In the movies the Iron Curt is represented in a very black and white manner and if you believe propaganda East and West were 2 separated entities that did not interfere very much (except for military reasons, espionnage and couture). How much truth is in the known history, or at least in our cosmetic/fragrance history?
Some facts
- Russian fragrances were advertised in France and for a short period they were sold in Paris (near the Opera).
- several extraction and manufacturing technologies (+ machines) used at Novaya Zarya were French, bought in the 60's
- mixing machines for cosmetics were also French and a short time collaboration with L'Oreal and Revlon existed in the late 70's and early 80's
- in the most difficult times there were perfumes /cosmetics with the inscription Moskva New York and Moskva Paris
- several important cosmetic congresses were organized in Poland and Czech Republic and companies like DROM, H&R, Dragoco were already present there in the 80's
- research articles (science, marketing and creation!!!) produced in Poland were very often featured in the American Perfumer and Flavorist. And I insist on the word marketing because it is unusual to hear such an approach from a state owned company.
- intensive advertising on Russian cosmetic products (+ soaps, perfumes) existed in the 60's in British, French and American trade magazines
- latest research articles were available in the east, as well as latest books, often translated in Russian (until mid 80's they translated almost everything in science)
- research articles (fragrance, cosmetics, flavors), but also patents were quoted or described in American, British and German magazines (I didn't find polish magazine of the factory Pollena in Romania but I found the abstracts in Paris!)
- french cosmetic patents were quoted in romanian cosmetic patents
- before the mid 80's French perfumes were available in the East and sold on the market. It was a limited number but names like Ricci, Lancôme, Revlon, Dior were not strange at all. Also local versions of famous perfumes existed. It is still unknown if they were created there or the concentrates were sold by the companies in the West (Drom, H&R, Dragoco, etc).
- marketing reports about those countries were available in the west and some of them published in P&F, Cosmetics & Toiletries, etc
- cosmetics from the east were exported in the west and a very known case is about a Romanian cream quite famous in USA
- Nivea original cream was available in the east. It was produced in Romania in the German factory (nationalized after WWII) using the original formula and original color code / packaging. Even the original perfume.
- western deodorants were available in the east on black market - many of them were already "bottled" in the east as it was very cheap to produce them there. Socialist countries started to work for the West long time ago (like China today) and it was not only the fashion
- the proliferation of counterfeited products after 1989 is a subject discussed with a lot of hypocrisy in Paris. Like in fashion, it was a side effect of the global production. When fragrances and cosmetics started to be produced outside France … it gave birth in those places (from Poland to Ukraine and Turkey) to this situation. Know how provided by western companies combined with an emerging economy gave birth to hybrid products.
- one of the greatest fragrance brands of today was producing a part of the fragrances in Czech Republic. If now, for the clothes you'll see "made in", there were many tricks used in the cosmetic/fashion business (I know also several practices used to apply "made in Italy" without being made there and without being outside the law before 2006:). Many perfumes/cosmetics produced under license that changed owner 3 times in the 90's were subject to a huge variation in terms of quality.
Some facts
- Russian fragrances were advertised in France and for a short period they were sold in Paris (near the Opera).
- several extraction and manufacturing technologies (+ machines) used at Novaya Zarya were French, bought in the 60's
- mixing machines for cosmetics were also French and a short time collaboration with L'Oreal and Revlon existed in the late 70's and early 80's
- in the most difficult times there were perfumes /cosmetics with the inscription Moskva New York and Moskva Paris
- several important cosmetic congresses were organized in Poland and Czech Republic and companies like DROM, H&R, Dragoco were already present there in the 80's
- research articles (science, marketing and creation!!!) produced in Poland were very often featured in the American Perfumer and Flavorist. And I insist on the word marketing because it is unusual to hear such an approach from a state owned company.
- intensive advertising on Russian cosmetic products (+ soaps, perfumes) existed in the 60's in British, French and American trade magazines
- latest research articles were available in the east, as well as latest books, often translated in Russian (until mid 80's they translated almost everything in science)
- research articles (fragrance, cosmetics, flavors), but also patents were quoted or described in American, British and German magazines (I didn't find polish magazine of the factory Pollena in Romania but I found the abstracts in Paris!)
- french cosmetic patents were quoted in romanian cosmetic patents
- before the mid 80's French perfumes were available in the East and sold on the market. It was a limited number but names like Ricci, Lancôme, Revlon, Dior were not strange at all. Also local versions of famous perfumes existed. It is still unknown if they were created there or the concentrates were sold by the companies in the West (Drom, H&R, Dragoco, etc).
- marketing reports about those countries were available in the west and some of them published in P&F, Cosmetics & Toiletries, etc
- cosmetics from the east were exported in the west and a very known case is about a Romanian cream quite famous in USA
- Nivea original cream was available in the east. It was produced in Romania in the German factory (nationalized after WWII) using the original formula and original color code / packaging. Even the original perfume.
- western deodorants were available in the east on black market - many of them were already "bottled" in the east as it was very cheap to produce them there. Socialist countries started to work for the West long time ago (like China today) and it was not only the fashion
- the proliferation of counterfeited products after 1989 is a subject discussed with a lot of hypocrisy in Paris. Like in fashion, it was a side effect of the global production. When fragrances and cosmetics started to be produced outside France … it gave birth in those places (from Poland to Ukraine and Turkey) to this situation. Know how provided by western companies combined with an emerging economy gave birth to hybrid products.
- one of the greatest fragrance brands of today was producing a part of the fragrances in Czech Republic. If now, for the clothes you'll see "made in", there were many tricks used in the cosmetic/fashion business (I know also several practices used to apply "made in Italy" without being made there and without being outside the law before 2006:). Many perfumes/cosmetics produced under license that changed owner 3 times in the 90's were subject to a huge variation in terms of quality.
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Fragrance is the 8th Art - Octavian Coifan - Le Parfum est le 8ème Art
