A Story of Renewal
In 1863, Gaspard Cottance founded in Paris a house destined for a singular future, with a conviction rare for its time: cosmetics should respect the skin as much as they beautify it. Today, its Renewal reinvents that pioneering heritage to set a new standard for French natural skincare.
In the beginning, an alchemist of beauty
Paris, 1863. Gaspard Cottance, a visionary entrepreneur of many talents (alchemist, formulator, perfumer), opens his Maison on rue des Lombards. At a time when cosmetics damage the skin more than they beautify it, he formulates by a principle his century has yet to embrace: never harm the skin.
Five years later, he patents the Pommade Mandarine à la Rose, one of the first natural balms in history to be exported to five continents.
Worldwide recognition
Within a few decades, driven by its tireless founder and then by his wife, the Maison becomes one of the great Parisian perfume houses. Six hundred creations in its catalog: distilled floral waters, creams and balms, soaps, fragrances. Branches open around the world, from Saint Petersburg to Melbourne.
Four gold medals at the World's Fairs crown its success, and in 1900 it sits on the jury of the Paris Exposition Universelle alongside L.T. Piver and Roger & Gallet. The official report praises the brand's “extraordinary capacity for innovation and its major contribution to the rise of French cosmetics and perfumery.”
The rest is history.
The revival of the Maison
In 2022, a passionate, entrepreneurial French couple decides to revive the brand. Historians and archivists piece its story back together: patents, catalogs, formulas. What they uncover is not a recipe to reissue but a pioneering philosophy, an ongoing dialogue between tradition and innovation. Three principles of formulation (harmony, proportion, elevation) and one obsession more relevant than ever: primum non nocere. First, do no harm.
With a team of award-winning chemists, they reinterpret this DNA in a new generation of natural skincare, where sensorial pleasure is matched only by efficacy. The floral waters that already held pride of place in the 1881 catalog inspire the Hydro-Biome Complex (HBC6®): five French organic hydrosols and postbiotics, in place of water, at the heart of every formula.
When the age-old secrets of beauty meet modern science to write the future.
“A dialogue between botanical tradition and scientific innovation, in the service of exceptional natural skincare. We remain faithful to this singular heritage.”
Sue Le Picard, Co-founder
Rue des Lombards, Paris. Gaspard Cottance opens his house of perfumes and cosmetics. The following year, he establishes a factory in La Villette.
Patented and exported to five continents. It would be copied so widely that the Maison designed its own jars to guarantee the authenticity of its products.
The first vaseline face cream, an American innovation, introduced to France by Cottance.
Cottance wins its first gold medal at the Melbourne International Exhibition, in the perfumes & cosmetics category.
The Maison's general catalog, held at the Bibliothèque nationale de France, lists more than six hundred references exported around the world.
Cottance wins its second gold medal at the Antwerp World's Fair, in the perfumes & cosmetics category.
A private mansion rises near the Pantin factory, designed by Frantz Jourdain, future architect of La Samaritaine.
Cottance wins its third gold medal at the Brussels World's Fair, in the perfumes & cosmetics category.
Four gold medals at the World's Fairs, from Melbourne to Paris. At the 1900 Paris Exposition, Cottance sits on the jury.
After the war, the Maison keeps creating in step with the times, but the conflict has left a lasting mark: it will gradually fall dormant.
In the shop of an antiques dealer, an old Cottance box catches the eye of a passionate, entrepreneurial couple. They begin their research. Historians and archivists are commissioned to reconstruct the Maison's DNA in precise detail.
Leading French formulators are commissioned to develop new, advanced organic formulas that unite herbal tradition and cutting-edge biotechnology, pushing the limits of natural cosmetics.
The Maison is reborn. Its new line of high-performance organic skincare is acclaimed by the press in France and internationally.
