L’Oréal’s Dermatological Beauty Division Set for Growth

L’Oréal is no newcomer in dermatology; it has brands that have been popular and prescribed as OTC treatments by leading dermatologist around the world for years. The recent revamp of its active cosmetics division, now L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty, has shined a new light on the breadth and depth the cosmetics giant has in the space.

Happi sat down with Tina Fair, L’Oréal USA’s president of L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty, to gain insight into the evolution of the business and her vision for its future.

“We are very excited about Dermatological Beauty,” Fair said during a meeting at the American Academy of Dermatology meeting in Boston.

According to Fair, the “Active Cosmetics” unit didn’t properly reflect the company’s presence in the space, nor its growth during the past half decade.

“In the past 5 to 6 years, we’ve grown globally. We have a 300-person sales team that visits doctors daily. Active Cosmetics wasn’t bringing our mission to life. So, two years ago in the US, we started putting the brands under Dermatological Beauty. All the brands are dermatology based….it is a good umbrella.”

According to Fair, the company has a medical team detailing CeraVe and LaRoche-Posay and dropping off samples—and the effort is paying off.

“With CeraVe and LaRoche-Posay we have nearly a third share in derm recommendation. We do a lot of work with retailers to partner with pharmacists,” said Fair.

LaRoche-Posay had an “amazing” year as well; due, in large part, to the brand’s ability to get in front of dermatologists, according to Fair, who noted LaRoche-Posay has a 99% penetration with dermatologists. That, in turn, has boosted the brand’s share of dermatologist recommendations and lifted LaRoche-Posay’s visibility with influencers and doctors on social media platforms, especially TikTok.

“Access to a dermatologist can be difficult in the US,” noted Fair. “With TikTok, dermatologists can talk about discoloration, acne and other issues and how to treat skin.”

Diversity & Inclusion

Another way to reach under-represented consumers is via its partnership with the Skin of Color Society, and the beauty giant also helps with educational efforts at universities. L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty partnered with Howard University and Melanoma Research Alliance to advance knowledge around skin of color and encourage medical school students to pursue a career in dermatology.

Fair pointed out that today, L’Oréal’s clinical studies look at the entire Fitzpatrick scale. Researchers are more aware of the unique skin care needs of Fitzpatrick Types IV-VI, which can be more prone to scarring and pigmentation issues. 

A New R&I Facility

As a testament to investment in research, L’Oréal has opened a new research and innovation facility in Clark, NJ. There, a team of more than 450 researchers and scientists is led by Sanford Browne, L’Oréal USA’s president of research and innovation for North America. The US is L’Oréal’s largest subsidiary, noted Browne, who added that the US is becoming a “minority-majority” nation. In 2019, for the first time, more than half of the US population under age 16 identified as a racial or ethnic minority. Further, nearly three in 10 Asian, one in four Latino and one in five Black newlyweds are married to a member of a different ethnic or racial group.

“The US is a fantastic ecosystem; it impacts how we design the best beauty product for each individual,” explained Browne. “It’s no longer one-size-fits-all.”

The population overall continues to get more diverse. Gen Z is the generation most likely to identify as two or more races. Furthermore, the LGBT community is extremely involved in skin care, hair and makeup, observed Browne.

“Our new R&I facility enables us to be on the cutting-edge of technology to serve some of the world’s most demanding consumers,” he explained.

L’Oréal has been in Clark, NJ for 60 years with a campus spread out among five buildings. Now, L’Oréal is spending $140 million to build a state-of-the-art facility under one roof. The new site will enable the company to bring hundreds of consumers a day to Clark to help co-create products. At the same time, it will enable employees to create connections with one another, not to mention connections between research—after all, there are similarities between makeup and hair color, noted Browne.

The new R&I facility will also enable L’Oréal to work more closely with universities, startups and suppliers. It will be fully operational by Summer 2024, according L’Oréal.

A Sustainable Focus

Biotech is one of the biggest buzzwords in beauty. And while the debate over chemistry and biology goes on, in the end, the path forward is sustainable solutions, said Browne.

“For the past 110 years, the industry has been petroleum-based; now, we are committed to developing products based on green science,” he explained.

Today, 61% of L’Oréal’s raw materials come from renewable plant-based sources and 80% of them are biodegradable.

To help consumers make informed choices, L’Oréal displays the environmental profiles of its formulas, the precise list of ingredients, and their origin as, well as the impacts of the processing and manufacturing stages. Over time, all products will carry all this information so that everyone can compare and choose the most planet-friendly products. But the world’s biggest beauty company is going even further. That ambition translated into a range of commitments that the company made for 2030 as part of the L’Oréal for the Future program:

• 100% of formulas will be eco-designed;
• 100% of formulas will respect the diversity of aquatic ecosystems; and
• 95% of ingredients will come from renewable plant-based sources or abundant minerals.

Those commitments have already garnered tangible results. For example, SkinCeuticals’ new A.G.E. Interrupter Advanced is described as a corrective cream to help reverse visible signs of aging impacted by glycation and collagen decline. It contains 18% Proxylane, a beech wood derivative that is said to be easily biodegradable and non-bioaccumulatable. In a 12-week clinical study, the formula reduced:

• global fine lines (14%)
• forehead wrinkles (11.5%)
• nasolabial folds (11.2%)
• marionette wrinkles (7.9%)
• glabellar wrinkles (7.3%) and
• crow’s feet (7%).

Browne says L’Oréal is making these investments at the right time.

“We are on the edge of a new era when it comes to what we can achieve in beauty. New technologies are connecting us in new ways,” he explained.

And the new 250,000 square-foot facility in Clark will help L’Oréal researchers connect in new ways as well.

“We spend €1.1 billion on research. L’Oréal was founded by a chemist (Eugéne Schueller),” noted Browne. “Innovation is part of our DNA.”