L'Oréal S.A. is an international personal care company headquartered in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine[2] with a registered office in Paris.[3] It is the world's largest cosmetics company and has developed activities in the field concentrating on hair colour, skin care, sun protection, make-up, perfume, and hair care.
In the early 20th century, Eugène Paul Louis Schueller, a young French chemist developed a hair dye formula called Oréale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his own products, which he then decided to sell to Parisian hairdressers. On 31 July 1919, Schueller registered his company,[5] the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France). The guiding principles of the company, which eventually became L'Oréal, were research and innovation in the field of beauty. In 1920, the company employed three chemists. By 1950, the team was 100 strong; by 1984 was 1,000 and is roughly 88,000 today (in 2020) .
Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La Cagoule at L'Oréal headquarters. La Cagoule was a violent French fascist-leaning and an anti-communist group whose leader formed a political party Mouvement Social Révolutionnaire (MSR, Social Revolutionary Movement) which in Occupied France supported the Vichy collaboration with the Germans.[6] L'Oréal hired several members of the group as executives after World War II, such as Jacques Corrèze, who served as CEO of the United States operation. This involvement was extensively researched by Israeli historian Michael Bar-Zohar in his book, Bitter Scent.
L'Oréal got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other cleansing and beauty products. L'Oréal currently markets over 500 brands and thousands of individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, hair styling, body and skincare, cleansers, makeup, and fragrance. The company's products are found in a wide variety of distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper - and supermarkets, health/beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail.
L'Oréal purchased Synthélabo in 1973 to pursue its ambitions in the pharmaceutical field. Synthélabo merged with Sanofi in 1999 to become Sanofi-Synthélabo. Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis in 2004 to become Sanofi-Aventis.
On 17 March 2006, L'Oréal purchased cosmetics company The Body Shop for £562 million.
In January 2014, L'Oréal finalized the acquisition of major Chinese beauty brand Magic Holdings for $840 million.[7]
In February 2014, L'Oreal agreed to buy back 8% of its shares for €3.4bn from Nestlé. As a result, Nestlé's stake in L'Oreal was reduced from 29.4% to 23.29%, while the Bettencourt Meyers family's stake increased from 30.6% to 33.2%. Nestlé has owned a stake in L'Oreal since 1974 when it bought into the company at the request of Liliane Bettencourt, the daughter of the founder of L'Oreal, who was trying to prevent French state intervention.
In February 2014, Shiseido agreed to sell its Carita and Decléor brands to L'Oréal for €227.5 million (US$312.93 million (2014)).[8]
In June 2014, L'Oréal agreed to acquire NYX Cosmetics for an undisclosed price, bolstering its makeup offerings in North America where its consumer-products unit has faltered.[9]
In September 2014, L'Oréal announced it had agreed to purchase Brazilian hair care company Niely Cosmeticos Group for an undisclosed amount.[10]
In October 2014, L'Oréal acquired the multi-cultural brand Carol's Daughter.[11]
In July 2016, L'Oréal agreed to acquire IT Cosmetics for $1.2 billion.[12]
In March 2018, L'Oréal acquired the beauty augmented reality company ModiFace.[13]
In May 2018, L'Oréal announce a new beauty and fragrance partnership with Valentino
Brands are generally categorized by their targeted markets, such as the mass, professional, luxury, and active cosmetics markets. The Body Shop and Galderma are directly attached to the head office. L'Oréal also owns interests in various activities such as fine chemicals, health, finance, design, advertising, and insurance.[93]
Professional products
- L'Oréal Technique
- L'Oréal Professionnel, including ARTec and Innate
- Kérastase (created by L'Oreal in 1964)
- Kéraskin Esthetics, created by L'Oreal in 2007 and specialising in skin care professionals
- Matrix Essentials, founded by Arnie Miller in 1980 and acquired by L'Oreal in 2000
- Mizani, founded in 1991 and bought by L'Oreal in 2001
- PureOlogy Research, founded in 2001 and acquired by L'Oreal in 2007
- Redken 5th Avenue NYC, founded by Paula Kent and Jheri Redding in 1960 and acquired by L'Oreal in 1993
- Shu Uemura Art of Hair
- Carol's Daughter
- Carita
- Essie, founded in 1981 and acquired by L'Oreal in 2010[94]
- Decléor[95]
- Botanicals Fresh Care
- Cheryl's Cosmeceuticals [96]
L'Oreal Luxe[edit]
Consumer products[edit]
Active cosmetics[edit]
In 1987, during the growth years of the mail-order business, L'Oréal and 3 Suisses founded Le Club des Créateurs de Beauté for mail-order sales of cosmetic products, with brands including Agnès b., Commence and Professeur Christine Poelman among others. In March 2008, L'Oréal acquired 3 Suisse's stake, taking sole control of the company.[15] In November 2013, L'Oréal announced that Le Club des Créateurs de Beauté would cease activity in the first half of 2014.[16]
Since 1997, L'Oreal has been an official partner of The Cannes Film Festival.[17] In the years of L'Oreal sponsorship, many L'Oreal ambassadors walked the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival. In 2017, L'Oreal beauty ambassadors including Julianne Moore, Susan Sarandon, Andie McDowell, and Eva Longoria were responsible for the film selection for the outdoor cinema during the Cannes Film Festival.[18]
L'Oréal's advertising slogan, "Because I'm worth it", was created by a 23-year-old English art director and introduced in 1973 by the model and actress Joanne Dusseau.[19] In the mid-2000s, this was replaced by "Because you're worth it". In late 2009, the slogan was changed again to "Because we're worth it" following motivation analysis and consumer psychology research of Dr Maxim Titorenko. The shift to "we" was made to create stronger consumer involvement in L'Oréal philosophy and lifestyle and provide more consumer satisfaction with L'Oréal products. L'Oréal also owns a Hair and Body product line for kids called L'Oréal Kids, the slogan for which is "Because we're worth it too".
In November 2012, L'Oréal inaugurated the largest factory in the Jababeka Industrial Park, Cikarang, Indonesia, with a total investment of US$100 million.[20] The production will be absorbed 25 percent by the domestic market and the rest will be exported. In 2010, significant growth occurred in Indonesia with a 61 percent increase of unit sales or 28 percent of net sales.[21]
In November 2020, chief digital officer Lubomira Rochet reported in a video conference of the growing importance of e-commerce for the company, remarking that e-commerce makes 24% of their turnover in the third quarter of the year. Rochet stated as well that this 24% of the turnover "made it possible to offset 50% of the losses due to the closing of physical stores this year.
International units include:
- L'Oréal USA, changed from Cosmair in 2000 [27] - has its headquarters in New York City, and is responsible for operations in the Americas.[28]
- L'Oréal Canada Incorporated - Canadian operations, based in Montreal
- L'Oréal Australia - head office is in Melbourne
- L'Oréal Nordic - head office is in Copenhagen, Denmark
- L'ORÉAL Deutschland GmbH - legal seat is in Karlsruhe, head office is in Düsseldorf [29]
The L'Oreal Global Hair Research Centre, a facility in Paris Saint-Ouen opened in March 2012. It serves as the headquarters for the international departments of hair color, hair care, and hairstyling. One of the largest investments in company R&I history, the 25,000m² Centre hosts 500 employees. These include chemists, physical-chemists, opticians, materials scientists, metrologists, rheologists, computer scientists, and statisticians. The facility offers automation, modelling, and sensory evaluation.
On 16 March 2018, L'Oréal announced that it had acquired Modiface, a beauty tech company that uses augmented reality to allow users to digitally try on different makeup products and hairstyles.[61] Later in 2020, L'Oréal Paris introduced their first line of virtual makeup for social media platforms called "Signature Faces", an augmented reality filter for Instagram, Snapchat, Snap Camera, and Google Duo. It was in part marketed as a way to engage consumers spending more time online as well as a way for consumers to try on makeup at home for online shopping.
Episkin is a reconstructed skin model developed by engineers at L'Oréal France to provide an alternative to animal testing.[51] Human skin cells leftover from breast surgery [51] are developed under in vitro laboratory conditions to form sheets of reconstructed skin.
Human skin 3D printing
L'Oreal announced in May 2015 that it was partnering with bioprinting startup Organovo to figure out how to 3D print living, breathing derma that can be used to test products for toxicity and efficacy. "We're the first beauty company that Organovo has worked with," said Guive Balooch, global vice president of L'Oreal's tech incubator.
International units include:
- L'Oréal USA, changed from Cosmair in 2000 [27] - has its headquarters in New York City, and is responsible for operations in the Americas.[28]
- L'Oréal Canada Incorporated - Canadian operations, based in Montreal
- L'Oréal Australia - head office is in Melbourne
- L'Oréal Nordic - head office is in Copenhagen, Denmark
- L'ORÉAL Deutschland GmbH - legal seat is in Karlsruhe, head office is in Düsseldorf [29]
Perso - This smart device creates custom formulas for lipstick, foundation, and skin care.[63] Customers can use it through the Perso app, which uses AI technology, and is expected to get launched in 2021.