented pomades, extracts, mouth rinses and his signature "Toilet Vinegar" and lavender waters.

All perfumes were produced in Grasse by the Rimmel family. Rimmel had a manufactory at Beaufort House. In Nice, France, he was the owner of a flower farm.

In the late 1850s, the main shop was at 96 Strand, London, and Eugene Rimmel lived in an apartment above.

His most innovative invention may well be the first commercial non-toxic mascara, which became so popular that "rimmel" is to this day the word for "mascara" in several languages including French, Italian, Portuguese, Persian, Romanian, Spanish, Turkish and Arabic.

Rimmel was also considered an exceptional marketer and produced detailed mail order catalogues and advertising programmes with English theatres. Imaginative products included perfumed jewelry, gloves, fans, cards, calendars, etc. The company was very successful and in 1851 at the Great Exhibition, Rimmel's magnificent, giant perfume fountain scented the entire hall.

Rimmel was so successful that he was appointed not only Royal Perfumer to the British, but also to the Spanish and French royal courts. Rimmel was granted ten Royal Warrants from heads of state all over Europe, including Queen Victoria, for his perfumes and fragranced products.

Eugene Rimmel published The Book of Perfumes in 1864 and it was a best seller for many years.

With the headline "The Prince of Perfumers", The New York Times printed Rimmel's obituary on 15 March 1887. It stated that he was an avid philanthropist and one of the founders and almost the sole supporter of the French Bureau de Bienfaissance, in Poland Street , and a constant advocate of its claims to the support of the public. In conjunction with Dr. Vintras and one or two others he founded the French Hospital and Dispensary in London in Leicester-place.

Below is an extract of his obituary from 1887:

"RIMMEL - On February 25, Mr Eugene Rimmel, head of the well known perfumery house, died of heart disease at his residence 96 Strand, London. Mr Rimmel was born in 1820 in Paris where his father was then carrying on business as a perfumer. Mr Rimmel senior who had been initiated in the art of perfumery by the celebrated Lubin, perfumer to the Empress Josephine, the wife of Napoleon I, subsequently emigrated to London, where he undertook the management of the business of the late Mr Joseph Delcroix, of New Bond Street.Young Eugene remained at the Versailles College, near Paris, but when, in 1834 his father established business on his own account in Albemarle Street, his son joined the business as an apprentice.

After having served for two years in his father's business, which was soon removed from Albemarle Street to Gerrard Street, Soho, Eugene, at the age of sixteen, obtained a clerkship with Messrs. Jos. Marryat & Son, a firm of West India merchants, with whom he remained for three years, at the end of which time he again joined his father's business, on this occasion as a traveller. In this capacity Mr. Rimmel frequently visited the Continent, where he made the acquaintance of the lady who, in 1842, became his wife, and who was the daughter of a French manufacturer of chemical products.

Soon after his son's marriage, Mr Rimmel senior retired from the perfumery business in London and purchased a flower farm at Nice. Mr. Eugene Rimmel then became proprietor of the London firm, and under his guidance the business rapidly extended, especially after the great International Exhibition of 1851, where he scored a brilliant success with his perfume fountain, which became the popular rendezvous of the palace, and which consequently made Rimmel and perfumery almost synonymous terms. When the Crystal Palace at Sydenham succeeded the great fair in Hyde Park, Mr Rimmel was granted the monopoly of the sale of perfumery on the ground floor on the condition that he should erect three ornamental fountains in the building.

In 1858 Mr Rimmel acquired the premises at the corner of the Strand and Beaufort Buildings, which until this day remain the headquarters of his firm, and in which Messrs Ackermann formerly carried on business as print sellers. In 1871 Beaufort House, a large building overlooking the Thames Embankment, was also added to the establishment Mr Rimmel was a strong believer in exhibitions as a means of extending trade, and his firm carried off prizes at most of the world's fairs which have been held since the great London show of 1851.

Among the many novelties and improvements which Mr Rimmel introduced into the trade, the perfume vaporiser was one of the most notable. A fairy piece called "Chrystabelle, or the Rose without a Thorn," was about to be introduced at the Lyceum Theatre, of which Madame Celeste was the lessee at that time, and Mr Rimmel was invited to devise a means by which a scent of rose could be diffused throughout the house, and hit upon the idea of applying steam to produce rapid and powerful evaporation, as the scent of roses could not be produced by the combustion of aromatic substances, the only means then known of perfuming the air. The complete success of Mr Rimmel's steam vaporiser led to its introduction in many theatres, ball rooms, & c. It was afterwards applied to disinfecting purposes by substituting the essential oils of plants, chiefly those of the N.O. Labiata, as rosemary and lavender, for those of flowers. In this modified form it was adopted in the wards of several hospitals and at the dissecting operations of the Royal College of Surgeons.

In 1864 he published a work entitled "The Book Perfumes," which he afterwards translated and republished in French. The French edition was preceded by a preface by Alphonse Karr, who declares that he places Rimmel's work among those which have greatly to the welfare of mankind.

Mr. Rimmel, until the day of his death, lived at his business premises 96 Strand. Mme. Rimmel, who, in conjunction with one of her sons, will continue the business, has for many years been an invalid and resided in the south of Europe. Mr Rimmel leaves two sons and a daughter. The eldest son attended him during his last illness, and has long taken an active share in the business. The second son is connected with a banking firm at Beirut, Syria."

Rimmel married a woman from Seurre, eastern France, Elisabeth Letroublon with whom he had three children, Jules, Henry and Herminie. Rimmel was a linguist of "great attainments," able to speak not only English, but French, German, Spanish and Italian, which would have been a wondrous boon for his international business dealings.

The sons assumed control of the beauty company at Rimmel's death in 1887, though they delegated the management of the company, which passed out of Rimmel family hands. Despite financial setbacks, the company maintained their luxury image, producing some extraordinary presentations such as Art Moderne in 1925. After many difficulties Rimmel's cosmetics brand is now owned by Coty Inc

Years ago I had Rimmel's Perfume Vaporizer, it looks similar to today's essential oil burners and works much in the same way, it also had a small brass plate on the front explaining what it was.. This one had a generously sized copper cup which could be covered with a copper lid that had some holes in the top for the steamed perfume to escape while being heated up. The copper cup was on fancy legs and attached to the bottom was a small cup which could hold a tea light. Inside you could add water and drops of your favorite perfume or essential oil. When filled with water, it helped to stay vaporising for hours. I had sold it on ebay and wish I never got rid of it, it was a perfect room deodorizer. These dated to the 1860s.

The gilded glass bottle for the perfume Les Capucines was designed by the Italian company M.V.M. Cappellin & C. who were active from 1925-1932.

Below, I have compiled a list of all the Rimmel perfumes. I am sure there are more perfumes to be found, if I left one out, let me know. The dates listed below are the first instance I could find for that particular perfume. Several perfumes were sold for decades so your perfume may not date to the precise introduction date listed, and may have been produced years later.

Also of interest, some of the perfume names were common names used by other perfumers of the era, such as Guerlain and Houbigant. These perfumes were found in formulary books and it may be that certain perfumes were tweaked here and there for individuality.