An estimated 50 million people globally live with limited fine motor skills, making certain daily habits, like applying makeup, challenging. Developed by L’Oréal scientists and engineers, HAPTA is a handheld, ultra-precise smart makeup applicator for users with limited hand and arm mobility, offering them the ability to apply lipstick at home(1). HAPTA will help individuals feel more independent, confident, and empowered to enjoy the self-expressive power of beauty(2). HAPTA will be launched in 2023 by Lancôme, first as a lipstick applicator followed by additional makeup applications.
Our technological innovations in the beauty domain received 16 awards, including six innovation awards at the 2023 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, and for the third year running, the judges’ prize in the “Augmented Beauty” category of Time Magazine’s special edition dedicated to the 100 Best Inventions of the year.
Twenty years after Pro-Xylane was first discovered, R&I unveils a new raw material: Pro-Xylane PRO. A product of glycobiology(3), Pro‑Xylane improves the synthesis of glycosaminoglycans, molecules that play a key role in the skin’s ageing process. L’Oréal has published 12 scientific publications and filed more than 70 patent applications worldwide for this innovative anti-ageing active ingredient.
UVA and UVB rays are some of the main causes of skin cancer. It is essential to stay protected from these rays throughout your lifetime. L’Oréal has a long history of expertise in the development of sunscreens, starting with its patenting of Mexoryl SX in 1982, and of Mexoryl XL in 1989. Together these products protect against UVB and short UVA rays, but are less effective against ultra-long UVA, the 30% of solar rays that have so far been insufficiently filtered and which cause deep skin damage. After 10 years of research in collaboration with BASF, in 2021 L’Oréal launched UVMune 400, a solar filtration technology powered by Mexoryl 400, the first solar filter to absorb ultra-long UVA rays so effectively. This is the Group’s biggest suncare innovation in 30 years. This technology is behind the launch of La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios UVMune 400,a hybrid product that provides both seasonal and daily protection.
L’Oréal aims to offer the best in beauty for all skin and hair types, all genders, all identities, cultures, age groups, beauty regimes and all lifestyles. Research places learning about skin and hair from around the world at the heart of its innovation strategy, so as to better understand consumers in their infinite diversity.
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In 2022, R&I launched the “Typology” programme, which aims to enhance its expertise in the diversity and representativeness of individuals worldwide, so as to develop inclusive services, in compliance with applicable regulations.
The study targeted 8 countries and 15,000 volunteers of all genders, ages, photo types, hair types and ethnic origins. It aims to collect reliable information and personal data on a sample of people representing more than half of the world’s population. Only the data required for this study, provided to L’Oréal in an anonymised format, was collected(4). The study of this data sample provides a better understanding of the issues consumers encounter in their beauty routines, country of residence and environment.
The market is changing and there is strong growth in demand for personalised services and diagnostics. In order to offer consumers made-to-measure experiences, L’Oréal uses clinical skin diagnostics that take this diversity into account. In 2022, the Research teams designed an inclusive clinical skin diagnosis tool based on Artificial Intelligence, using the data from this study, making it possible for algorithms and conclusions to be sufficiently corroborated. The performance of this algorithm was then validated and confirmed in an inclusive study in the United States, where subjects and dermatologists met numerous diversity criteria. This essential study has also been the subject of a scientific publication, co‑written by Dr Nina Jablonski and Dr Aurélie Jean, who are members of L'Oréal's Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Advisory Board.
(1) Press release of 4 January 2023: https://www.loreal.com/en/press-release/group/ces-2023/
(2) HAPTA will incorporate technology originally created by Verily to stabilise utensils to give people with limited hand and arm mobility the ability to eat with confidence and independence.
(3) Expertise in the importance of sugars for skin.
(4) 450,000 responses, 60,000 photos and videos taken via smartphone, and 240,000 photographs captured via SkinCam®.
