L’Oréal is betting that artificial intelligence will redefine how beauty products are created. The cosmetics giant says AI has cut product development time by 75%, allowing its researchers to discover new ingredients, test formulations and launch products far faster than traditional methods ever allowed.
L’Oréal says artificial intelligence has transformed one of the slowest parts of the beauty business. The French cosmetics company revealed that AI has reduced the time required to develop new beauty products by 75%, giving researchers the ability to identify promising ingredients and test new formulations in a fraction of the time previously required.
The company’s consumer products division has spent the last four years embedding AI into its research laboratories. Those investments are already producing results. Scientists can now analyse millions of data points, predict how ingredients will behave on skin and hair, and identify new product combinations much faster than traditional laboratory methods.
One recent breakthrough involved repurposing skincare molecules for haircare. Researchers used AI to identify ingredients originally designed for skincare before adapting them into a collagen-based shampoo that improves hair volume and fullness. The process took a fraction of the time older research methods would have required.
Fabrice Megarbane, President of L’Oréal’s Consumer Products Division, believes AI is changing how innovation happens inside the company.
«”You can really go much faster by imagining new associations of molecules and new benefits of molecules,” Megarbane said.»
The company says AI does not replace its scientists. Researchers still validate every formula before products reach consumers. AI simply helps eliminate weaker ideas much earlier, allowing teams to focus on the most promising candidates. Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, L’Oréal’s Chief Innovation and Prospective Officer, recently explained how dramatically the economics of research have changed. “To test 20 molecules on hair used to take several years. With AI, you can test a molecule in three months,” she said.
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L’Oréal’s AI strategy extends far beyond product formulation. The company uses AI to personalise beauty recommendations, generate marketing content, analyse consumer behaviour and support more than 60,000 employees through its internal AI platform, L’Oréal GPT. It has also trained over 65,000 employees to use generative AI responsibly.
The beauty giant has strengthened that strategy through partnerships with leading technology companies. It recently announced collaborations with OpenAI, IBM and NVIDIA to accelerate research, improve product discovery and expand AI across its global operations. L’Oréal is not alone.
Consumer goods companies including Nestlé, Mondelez and Haleon are also using AI to speed up product development, optimise recipes and reduce research costs. The technology is helping companies respond faster to changing consumer preferences while improving efficiency across their innovation pipelines. Industry experts say this marks a significant shift.
Research teams once spent years testing thousands of ingredient combinations. AI now allows scientists to narrow those possibilities within weeks or months before moving into physical laboratory testing. The change reduces costs and increases the number of ideas companies can explore.
For L’Oréal, faster innovation has become a competitive advantage. The company continues investing heavily in AI because it believes future growth will depend on discovering better products faster than competitors.
Artificial intelligence is no longer just helping beauty companies market products. It is helping invent them. The shift could reshape the cosmetics industry for years to come as AI moves from the marketing department into the laboratory itself.
