Bourjois, a French makeup brand present in the UK for decades, pulled out in 2019

Bourjois was a French cosmetics brand founded in 1863 by actor Alexandre Napoléon Bourjois. The brand was known for its affordable, high-quality makeup — particularly its little round pot blushers and nail polishes — and was a fixture of UK high-street chemist shelves for decades. It was carried by Boots, Superdrug, and other major UK retailers alongside its parent company's other brands.

On December 9, 2019, Coty — which owned Bourjois at the time — announced it was withdrawing the brand from the UK market entirely. The decision was described as a 'difficult decision' driven by declining sales in the UK. Coty stated it needed to 'focus to a far greater degree' on its priority Consumer Beauty brands and streamline its portfolio. After a brief clearance period, Bourjois products disappeared from UK shelves.

The UK exit was part of a broader retrenchment. Bourjois had also been withdrawn from other markets where it was not performing. Coty's broader portfolio strategy was shifting toward its higher-growth brands, and Bourjois — a heritage brand with declining sales — was a casualty of that prioritisation. The brand continued to be available in France and other European markets, but the UK market, once one of its strongest, was closed.

For UK consumers, Bourjois's exit removed a brand that had been a gateway into cosmetics for generations. The brand's affordable price point and French heritage gave it a distinctive position between mass-market and premium — a position that Coty ultimately decided it could not sustain in the UK given the sales trajectory.

Coty withdrew Bourjois from the UK in Dec 2019, prioritizing higher-growth brands and streamlining its portfolio, costing decades of high-street presence.

Declining UK sales made the market unprofitable for Bourjois — Coty determined the brand could not sustain its UK retail presence

Coty was streamlining its portfolio to focus on higher-growth Consumer Beauty brands, and Bourjois was a low-priority heritage brand in the UK

The UK cosmetics market was consolidating around mass-market brands (Rimmel, Maybelline) and premium brands (Estée Lauder, Lancôme), squeezing mid-market players like Bourjois

Bourjois's UK distribution relied on third-party retailers (Boots, Superdrug) who were themselves consolidating shelf space toward faster-selling brands

Bourjois was not a failed brand — it was a slow one. When Coty pruned its portfolio to focus on faster-growing brands, the UK market was the branch that fell. Heritage without growth is a liability.

Bourjois continued to be sold in France and other European markets after the UK withdrawal. The brand was later sold by Coty to COP (Compagnie des Parfums et des Cosmétiques) in 2020 as part of the same portfolio streamlining. The UK market has remained closed since 2019.