Cosmetic Valley competitiveness cluster

Established in 1994 with the sponsorship of Jean-Paul Guerlain, Cosmetic Valley is the world’s leading centre for resources in perfumery and cosmetics. It covers seven French departments and three regions: Eure-et-Loir, Indre-et-Loire, Loiret, and Loir-et-Cher (central region), Val d’Oise and Yvelines (Île-de-France), as well as Eure (Haute-Normandie).

Cosmetic Valley’s mission is to develop the perfumery and cosmetics sector in France. With the backing of local authorities, Cosmetic Valley oversees a network of businesses and research and training centers committed to a joint approach based on innovating and conquering international markets.

The cluster brings together nearly 550 companies specialized in perfumery and cosmetics and exporting French luxury products abroad. Among them, we find twenty brands: Guerlain and Dior (LVMH), Shiseido, Hermès, Nina Ricci and Paco Rabanne (Puig Group), Lolita Lempicka (Pacific Creation), Calvin Klein and Jennifer Lopez (Coty Prestige), Gemey-Maybelline and Yves Saint Laurent Beauté (L'Oréal), Clarins, Caudalie, Chanel, Unilever, Procter&Gamble, Reckitt Benckiser, Johnson&Johnson, Roc, Neutrogena... In addition to these companies, six universities (Orléans, Rouen, François Rabelais de Tours, Versailles/Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Le Havre and Cergy-Pontoise) and about fifteen training institutions (ISIPCA, IMT, ESCEM Tours-Poitiers...) are involved in the competitiveness cluster.

Cosmetic Valley has gained expertise in the various fields of perfumery and cosmetics: cultivation of aromatic plants, preparation of aromatic (essential oils) or non-aromatic raw materials (by chemistry, oleochemistry or green chemistry), formulation of powders, creams, perfumes, and cosmeto-textiles, manufacturing, control, test and analysis of products, design of primary or secondary packaging structures, conditioning, plastic injection, packaging, logistics...

The cluster aims at expanding the international visibility of its SMEs/SMIs in order to put them in a better position for export. It also aims at promoting sustainable development, referring to the charter "Towards an eco-responsible Cosmetic Valley", which target is to ensure the quality and safety of products with respect for people and Earth.