About Pasteur Pharmacy

The prescription department, at the back of each store, not only dispenses pills in standard plastic vials, but offers a service that is extremely rare today: Compounded custom formulas, prepared in-house. In the old days, compounding was the way pharmacies operated. Today, it is rare, but Pasteur does it.

What hits you the moment you arrive are the long aisles, every inch of space teeming with a barrage of just about every esoteric grooming and beauty product and accessory imaginable. Many of these products are imported from traditional and obscure European manufacturers you might have thought went out of business decades ago: From Portugal, Claus Porto, and other bar soaps in charming paper wrappers.

Myrugia Maja patchouli-and nutmeg-scented dusting powder, introduced in 1921, from Spain. All-natural citrus scented Olivella Bath & Body Gel, derived from pure virgin olive oil, from Italy. Santa Maria Novella Acqua di Gigli, an invigorating after-bath botanical body rub, also Italian.

A wide range of high-grade Janeke (Italian) and Swissco (Swiss) makeup mirrors, beautifully designed Denman hairbrushes, from Ireland, hard-to-find Revlon Professional hair products, Botot French toothpaste, formulated in 1755.

Pasteur’s specialty is artisanal, hard-to-find men’s grooming and shaving supplies, with brand names like Trueffitt & Hill, Williams, PAA Doppelgänger, Omega and Noble Otter. Here’s the spot for Southern Witchcrafts eau de cologne (not necessarily only for men); Semogue badger and boar shaving brushes, from Portugal; gift razors with faux-ivory handles; and multitudes of bay rums and even a beard wax from Scotch Porter, in East Orange, New Jersey. Several times a year, Pasteur has hosted get-togethers, where up to 100 men convene to exchange views about shaving.