Introducing Bienaimé, Vintage Beauty for the Modern Age
Discover the extraordinary story behind this new – but also rather old – beauty brand
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Introducing Bienaimé, Vintage Beauty for the Modern Age
Discover the extraordinary story behind this new – but also rather old – beauty brand
By: Shannon Peter
Venture up to the verdant wonderland that is our all new bathhouse, and nestled into an alcove you’ll find an ever-so-shiny Art Deco cabinet: home to Bienaimé.
A new brand with a rich history, it first launched in 1935 under chemist and perfumer, Robert Bienaimé and changed the face of French beauty as it was then known. Yet after Robert’s death in 1960, the brand sadly faded with him – and for the general public at least, was left largely forgotten.
That was until a passionate vintage beauty collector, Cécilia Mergui, came across an original Bienaimé powder box during one of her regular flea market trawls. She wasn’t just taken with the beauty of the Art Deco packaging; months of fervent Googling left her somewhat obsessed with the legacy of this long-forgotten brand. Frustrated on Robert’s behalf, she took it upon herself to bring the brand back from obscurity, reinstating the magic that once was.
With a story as rich as this – and products as extraordinary as these – Bienaimé feels right at home amongst Liberty’s iconic beauty edit. Here, we sit down with Mergui, the self-appointed Brand Revitalist, to learn what drove her in this cosmetic resurrection.
The Revival of Bienaimé
As told by Brand Revivalist, Cécilia Mergui
I didn’t always work in beauty, I used to work in fashion, and I’ve always been fascinated by bringing to life an aesthetic vision.
I love to go to flea markets and yard sales, to find forgotten treasures. I would always buy pieces of furniture, posters, objects, trinket boxes. And I began to spot lots of Art Deco beauty products. I was fascinated by them. They were very precious, very intricate. Like beautiful perfume bottles that looked more like glass sculptures made by amazing craftspeople like Lalique. But it was the powder boxes that fascinated me the most: these compacts would have a mirror, and perhaps a hidden lipstick. And on the other side you’d find a pen, or a lighter. It was amazing. Secret agent stuff, but for beauty. There was just so much detail, and back then, they really put a lot of importance on making everyday objects feel beautiful.
I thought it was funny, because although now, brands launch all the time trying to make products look nicer, thanks to mass manufacturing, there is still so much ugly packaging in beauty, Toothpaste tubes. Shampoo bottles. It’s easier to use plastic, it’s easier to just write everything on the bottle, and just not care what it looks like.
A Chance Discovery
Then one day, I came across a powder box from Bienaimé. What first struck me was the name: in French, Bienaimé means well-loved, or my beloved. I had never heard of this brand before, but then I started seeing it everywhere. So I had to research. It turns out that Bienaimé is the surname of the founder, Robert Bienaimé. I found a Wikipedia article that showed some of the brand archives and then I found a PDF obituary for the founder which really touched me: there was a paragraph describing his character, how he was gentle, forever in a good mood, and tried to not let small inconveniences get to him – it felt like it could be describing me.
What first struck me was the name: in French, Bienaimé means well-loved, or my beloved.
It felt sad that he had made this big contribution to beauty, but now, few people know his name. I’ve always wanted to do something in beauty so it made me think: why don’t I create that brand of beautiful objects, and do it with his name? Why don’t I just bring back his brand? So I hunted down the person who owned the brand at the time, and in the end, I bought it from him.
The Return
We relaunched the brand in November 2021. I see it as a new chapter, but not a new book.
I knew I had to launch it again with a full collection: it couldn’t just be the perfume. It needed the soaps, the body products and more. To make it seem like the brand had never stopped. At the time, it was a cutting edge brand, and the founder was a complete innovator in perfumery. But the packaging was also very striking, and different from other contemporary brands. It’s my goal to continue this spirit.
Discover Bienaimé
Robert Bienaimé was always passionate about preserving the French beauty traditions and techniques, so I’ve made sure that everything is produced in France. Even our perfume bottle is made in a very old glass factory that dates back to 1916. It's the last factory in France that produces perfume bottles by hand in this way. The perfumes, the candles, the body balms are all made in Grasse, and our liquid soap (which is very different to washing gel) uses a special technique developed in Marseille, which the region is famous for.
I also want to make sure that everything is refillable as much as possible, and that the packaging can be reused.
And I also want to give our customers this feeling of time-travel. To take you back to this amazing period in beauty and to provide an experience that feels really special. I love when customers tell me how the fragrances move them. How they remind them of childhood memories, how they transport them back to their grandmother’s bathroom. I know what that feels like: it’s a powdery heaven, this promise of femininity, childhood innocence. It’s that memory of my own childhood that inspired our La Vie en Fleurs fragrance. To me, it’s like magic.
Liberty is the perfect store for Bienaimé, and it’s an honour to have our corner there on the fourth floor. For me, it’s the most beautiful store in the world.
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