Fragrance house

Ellen Betrix

Ellen Betrix began as a cosmetics business in Frankfurt am Main, where Fritz Segner registered the name as a trademark in 1935; the name came from Henry Betrix, whose sister was Ellen. Production resumed in 1949 after a wartime interruption, and the expanding company moved to Sprendlingen in 1959. During the 1960s, it entered several European markets, followed by a men’s care line under the Henry M. Betrix name in 1968. In 1974, Klaus J. Segner took over management. Alongside its cosmetics and makeup identity, Betrix created Eurocos International Cosmetic in 1985 to distribute licensed fragrances, including Hugo Boss and Laura Biagiotti; the Hugo Boss fragrance business became a major commercial success for Betrix. Its documented fragrance activity also included Country Cologne, released in 1979 and identified as Maurice Roucel’s first fragrance. In 1999, Ellen Betrix was presented as a Procter & Gamble cosmetics brand in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. In 2000, Procter & Gamble combined it with Max Factor and discontinued the Ellen Betrix name in favor of Max Factor.