Does the world need another beauty brand? Possibly not. But then, rare is the label that commands four pages in US Vogue, appears on all the best “shelfies” and is as insanely chic, as highly covetable or, more importantly, as Instagrammable as L’Officine Universelle Buly 1803. Its packaging references whimsical belle époque illustrations and has been driving frow-goers to its apothecary style, Rue Bonaparte store (decked out in warm wood panelling and a turquoise tiled floor) ever since it opened its doors back in 2014.
Top of the wish list is its (kitschy) coriander toothpaste and sulphur free matches, which give off the scent of blackcurrant or ginger when lit. Popular too are its potpourri rocks or dental floss, which is coated in flavoured natural beeswax – and no shortage of herbal concoctions, oils and body milks.
Originally founded in 1803, it was known as a perfume and scented vinegar brand. Its founder, Jean-Vincent Bully, the “L’Oreal” of his era, devised scientifically advanced products, such as vinaigre de Bully, which earned widespread acclaim across Europe for preserving skin tone and ensured the officine’s unprecedented notoriety for more than a hundred years.
In 1837, Bully even became the inspiration for Honoré de Balzac’s César Birotteau, the eponymous protagonist of one of his novels from the La Comédie humaine collection.
After “a century of sleep”, the parfumerie was resurrected by husband and wife team, Ramdane Touhami (entrepreneur and a former co-owner of Cire Trudon, the 17th-century French candle maker) and Victoire de Taillac-Touhami, the PR guru.
The packaging may be pleasingly old-fashioned, but the formulations are anything but. The lotions and potions are mostly water rather than alcohol based and free of parabens and silicone. The peripatetic lifestyle of Ramdane and Victoire (in the past decade they’ve lived in Paris, Tangier, New York and Tokyo) has undoubtedly influenced the global nature of the range. With the help of a French lab, the couple are also expanding on Buly’s original formulas. Among its 750 products is a skin oil inspired by plant macerations used in ancient Greece, as well as an orange and ginger flavoured toothpaste enhanced with thermal water from the French region of Castéra-Verduzan.
World domination (albeit in an understated, under the radar way) awaits for the style insiders’ best beauty secret, which has now been exported to Taipei, Tokyo, Seoul and New York, as well as to Selfridges this autumn. These cult items will be sold in shops that are as charming as the products themselves: thoughtfully appointed stores that resemble old world French style apothecaries with a hint of retro Victoriana or the 1930s.
