L’Oréal Research
Technology is Beautiful
L’Oréal is the world’s largest cosmetics company, due in part to its willingness to embrace digital technology. By putting technological innovation at the service of its research teams, L’Oréal offers new developments that enable the company to stay connected to the consumer on every device. Unlike its competitors, L’Oréal has made some significant advances in things like virtual makeup and geocosmetics. Here are five facts you might not know about recent L’Oréal research.
1. Makeup Genius lets you chuck your receipts
Makeup shoppers know that with so many options, choosing the right shade can be tricky. Without being able to try on various colors at the store, it’s easy to purchase a color that doesn’t quite work and end up digging through your bag for that crumpled-up receipt. That’s why L’Oréal introduced the Makeup Genius App. The app allows customers to turn their iPhone and iPad cameras into a makeup mirror in which they can try on over 300 cosmetic products to see how they look on their own face. The app creates an interactive mirror that enables the color to move and change with every facial move and turn. The app is the first of its kind, and L’Oréal plans to create more like it to help customers choose the very best makeup for them.
2. Clarisonic: a one-step cleansing routine
Facial cleansing brushes offer amazing benefits for the skin, like a more thorough cleaning, stimulating circulation, and gentle exfoliation. A new face brush by Clarisonic has taken the daily ritual of face washing to a whole new level. The company was the first to make the facial brush popular, and now they’ve released a three-speed Aria brush with a super-dense and extremely soft brush. The new technology helps to reduce blemishes and dark spots, working towards maintaining an even skin tone over the years. Clarisonic also offers a radiance-boosting cleanser, a serum and other exfoliants for use in conjunction with the brushes.
3. Stem Cell Research: studying our body’s own processes
L’Oréal researchers are pioneers in the field of stem cell research. Our skin and hair are home to several types of adult stem cells that are responsible for renewing the dermis, hair and nails and repairing the skin over the years. L’Oréal has been interested in these cells for years and has been working to develop new strategies to prevent and heal the aging of skin and to improve its regenerative potential. Finding out exactly how adult stem cells work and how they can help us slow down the appearance of aging will be a breakthrough for skin science.
4. Hair Simulations: the end of bad hair days
Figuring out how hair will look when it is cut or styled in a new way is a real challenge. The movement of hair strands is so complex that a haircut can be difficult to model in digital form. However, L’Oréal has been working with a new technology that creates dynamic and configurable model of a head of hair, and the company’s researchers are working to create simulations of different hairstyles and cuts in a digital setting.
5. Geocosmetics and local beauty rituals
Over the years, L’Oréal has developed a science of local observation called geocosmetics. Researchers use highly technological “bathroom laboratories” to examine the way that consumers perform beauty rituals differently around the world. This information helps the research teams at L’Oréal to create products that adapt to different needs and rituals in a hyperlocal, culturally-specific, and personalized way. L’Oréal’s advanced technology helps to, for example, determine the exact physical and biological characteristics of African American hair in order to provide products that specifically adapt to this type of hair.
L’Oréal’s technology team continues to make advances and improvements to meet the growing demand for superior beauty products. These marketing strategies incorporating digital technology make it possible to develop a direct relationship with consumers while boosting brand image and positioning.
