Introducing Guerlain

A chemist, explorer and pioneer, the story of Guerlain begins with Pierre-François Pascal Guerlain. Born to a wealthy family, Pierre-François started working for major perfume houses from the age of 19, frequently travelling across France and Europe. Having identified a gap in quality and packaging within the industry, and armed with a personal obsession for quality, love of travel and the discovery of new scents and training as an alchemist, he set off to create the Guerlain name. In 1828 he opened his first boutique on the ground floor of Hôtel Meurice in Paris.

Upon opening his first store, Pierre-François imported Liquid Bloom of Roses from England – a product used to subtly tint the lips pink. From that, he continuously refined and perfected the formula, until finally launching the first lipstick in modern-day makeup in 1870. Named “Ne m’oubliez pas”, the waxy pink stick was housed in a solid tube casing with a push-up mechanism – hence the first-ever lipstick was born.

The first powders and rouges from Guerlain were conceived in the 1830s, but the brand revolutionized the market when in 1984, they presented Terracotta, a totally new way of adding colour to the face. As the pioneers of sun makeup, Guerlain bronzing powders were designed to give a natural, healthy glow throughout the year at a time when the tan was becoming a must for every woman. The revolutionary product became a beauty bag staple – so much so that a Terracotta product is sold every 20 seconds somewhere in the world.

Introduced in 1987, Guerlain’s iconic Météorites is designed to enhance your complexion like no other powder. Made up of a rainbow of miniature beads in specific colours (pink for a healthy glow, green to combat redness, mauve to reveal natural luminosity, white to lighten the complexion and pearl to add an iridescent sheen), a swirl with your brush creates an unrivalled multi-dimensional, beautiful glow.

Inspired by the beauty and elegance of Empress Eugénie de Montijo, Pierre-François created Eau de Cologne Impériale. A blend of orange blossom, bergamot, lavender and rosemary, the scent is such a potent elixir, it is believed that the Empress used it to cure her migraines.

Housed in a beautiful bottle inspired by bees, the Empress was so impressed with the concoction that she presented Pierre-François with the royal warrant, making him the ‘Official Supplier to the Empress’. Soon after Queen Victoria, Queen Isabella of Spain and Tsar Alexander III all became loyal customers.

Guerlain holds the orchid in such high esteem that the house has dedicated an entire research centre to the exotic and graceful bloom. The luxurious Orchidée Imperiale line of anti-ageing skincare is designed to harness the exotic flower’s incredible powers of longevity. The result of 12 years of research, over three divisions located in China, Switzerland and France, the collection is supported by an impressive reforestation programme that ensures the orchids are grown in a natural environment to the highest of standards.