Ultraviolet UVA and UVB rays are some of the main causes of skin cancer. Accordingly, it is essential to stay protected from all this radiation during your lifetime. L’Oréal has a long history of expertise in the development of sunscreens, starting with its patenting of Mexoryl SX in 1982, followed by Mexoryl XL in 1989. The combination covers the UVB and short UVA range well, though less so the long UVA range. After 10 years of research in collaboration with BASF, in 2021 L’Oréal launched MEXORYL 400, the first solar filter that absorbs previously inaccessible long UVA rays. By widening the range of solar filtration, this filter plays an active role in preventing deep skin damage. Combined with several filters, the products now provide complete protection across the entire UV spectrum and thus protect the skin from sun damage.
In order to meet consumers’ growing demand for transparency in the ingredients that make up the products, L’Oréal has strengthened its approach through new initiatives that improve information and allow everyone to make informed choices. Launched in March 2019, the Inside Our Products website answers questions from the general public about what goes into the ingredients used in the Group’s products. The platform lists more than 1,300 ingredients and is now accessible in 45 countries and in 8 languages. This content, based in scientific foundations, is gradually being added to the websites of the Group’s major brands (L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, La Roche-Posay, Maybelline, Redken, Essie, Kérastase, Yves Saint Laurent etc.). As a continuation of this initiative, the Product Impact Labelling (PIL) system for displaying the environmental and social impact of products, that has been used in several European countries for the Garnier haircare and skincare brand, has now been extended to the La Roche Posay, Vichy and Biotherm skincare brands in France and will be rolled out gradually in new markets and for new product categories.
Faced with increasing consumer demand for information on the composition of its beauty products, L’Oréal is pursuing its transparency approach by launching InFragrance, a new information platform dedicated to fragrance ingredients. Its development began three years ago with the analysis of more than 20,000 perfume formulas working jointly with its main perfume suppliers (Firmenich, Givaudan, and IFF and Mane), given that each fragrance is a unique complex composition that combines a large number of ingredients. The challenge was to preserve the know-how and confidentiality associated with the uniqueness of each fragrance in a system that works for both consumer products and luxury fragrances: it allows us to understand the natural or synthetic origin of the ingredients, their olfactory properties and the way they are combined to create the fragrance of products. Roll-out of the platform began in the United States with Atelier Cologne, Garnier and Yves Saint-Laurent.
The model will then extend to all of the Group’s brands throughout the world. As a responsible leader in the beauty industry, L’Oréal would like the InFragrance model to be open to other players in the sector, both manufacturers and retailers, so as to provide more transparency to consumers.
L’Oréal has announced a ground-breaking global collaboration with Henkel, LVMH, Natura & Co and Unilever to develop the Eco Beauty Score, a rating system to assess the environmental impact of beauty products, which pools their experience, knowledge and data in this area. The scheme will provide consumers with transparent and comparable information on the environmental impact of products in the form of an overall score, to be made available in late 2022. This approach is based on a full analysis of their life cycle (formula, packaging and use) using a common scientific methodology established with the consulting firm Quantis. This system, common to all cosmetics companies, aims to allow consumers to make more sustainable consumer choices. In addition, L’Oréal and the above-mentioned companies have invited all other cosmetics players to join them.
Through its corporate venture fund BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development), in 2021 L’Oréal took a minority stake in the Swiss start-up Gjosa, which develops unique water‑saving solutions. L’Oréal and Gjosa have been working together since 2015 to reduce the amount of rinse water used by 65% via a shower head that can reduce the flow of water without compromising its ability to rinse a shampoo. Presented in January 2021 at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, L’Oréal Water Saver technology operates using micro‑ionised droplets in a high-pressure flow. The system connected to the tub has three slots for infusing shampoo, conditioner and care products directly into the water stream, while the shower head reduces water consumption in salons by up to 65%. It is being used in about 100 pilot hair salons. TIME Magazine named it one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2021.
RALF (Robot Assistance with Laboratory Flexibility) is a modular platform that works with an operator to prepare and process hair strands. Designed with the Labman company, RALF brings together multiple strands of expertise in the field of hair treatment (assessment, physical measurement, hair knowledge, mechatronic prototyping, robotic programming, IT and security, among others) to provide appropriate responses to tests, such as the automated application of dyes to hair, standardised hair setting procedures, and so on. The results obtained show that RALF is able to automate low value-added tasks, such as dye application, standardising operator-dependent tests, and guaranteeing the quality and traceability of data, while reducing the amount of water used to shampoo and rinse hair.
