14 September 2026
Few perfume houses can tell nearly two and a half centuries of history. Dorin’s begins in the Paris of Louis XVI, goes through the Court of Versailles, the Parisian theatres and the World’s Fairs, before being reborn at the end of the 20th century. Here is its story.
From “Fards rouges et blancs” to the Court of Versailles
In the second half of the 18th century, a shop renowned for the quality of its beauty products, “Fards rouges et blancs”, stood on rue Grenier-Saint-Lazare in Paris. It came into the hands of Marguerite Brunet, known as Mademoiselle Montansier: a woman of the theatre, a formidable businesswoman and a close friend of Queen Marie-Antoinette.
In 1780, the queen and King Louis XVI granted the house the title of supplier to the Court of Versailles for the quality of its powders and make-up. The house supplied the Court until the Revolution. This is the date celebrated today by the perfume Versailles 1780.
Versailles 1780, a tribute to the year the house became supplier to the Court
From the theatre to Jean-Marie Dorin
Mademoiselle Montansier went on to run several Parisian theatres, including the Beaujolais, the Palais-Royal and the Variétés. The house then supplied most of the city’s troupes and became the reference for make-up in Paris, on stage and in town.
To grow the business, Mademoiselle Montansier partnered with Jean-Marie Dorin, who eventually bought the house and gave it his name in 1819. A tireless researcher, he put science at the service of beauty: his laboratories were among the best equipped in Paris, and the house motto became “Beauty through science”.
Un Air de Paris and La Dorine, two icons
In 1884, Hector Monin, mayor of the 3rd arrondissement, took over the house and gave it an international dimension, all the way to the Americas. Un Air de Paris rice powder was then a must for every Parisienne; Dorin launched the perfume of the same name, born in 1886, which became the house’s iconic fragrance: an accord of iris, mandarin and white peach, with the powdery note that signs its creations. You can discover it today in Les Classiques collection.
In 1893 came La Dorine powder, in a compact box easy to carry: an international success. The word “Dorin” came to mean lipstick in the United States and white powder in Japan. This heritage now inspires Les Dorines collection.
Un Air de Paris, the iconic perfume born in 1886
Medals and worldwide fame
At the 1889 Paris World’s Fair, the jury praised “the superiority of these absolutely harmless products”. Success followed at the fairs of Moscow (1891) and Chicago (1893), a gold medal in Paris in 1900, then awards in Liège and Brussels. The house was also one of the first to create a line for men: Pour Monsieur.
A sleeping beauty awakens
After a long period of glory until the end of the 1930s, the house did not recover from the Second World War. In 1998, the family company France Excellence, specialised in fine perfumery, gave it a new lease of life.
Today, Dorin perfumes are still handmade in the house’s workshops in Gennes, in the heart of the Pays de la Loire, with French master perfumers. And in Chatou, between Paris and Versailles, the Musée Dorin gathers more than 700 archive pieces, bottles and compacts that tell this whole story.
The perfumes that tell this story
To experience it, start with Versailles 1780 and the other Scents of Versailles, then discover Un Air de Paris, the house’s great classic. And if the Court fascinates you, read on with our article on the perfumes of Marie-Antoinette and Versailles.