Fragrance History
Napoleon’s love of eau de cologne is one of the best-known facts in perfume history, and the famous number is sixty bottles a month. It comes from someone who knew his household. The bills described later paint a smaller and messier picture.
Essential Details
Napoleon’s Cologne at a Glance
- The famous figure: About sixty bottles a month
- Where it comes from: The memoirs of Madame de Rémusat, a lady-in-waiting to Josephine
- Other figures: From 27 to 72 bottles a month, in bills described later
- What he wore: Eau de cologne, a light citrus and herbal water
- Not supported: A figure of 120 litres a month, and the “don’t wash” letter
Where the Sixty Bottles Come From
Claire de Rémusat served at court as a lady-in-waiting to the Empress Josephine. Her memoirs were published in English in 1880. In them she says he used no perfume except eau de cologne but got through sixty bottles of it a month.
That is about two bottles a day. She knew the household well, which makes her the best witness we have. She does not give a bill, though, so her number is a memory rather than a record.
What the Bills Say
Later writers have quoted household accounts, and they give different numbers. An account from 1806 lists 162 bottles for one quarter, or about 54 a month. It was quoted in a newspaper in 1927. A bill for 1812 and 1813 described by the historian C. J. S. Thompson works out to roughly 27 a month. A French report from 2021 cites an invoice for 72 bottles in October 1808.
None of these comes with an archive reference I could check, and none gives the size of the bottles. The honest answer is a few dozen bottles a month, of a size nobody records.
You may also meet a figure of 120 litres a month. I can find it only on one perfume blog, credited to a historian without a source, and it does not fit any of the bills. We used it on one of our own pages before, and we have now corrected it.
Who Supplied Him
Napoleon’s cologne is often tied to Jean Marie Farina, who opened a Paris shop in 1806 selling the eau de cologne his family had made famous in Cologne. That business passed to Roger & Gallet in 1862. The house still sells Jean-Marie Farina Extra Vieille. It is a bright mix of lemon, bergamot, rosemary and neroli.
Roger & Gallet describes the emperor as a loyal client, but I have not seen a document that proves he bought from Farina. A perfumer named Chardin appears in these stories too, again without a source I could check. The slim bottle said to fit in his boot is a later house story, and no such flask from his time has been found.
The Letter That Never Was
One more story needs a warning. The line “Don’t wash, I’m coming home” is often said to come from a letter to Josephine. No one has produced the letter itself. We cover it on our page about Napoleon and the don’t-wash letter.
Why It Matters
Sixty bottles a month makes a good headline, and it may not be far off. It is still one witness’s figure, not a receipt. Napoleon’s real legacy is the habit itself: cologne splashed on generously every day, which is how many people still wear it.