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R&D process
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The efficient management of the above integrated process is reflected
by the variety of innovative products launched every year, worlwide, aiming
to cleanse, care, enhance, protect, prevent, and improve skin and hair
conditions. This dramaticaly differenciates us from our competitors.
Hair or skin aging are the apparent result of complex and multifactorial
processes. Recent pharmacological concepts may lead to the development
of products able to either prevent or partly reverse these phenomena.
One must know that clinically efficient products usually have some side
effects leading regulatory authorities to classify them as O.T.C. or ethical
pharmaceuticals. At L'OREAL, we have at our disposal the skills and expertise
to develop new products whatever their official or putative regulatory
classification, and consider this global ability as a competitive advantage.
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More than ever, our aim is to provide consumers with products that combine
greater overall performances with optimum safety. A successful R & D relies
on the availability and careful application of development and the use
of relevant biological, physical and clinical methods to discover, identify
and clearly demonstrate the superiority of its new products.
We therefore established several multidisciplinary international team
networks of top level scientists (cell and molecular biologists, chemists,
biophysicists, physicians, geologists, geneticists …) to better understand
mechanisms involved in processes such as skin aging, photo-aging, pigmentation,
hair coloring, hair greying, hair growth and hair loss. These scientists
display a singular dedication to solve the problems associated with aging
and improved being all over the world
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Thanks to a 20 years experience in pioneering successively organotypic,
cell and reconstructed skin cultures for cosmetic product evaluation,
L'OREAL has completely replaced classical animal toxicological experimentations
by alternative in vitro methods for finished cosmetic products since 1989.
Almost 70 full time scientists are currently involved in in vitro safety
evaluation in cooperation with research centers in Europe and the USA.
Our laboratories have participated in all national or European validation
programs (e.g. skin-irritation, skin absorption…).
All these powerfull tools allow the earlier selection of products to be
developed, accelerating the overall development process for the benefit
of customers. L'OREAL is therefore proud to market finished products whose
safety has been carefully checked without requiring animal experimentation.
The efficient management of the above integrated process is reflected by
the variety of innovative products launched every year, worldwide, aiming
to cleanse, care, enhance, protect, prevent, and improve skin and hair
conditions. This dramatically differenciates us from our competitors.
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Formulating can be an art but is truly the science of associating compounds
or active principles that are not normally able to coexist for chemical
or biophysical reasons. Our multidisciplinary approach added to our past
extensive expertise efficiently deals with the above complex interactions,
allowing our scientists to continuously go beyond the state of the art
limits. This approach is critical for the marketing success of any cosmetic
product.
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This method uses well trained in-house experts in standardized conditions
and provides us with very reproductible qualitative and quantitative data.
These studies are designed by dermatologists, physicians and other experts
using clinically validated scoring systems and analyzed by statisticians
according to rules validated in the pharmaceutical industry. Data generated
through this carefully controlled process allow classification of products
according to their comfort and efficacy. Instrumental non invasive measurements
are performed as much as possible, when sufficiently reliable.
These tests are pivotal for the validation of the final product before
launching. Random customers are recruited in the major marketing countries
(Europe, USA, Japan) but specific subgroups of population are also involved
depending on targeted markets (e.g. sensitive skin).
Even by using the most sophisticated technics and the best experts, the
risk of encounting some unexpected skin reaction still exists, especially
when large numbers of product units are sold. It is therefore our duty
to carefully assure safety follow upthrough a dedicated department.
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