Research & Ìnnovation

Beauty is often dismissed as superficial and perceived only as makeup or a product aisle in a store. But this narrow definition ignores the deeper impact beauty has on culture, society and the global economy. In 2024, we launched ‘The Essentiality of Beauty’, a global study exploring beauty’s role in emotional, social and economic life. This research showed that beauty regimes are an integral part of personal care, that beauty plays a role in social interaction and that no human society has existed without it.

In June 2025, we launched our first global multi-brand, multi-category, multi-channel campaign called #JoinTheRefillMovement. Timed to coincide with World Refill Day, on the 16th of June, the campaign was designed to encourage consumers to embrace refills as the latest beauty ritual and contribute to a more sustainable future. It brought together some of the Groupe’s most iconic brands including Lancôme, Armani beauty, Yves Saint Laurent Beauty, Kiehl’s, Mugler, Maison Margiela Fragrances, Prada Beauty, Valentino Beauty, L’Oréal Paris, Kérastase, L’Oréal Professionnel, and La Roche Posay.

Studies have shown that pigmentation issues affect a large proportion of the world’s population, with 50% of people reporting at least one pigmentation disorder, including age spots, sunspots and post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation. To target this important issue L’Oréal scientists developed Melasyl™, a patented new molecule, born from almost of 20 years of research, which helps to reduce the appearance of localized excess pigmentation and improve skintone uniformity. Melasyl™ has a different mechanism of action from other cosmetic ingredients that act on localized hyperpigmentation. It does not act on the enzyme responsible for melanin synthesis, and so does not permanently alter the natural biological pathways of skin pigment production responsible for skin color.

We believe that there are effective non-animal ways to ensure the safety of cosmetic products. Over 40 years ago, L’Oréal pioneered the development of human reconstructed skin

Cette année encore L’Oréal et ses chercheurs se sont mobilisés lors du Congrès de l’IFSCC *, rendez-vous mondial incontournable de la recherche cosmétique.

Depending on the time of day, the season, altitude, and the weather, your skin is more or less exposed to solar radiation and especially to long UVA. These rays reach your skin all year round. Today, L’Oréal is launching UVMune 400, our first sun filtering technology to protect skin effectively against ultra-long UVA.

Colorsonic is the world’s first intelligent device that makes hair color easier by automatically mixing and delivering long-lasting salon-like hair color at home.

L'Oréal Group, read more about : Sun protection, a constantly evolving approach to research

Making beauty more sustainable, responsible and respectful of our planet Earth is at the heart of our approach. Our research teams work to minimize the environmental impact of our products. Beginning in 1995, we set up an environmental research laboratory.

Research has always been at the heart of our approach. Our 21 research centers, located around the world, are dedicated to different areas of research. In Lyon, at the heart of the Lyonbiopôle innovation center that brings together different pharmaceutical activities, lies Episkin.