Rimmel

The history of Rimmel goes back to 1834, when teenager Eugene Rimmel came to England from France and established a perfumery business in London with his father. At the age of 24, he opened his own flagship store in Regent Street, which sold beautifully packaged perfumes, soaps and bath essences to wealthy elites, including Queen Victoria.

Rimmel was not only an exceptional marketer but also an ingenious innovator. He came up with many new products, including mouth rinses, scented pomades (hair gels), and the first commercial non-toxic mascara, made from petroleum jelly and coal dust.

When Eugene Rimmel died in 1887, his sons took over the company, and control of the company passed out of the family. After the Second World War, Rimmel was nearly bankrupt and, in 1951, it was sold to another migrant family.

Siblings Robert and Jack Caplin and Rose Glazer were born in the East End of London to Jewish parents who had escaped pogroms in Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. Robert Caplin ran an advertising agency, and Rimmel was one of his clients. When the then owner of the company could not pay his advertising fees, he sold Rimmel to Robert, who brought in his sister Rose to serve as managing director and his brother Jack to look after sales. Rose was responsible for turning around the fortunes of the company and transforming it into Britain’s leading cosmetics brand.