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.

Through our partnership with The New York Times, we've been able to share compelling stories of how beauty shapes our daily lives — often in unexpected ways. This has allowed us to reach new audiences, change perceptions and help people see beauty in a new light.

One of the key pillars of this campaign was a series of six podcasts, entitled ‘This is NOT a Beauty Podcast’.  Each episode reveals the essential role beauty plays in the human experience. Hosted by Isabella Rossellini, the series explores beauty in sports, technology, business, science, health and politics through unique and enriching testimonials of experts from around the world.

This was L’Oréal Groupe’s first ever global brand campaign - a bold audio-first campaign, designed not to sell cosmetics, but to reframe beauty as a force that influences industries, shapes identities and impacts us all.

For more about how lipstick has become a key economic indicator in the big business of beauty, how online beauty communities are shaping today’s biggest tech platforms, or how beauty is inspiring scientific innovation and discovery, listen to “This is not a beauty podcast” on  Apple podcast or Spotify.