Roger & Gallet

Product brand

French heritage fragrance and body-care brand founded in 1862, recognized for eau de cologne, perfumed soaps, and pharmacy-rooted personal care.

Last updated October 14, 2026

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Overview

Roger & Gallet is a French heritage fragrance and personal-care brand founded in Paris in 1862 by merchant Charles Armand Roger and banker Charles Martial Gallet. The house developed from the nineteenth-century Parisian apothecary-perfumery tradition and became particularly associated with eau de cologne, finely fragranced toilet soaps, bath products, and accessible forms of everyday luxury. Its identity combines French perfumery, botanical and citrus-oriented fragrance profiles, decorative packaging, and distribution through pharmacies, perfumeries, department stores, and other selective retail channels. A central part of the brand’s heritage is its connection with the Farina perfumery tradition. Roger & Gallet acquired the Paris business founded in 1806 by Jean Marie Joseph Farina, a descendant of the Farina family associated with the development and commercialization of eau de cologne. The company subsequently prevailed in a legal dispute concerning the use of the Farina name and retained rights associated with the Eau de Cologne extra vieille formulation. This history gave Roger & Gallet a distinctive position within French fragrance: it could present itself not only as a soap and perfume maker, but also as a custodian of one of the foundational traditions of European cologne. The company became especially well known for its luxury bath soaps. In 1879, it introduced the round soap format wrapped in pleated or crinkled paper and finished with a seal. The format became one of the brand’s most recognizable visual signatures and has continued to influence its packaging and product presentation. Roger & Gallet also benefited from advances in synthetic perfumery, including the commercial use of synthesized violet fragrance. The house held French rights connected with violet fragrance and developed products such as Vera Violetta, demonstrating its ability to combine traditional perfumery with new technical possibilities. During the twentieth century, Roger & Gallet broadened its presence beyond classic cologne and soap. The brand built a reputation around scented bath and body rituals, including shower products, body lotions, hand care, deodorants, and other toiletries. Its pharmacy heritage helped distinguish it from more overtly couture-oriented fragrance houses, while its packaging, fragrances, and Parisian history allowed it to occupy a more elevated position than ordinary mass-market toiletries. The brand’s product universe has continued to emphasize sensory well-being, botanical extracts, natural-origin ingredients, and French manufacturing or formulation traditions, although specific claims vary by product and market. Ownership changed several times. Sanofi acquired Roger & Gallet in 1975. Sanofi later sold the brand to Gucci in 1999, and L’Oréal acquired it from Gucci in 2008 as part of its broader acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. Under L’Oréal, Roger & Gallet remained a fragrance, toiletries, and skincare brand, with reported 2018 sales of €52 million. L’Oréal entered exclusive negotiations to sell the brand to French investment holding company Impala in February 2020, and the transaction was finalized on June 29, 2020. Following the sale, Roger & Gallet became part of the cosmetics platform later organized as Laboratoire Native. The platform brought Roger & Gallet together with brands including Lierac, Phyto, and Jowaé. Laboratoire Native’s current legal notices identify it as the operator of the Roger & Gallet digital commerce site, while Impala presents Roger & Gallet as one of the group’s principal cosmetics brands. The contemporary brand continues to sell eaux de cologne, eau de parfum, scented waters, solid fragrances, perfumed soaps, shower gels, body lotions, hand creams, deodorants, lip balms, and gift products across a network of international markets. Its current positioning retains the historic promise of fragrance-led well-being while adapting the product range to modern body-care, portability…

History

Roger & Gallet’s history sits at the intersection of French pharmacy, cologne, soapmaking, and modern branded cosmetics. The company was founded in Paris in 1862 by Charles Armand Roger and Charles Martial Gallet. Both founders came from commercial backgrounds rather than from the aristocratic perfume tradition, and they built the business around the growing nineteenth-century market for fragranced toiletries and personal hygiene products. The brand’s historical identity was strongly shaped by the Farina perfumery legacy. Roger & Gallet acquired the Paris perfumery established in 1806 by Jean Marie Joseph Farina, a descendant of the Farina family associated with the evolution of eau de cologne. Farina’s business helped transform a preparation with apothecary and medicinal associations into a refined fragrance product. Roger & Gallet later became involved in a legal dispute over the right to use the Farina family name. The company won the dispute and retained rights linked to Eau de Cologne extra vieille, distinguishing that product from the Original Eau de Cologne associated with Cologne. Rather than concentrating only on fine fragrance, Roger & Gallet specialized in fragranced toilet soap and bath products. A major manufacturing facility near Paris produced the company’s soaps, which were marketed as luxurious yet suitable for regular personal use. In 1879, Roger & Gallet introduced the round soap format wrapped in crinkled or pleated paper and sealed in a decorative presentation. The format became an enduring emblem of the house. It connected the practical function of soap with the gift-giving and visual codes of perfumery, a strategy that helped Roger & Gallet develop a recognizable identity across generations. The company also took advantage of new developments in fragrance chemistry. The synthesis of violet fragrance created opportunities for products that reproduced desirable floral effects at commercial scale. Roger & Gallet held French rights connected with synthesized violet fragrance and released products including Vera Violetta. This episode illustrates the company’s recurring balance between heritage and innovation: it presented itself as a guardian of classic French fragrance while adopting new materials and manufacturing methods when they supported distinctive products. By the early twentieth century, Roger & Gallet had become one of the prominent names in French perfumery and toiletries. Its stores and products were associated with Parisian refinement, decorative packaging, and scented daily rituals. The brand’s later retail history included pharmacy and selective distribution, which gave it a different commercial profile from luxury fashion houses whose fragrances were sold primarily through prestige department stores and dedicated boutiques. The brand’s twentieth-century development was also marked by corporate ownership changes. Sanofi acquired Roger & Gallet in 1975. Sanofi subsequently sold the brand to Gucci in 1999. L’Oréal acquired Roger & Gallet from Gucci in 2008, in the context of L’Oréal’s acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. During its period within L’Oréal, the brand continued to offer fragrances, toiletries, and skincare while drawing on its long-established image as a pharmacy-rooted French fragrance house. L’Oréal later reported that Roger & Gallet generated €52 million in sales in 2018; this figure should be understood as a historical, time-specific disclosure rather than a current estimate. In February 2020, L’Oréal announced exclusive negotiations with Impala concerning the sale of Roger & Gallet. The transaction was completed on June 29, 2020. Impala subsequently integrated the brand into a broader cosmetics structure, alongside the assets acquired from Alès Groupe. That structure became Laboratoire Native, with Roger & Gallet positioned alongside Lierac, Phyto, and Jowaé. The post-acquisition plan included rebuilding commercial capabilities, restoring pharmacy relationships, establishing logistics and information systems, outsourcing or reorganizing production, and increasing marketing investment. The present-day brand remains active. Its assortment extends from the historic Jean Marie Farina eau de cologne and perfumed soaps to scented waters, eau de parfum, solid fragrances, shower products, body lotions, hand creams, deodorants, lip care, men's products, and gift collections. Current digital channels highlight collections such as Rose, Néroli, Bois d’Orange, Cédrat, Fleur de Figuier, Gingembre Rouge, Fleur d’Osmanthus, Cologne Twist, and Vanille Soleil. Roger & Gallet continues to use fragrance as the organizing principle for body care, linking scent, cleansing, moisturizing, and sensory well-being. Its heritage is therefore not presented as a museum identity but as a commercial framework for adapting classic French fragrance codes to contemporary personal-care and international e-commerce markets.

2020
L’Oréal announced negotiations with Impala
[4]L’Oréal enters exclusive negotiation for the sale of Roger & Galletloreal-finance.com
L’Oréal announced exclusive negotiations with French investment holding company Impala for the sale of Roger & Gallet.
2020
The sale to Impala was finalized
[3]L’Oréal finalizes the sale of Roger & Gallet to Impalaloreal.com
The transfer of Roger & Gallet from L’Oréal to Impala was completed on June 29, 2020.
2020
Roger & Gallet became part of Laboratoire Native
[5]Laboratoire Nativeimpala-sas.com
Impala organized Roger & Gallet within Laboratoire Native alongside complementary cosmetics brands, creating a platform focused on pharmacy, parapharmacy, and international distribution.
2018
Historical sales disclosure
[4]L’Oréal enters exclusive negotiation for the sale of Roger & Galletloreal-finance.com
L’Oréal reported that Roger & Gallet generated €52 million in sales in 2018.
2008
L’Oréal acquired Roger & Gallet from Gucci
[4]L’Oréal enters exclusive negotiation for the sale of Roger & Galletloreal-finance.com
L’Oréal acquired the brand from Gucci in the context of its acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté.
1999
Gucci acquired Roger & Gallet from Sanofi
[1]Roger & Galleten.wikipedia.org
Sanofi sold Roger & Gallet to Gucci, bringing the heritage fragrance brand into a luxury-goods group.
1975
Sanofi acquired Roger & Gallet
[1]Roger & Galleten.wikipedia.org
Roger & Gallet became part of Sanofi, beginning a succession of corporate ownership changes in the modern history of the brand.
1880
Roger & Gallet prevailed in the Farina-name dispute
[1]Roger & Galleten.wikipedia.org
The company won a legal dispute concerning the use of the Farina family name and retained rights associated with its Farina eau de cologne heritage.
1879
The signature round perfumed soap format appeared
[1]Roger & Galleten.wikipedia.org
Roger & Gallet introduced its recognizable round soap wrapped in pleated paper and finished with a seal, establishing a visual and tactile signature that remains central to the brand’s heritage.
1862
Roger & Gallet was founded in Paris
[1]Roger & Galleten.wikipedia.org
Charles Armand Roger and Charles Martial Gallet founded the French perfume and toiletries company that would become Roger & Gallet.
1806
Jean Marie Joseph Farina established a Paris perfumery
[2]Roger&Gallet official websiteen.roger-gallet.com
The Paris perfumery founded by Jean Marie Joseph Farina later became an important part of Roger & Gallet’s historical connection to the Farina eau de cologne tradition.

Products and positioning

A French heritage fragrance and body-care house positioned between traditional perfumery and pharmacy-led personal care. Roger & Gallet emphasizes eau de cologne, sensory well-being, botanical-inspired fragrance, perfumed soap, French savoir-faire, and accessible everyday luxury.

Eau de cologne and body care
Jean Marie Farina
The Jean Marie Farina collection is the principal expression of Roger & Gallet’s Farina heritage. It centers on a classic citrus-and-aromatic eau de cologne associated with the Paris perfumery established in 1806. The collection also extends the fragrance into perfumed soap and other toiletries, allowing the same signature to be used across a broader bathing and grooming ritual. Its red-and-gold presentation and historical references make it one of the brand’s most recognizable heritage offerings.
Fragrance
Beneficial Scented Waters
The Beneficial Scented Waters range reframes fragrance as a sensory well-being experience. Products use fragrance accords associated with botanical or natural extracts and are presented as creations intended to support a pleasurable body-and-mind ritual. The current assortment includes profiles such as Rose, Néroli, Bois d’Orange, Cédrat, Fleur de Figuier, Gingembre Rouge, Fleur d’Osmanthus, and Vanille Soleil. The line represents the brand’s contemporary bridge between traditional cologne and lifestyle-oriented fragrance.
Bath and body care · 1879
Perfumed Soaps
Perfumed soap is one of Roger & Gallet’s defining product categories. The house’s round soap, associated with its nineteenth-century packaging tradition, turns a basic cleansing product into a fragranced and giftable object. Current products extend the historical format through different scent collections, including Jean Marie Farina and other botanical or floral profiles. Soap remains important to the brand because it connects its pharmacy and hygiene origins with its current fragrance-led positioning.
Bath and body care
Shower Gels
Roger & Gallet’s shower gels translate its fragrance signatures into liquid cleansing formats for everyday use. They are generally organized around the same scent families used in the brand’s colognes, soaps, and body products. This creates a layered routine in which consumers can combine cleansing, fragrance, and moisturizing products from a single collection. Shower gels help the brand compete in contemporary body care while retaining its traditional emphasis on scent and sensory pleasure.
Skin care
Body Lotions and Hand Creams
Body lotions and hand creams extend Roger & Gallet’s fragrance collections into moisturization and daily skin care. These products are designed to complement the brand’s scented waters, soaps, and shower products, offering a way to maintain a recognizable fragrance trail beyond the initial application of cologne. The range reflects the brand’s broader shift from a primarily soap-and-cologne house to a complete fragrance-based body-care portfolio.
Portable fragrance
Solid Fragrances
Solid fragrances provide a compact, portable format for the brand’s contemporary scent collections. They fit Roger & Gallet’s emphasis on sensory rituals while responding to modern preferences for travel-friendly and easy-to-apply fragrance. The format broadens the brand’s offer beyond traditional bottles and supports the idea that fragrance can be carried and reapplied as part of an everyday well-being routine.
Personal care
Deodorants and Lip Care
Deodorants and sublimating lip balms occupy the practical end of Roger & Gallet’s personal-care assortment. They apply the brand’s fragrance and body-care codes to routine products that are used throughout the day. Their inclusion demonstrates the breadth of the contemporary Roger & Gallet portfolio and its effort to make scent, grooming, and moisturizing part of a coordinated product ecosystem rather than limiting the house to classic cologne.

Brand decisions

2020
L’Oréal sold Roger & Gallet to ImpalaM&A
Background
L’Oréal conducted a strategic review of the brand’s development options and announced exclusive negotiations with French investment holding company Impala on February 4, 2020.
Action taken
The sale was completed on June 29, 2020, transferring Roger & Gallet to Impala.
Aftermath
Roger & Gallet became a core brand in the Laboratoire Native cosmetics platform, which rebuilt commercial, logistics, information-technology, and marketing capabilities around the acquired brands.
Roger & Gallet sales. €52 million (2018)
Source
2020
Rebuild the brand within Laboratoire NativeStrategy
Background
Impala acquired the Roger & Gallet brand during the COVID-19 health crisis without inheriting the full operating structure previously provided by L’Oréal.
Action taken
The new organization rebuilt commercial teams, information systems, logistics capabilities, pharmacy relationships, and marketing activity, then grouped Roger & Gallet with Lierac, Phyto, and Jowaé under Laboratoire Native.
Aftermath
The brand continued as an active pharmacy- and fragrance-oriented business within a broader French cosmetics platform with international operations.
Source
2008
L’Oréal acquired Roger & GalletM&A
Background
Gucci was part of the wider PPR group, and L’Oréal was expanding its fragrance and beauty portfolio through the acquisition of Yves Saint Laurent Beauté.
Action taken
L’Oréal acquired Roger & Gallet from Gucci and managed it within its beauty portfolio.
Aftermath
The brand remained active as a fragrance, toiletries, and skincare business until L’Oréal later decided that a different ownership structure would offer better development prospects.
Source
1999
Gucci acquired Roger & Gallet from SanofiM&A
Background
Sanofi continued to reshape its portfolio and sold Roger & Gallet to Gucci.
Action taken
Gucci took ownership of the French fragrance and toiletries brand.
Aftermath
Roger & Gallet entered a luxury-goods ownership environment before being sold to L’Oréal in 2008.
Source
1975
Sanofi acquired Roger & GalletM&A
Background
The brand had developed into an established French fragrance and toiletries business with a substantial heritage portfolio.
Action taken
Sanofi acquired Roger & Gallet and added it to its consumer and beauty-related holdings.
Aftermath
The transaction began a period of ownership transitions that later moved the brand to Gucci, L’Oréal, and Impala.
Source
1879
Introduce the signature round perfumed soapProduct launch
Background
Roger & Gallet sought to make toilet soap a luxury and giftable product while preserving its everyday utility.
Action taken
The company introduced a round soap wrapped in crinkled or pleated paper and finished with a seal.
Aftermath
The format became one of the house’s most durable visual signatures and continues to represent the brand’s heritage in bath and body care.
Source
1862
Build a fragrance house around apothecary perfumery and toiletriesStrategy
Background
Roger & Gallet was established within the nineteenth-century growth of French perfumery, hygiene products, and pharmacy-linked fragrance. Its early business model combined perfume with practical bath and body products rather than relying exclusively on high-end fine fragrance.
Action taken
The founders developed a portfolio centered on eau de cologne, fragranced soaps, and related toiletries, creating a bridge between apothecary tradition and everyday luxury.
Aftermath
This positioning became the foundation of the brand’s long-term identity and remains visible in its current combination of fragrance, soap, shower, and body-care products.
Source

Recent events

2020-05-28
Roger&Gallet announces planned exit from China[9]香邂格蕾宣布计划退出中国市场fashion.sina.com.cn
Reported: 2020-05-28
Roger&Gallet announced that it would close its Tmall flagship store on June 30, with its offline counters also set to close in stages; a brand customer-service representative said the brand was exiting the Chinese market.
2020-05-26
Roger&Gallet announces plans to exit China[10]香邂格蕾宣布计划退出中国市场tech.sina.com.cn
Reported: 2020-05-26
Roger&Gallet announced that its Tmall flagship store would close on June 30, and a brand customer-service representative told a reporter that the brand would exit the Chinese market. The reported exit was prospective at the time of publication.

Sources10 sources

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