Two-hundred eighteen years ago, on 1st April 1803, the first boutique of perfumer Jean-Vincent Bully – whose name bore at the time the double consonant – opened in Paris. Bully made his fortune with his famous Vinegar de Toilette and inspired César Birotteau’s character in Balzac’s Comedie Humaine.
Showcasing Europe to the world, Paris set the tone in fashion and beauty, and the Parisienne — whose allure and beauty are so natural they seem to be innate — remains admired all over. The Paris of the 19th century distilled the very quintessence of then modern beauty and perfumery in its gorgeous officines and elegant perfumeries. Bully was among the most famous of his time. This is the Golden Age that Officine Universelle Buly aims at restoring. Buly, with one ‘L’, handing on the torch, a new story, a new universal era.
Victoire de Taillac and Ramdane Touhami, co-founders of Officine Universelle Buly, have a vocation for transmission. Both are inspired by the excellence and virtues of the past and eager to secure beauty’s heritage with the best of the present. Their taste for true perfumery, with authentic formulas, free of harmful chemicals, matches their conviction that universal beauty secrets, which have lasted and been passed down for millennia, have lost nothing of their relevance, virtue or wisdom. Their profound passion for ancestral savoir faire, hygiene, and beauty routines from all over the world was made concrete with the opening of Officine Universelle Buly at 6 rue Bonaparte in the 6th arrondissement in 2014 — a veritable bastion against the disappearance of the world’s beauty heritage and a dispensary offering simple, precious, efficient, respectful, modest, legendary products, gathered from history and travel.
Conceived in Paris, formulated in a French laboratory, the skincare products and perfumes designed by Buly make up a peerless and timeless experience. Building a bridge between natural ingredients, the teachings from ancient recipes, and the innovative technologies of contemporary cosmetics, Buly promotes an approach to beauty that is personal, intimate and bespoke, with each person elaborating their own rituals and developing their own skill set. A beauty that makes them want to take time for themselves, to explore every recipe, every texture, every ingredient or every tool to make it their own. A functional beauty that doesn’t neglect the aesthetic pleasure given by a product, its container, or an accessory. A form of beauty humanised, resurrected, and purified.