The story of Roger & Gallet begins in Italy, in the footsteps of a young Italian named Giovanni Paolo Feminis, who in 1693 invented a miraculous water, Acqua Mirabilis, a remedy based on 18 officinal plants cultivated in a convent in Florence, the Garden of the Simpletons.

This medicinal water was reputed to cure many ailments, either by rubbing or by ablution. The regenerating neroli, the refreshing lavender, the anti-inflammatory citronella, the antiseptic thyme... the miracle recipe crossed the centuries and the borders until Cologne where a certain Jean Marie Joseph Farina inherited it and patented it: the Eau de Cologne was born.

In 1806 Jean Marie Farina moved to Paris and founded his own perfume house. He used the advances in distillation of the time to modernize the formula of Acqua Mirabilis and make Eau de Cologne a perfume.

Prized for its fresh bergamot and orange blossom scents, Jean Marie Farina's Eau de Cologne seduced the royal courts, for which he became the official supplier. On the skin, this water gave a new sensation of freshness. Its muses are Napoleon I, the empress Eugenie, as well as many other personalities who ensured him international fame.

In 1862, two brother-in-laws, Armand Roger and Charles Gallet, inherited the precious original Eau de Cologne, which had been copied many times but never equalled. In Paris, the Garnier Opera was being built and Zola wrote Au Bonheur des Dames. In this effervescence, the two partners founded the house of Roger & Gallet and never stopped innovating, inventing and dreaming. In their wake came a profusion of scents, a whirlwind of perfumes and toiletry essentials that delighted elegant women: from soaps to skincare, from makeup to the first lip balms, products where smiling and joie de vivre are, for Roger & Gallet, a second nature.

In 1879, the first round "perfumed to the core" soap was created. This was a small revolution at a time when only rectangular bars existed that were difficult to grip. But that's not the whole story; made "in a cauldron" using a traditional method that is still used today, Roger & Gallet soaps are fragrant right up until their last use.

Happiness then got an address. In 1932, Roger & Gallet set up shop on Rue du Faubourg St Honoré and named it "La Boutique du Bonheur" (the Shop of Happiness). A real social gathering, people flocked there to discover the refined illustrations of artists such as Mucha, Icart or Fabiano.

In the 1950s, Roger & Gallet accompanied the well-being revolution. While paid holidays were in full swing, the French took pleasure in taking care of themselves, and Roger & Gallet toiletry essentials entered every bathroom.