SCIENCE, THE DRIVER OF INNOVATION IN COSMETICS

For over a century, L'Oréal has built its development on a conviction: only strong research can create cosmetic products that are capable of generating real results. Its Research & Innovation model, unique in the cosmetics industry, is organized around three major entities:

• Advanced Research, tasked with continuously enriching scientific knowledge about skin and hair around the world, and discovering new active ingredients;
• Applied Research, which develops formulation systems, which are then played out in the different families of products;
• Finally, Development, which provides the brands with innovative formulas adapted to their identity and to consumer expectations around the world.

Assets for innovation

To stay ahead of the game and make major cosmetic innovations available to everyone, the group relies on three major assets: a unique collection of proprietary active ingredients, which Advanced Research enriches each year with new elements, molecules, or ingredients... ; expertise in formulation, this decisive phase that makes it possible to transition from the molecule to the finished product. Every year, thousands of formulas are developed by the teams at L'Oréal. One final asset is its expertise in evaluation, indispensable for bringing new products to the market by demonstrating their safety and effectiveness scientifically and rigorously.

Research that listens to consumers

At L'Oréal, innovation has always been nurtured by a constant dialog between science and marketing. It is founded on ever-more precise scientific knowledge of skin and hair around the world, but is also based on attentive listening to consumers on every continent and on the observation of their behavior where beauty is concerned. A true source of inspiration, the great diversity of beauty rituals opens up new fields of exploration.

A global vocation

By strengthening its global presence through the six regional poles - Europe, United States, Japan, China, Brazil and India - L'Oréal's Research and Innovation comes closer to its major markets, but also to the wealth of scientific knowledge of each region. In each, the research teams develop strategic partnerships with scientific experts or local start-ups to explore new territories.