The L'Oral Group is a French cosmetics and beauty company, headquartered in Clichy,

Hauts-de-Seine. It is the world's largest cosmetics company, and has a registered office in Paris.
It has developed activities in the field of cosmetics, concentrating on hair colour, skin care, sun
protection, make-up, perfumes and hair care,
the
company
is
active
in
the dermatology, toxicology, tissue engineering, and biopharmaceutical research fields and is the
top nanotechnology patent-holder in the United States.

In 1909, Eugne Schueller, a young French chemist of German descent, developed a hair
dye formula called Aurale. Schueller formulated and manufactured his
own products, which he then sold to Parisian hairdressers. On 31 July
1919, Schueller registered his company, the Socit Franaise de Teintures
Inoffensives pour Cheveux (Safe Hair Dye Company of France). The
guiding principles of the company, which eventually became LOral, were
research and innovation in the field of beauty. In 1920, the company
employed three chemists. By 1950, the teams were 100 strong; that number
reached 1,000 by 1984 and is nearly 2,000 today.
Schueller provided financial support and held meetings for La
Cagoule at L'Oral headquarters. La Cagoule was a violent French fascist-leaning and anticommunist group
whose
leader
formed
a
political
party Mouvement
Social
Rvolutionnaire (MSR, Social Revolutionary Movement) which in Occupied France supported
the Vichy collaboration with the Nazis. L'Oral hired several members of the group as executives
after World War II, such as Jacques Corrze, who served as CEO of the United States operation.
This involvement was extensively researched by Michael Bar-Zohar in his book, Bitter Scent.
LOral got its start in the hair-colour business, but the company soon branched out into
other cleansing and beauty products. LOral currently markets over 500 brands and many
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thousands of individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair colour, permanents,
hair styling, body and skin care, cleansers, makeup and fragrances. The company's products are
found in a wide variety of distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper - and
supermarkets, health/beauty outlets, pharmacies and direct mail.
LOral has six worldwide research and development centres: two in
France: Aulnay and Chevilly;
one
in
the U.S.: Clark, New
Jersey;
one
in Japan: Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture; in 2005 one was established in Shanghai, China, and
one in India. A future facility in the US will be in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey.
From 1988 to 1989, LOral controlled the film company Paravision, whose properties
included the Filmation and De Laurentiis libraries. StudioCanal acquired the Paravision
properties in 1994.
LOral purchased Synthlabo in 1973 to pursue its ambitions in the pharmaceutical field.
Synthlabo merged with Sanofi in 1999 to become Sanofi-Synthlabo. Sanofi-Synthlabo
merged with Aventis in 2004 to become Sanofi-Aventis.
On 17 March 2006, L'Oral purchased cosmetics company The Body Shop for 562
million.
L'Oral's advertising slogan is "Because I'm worth it". In the mid 2000s, this was
replaced by "Because you're worth it". In late 2009, the slogan was changed again to "Because
we're worth it" following motivation analysis and work into consumer psychology of Dr. Maxim
Titorenko. The shift to "we" was made to create stronger consumer involvement in L'Oral
philosophy and lifestyle and provide more consumer satisfaction with L'Oral products. L'Oral
also owns a Hair and Body products line for kids called L'Oral Kids, the slogan for which is
"Because we're worth it too".
In 1987, during the growth years of the mail order business, L'Oral and 3
Suisses founded Le Club des Crateurs de Beaut for mail-order sales of cosmetic products, with
brands including Agns b., Cosmence and Professeur Christine Poelman among others. In March
2008, L'Oral acquired 3 Suisse's stake, taking sole control of the company. In November 2013,
L'Oral announced that Le Club des Crateurs de Beaut would cease activity in the first half of
2014.
In November 2012, L'Oral inaugurated the largest factory in the Jababeka Industrial
Park, Cikarang, Indonesia, with a total investment of USD$100 million. [8] The production will be
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absorbed 25 percent by domestic market and the rest will be exported. In 2010, significant
growth occurred at Indonesia with 61 percent increase of unit sales or 28 percent of net sales.
In January 2014, LOral finalised the acquisition of major Chinese beauty brand Magic
Holidings for $840 million.
On 11 February 2014 it was announced that L'Oreal had sealed a deal worth 3.4bn to
buy back 8% of its shares from Swiss consumer goods giant Nestle. As a result of the deal,
Nestles stake in LOreal will be reduced from 29.4pc to 23.29pc while the Bettencourt Meyers
familys stake will increase from 30.6pc to 33.2pc. Nestle has owned a stake in LOreal since
1974 when it bought into the company at the request of Liliane Bettencourt, the daughter of the
founder of LOreal and world's richest woman, who was trying to prevent the French state's
intervention in the company.
On 20 February 2014, Shiseido agreed to sell its Carita and Declor brands to LOral for
227.5 million (USD$312.93 million (2014)).
On 18 June 2014, L'Oral agreed to acquire NYX Cosmetics for an undisclosed price,
bolstering its makeup offer in North America where its consumer-products unit has faltered.
In September 2014, LOral announced it had agreed to purchase Brazilian hair care
company Niely Cosmeticos Group for an undisclosed amount.

Brands are generally categorized by their targeted markets, such as the mass,
professional, luxury, and active cosmetics markets. The Body Shop and Galderma are directly
attached to the head office. L'Oral also owns interests in various activities such as fine
chemicals, health, finance, design, advertising, insurance.

Professional products
L'Oral Technique
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L'Oral Professionnel, including ARTec and Innate

Krastase (created by L'Oreal in 1964)
Kraskin Esthetics, created by L'Oreal in 2007 and specializing in skin care professionals.
Matrix Essentials, founded by Arnie Miller in 1980 and acquired by L'Oreal in 2000.
Mizani, founded in 1991 and bought by L'Oreal in 2001.
PureOlogy Research, founded in 2001 and acquired by L'Oreal in 2007.
Redken 5th Avenue NYC, founded by Paula Kent and Jheri Redding in 1960 and acquired by
L'Oreal in 1993.
Shu Uemura Art of Hair

L'Oreal Luxe
Lancme
YSL
Giorgio Armani
Biotherm
Cacharel
Diesel
Maison Martin Margiela
Ralph Lauren
Kiehl's
The Body Shop
Shu Uemura
Stella McCartney
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Clarisonic
Paloma Picasso
Drakkar noir
Urban Decay
Yue Sai
Helena Rubinstein
EM Michelle Phan
Declor

Consumer products
LOral Paris
Ombrelle
Garnier
Maybelline
SoftSheen-Carson
Crateurs de Beaut
Essie
Magic

Active cosmetics
Vichy
La Roche Posay
Inneov

Skinceuticals
Roger&Gallet
Sanoflore
Dermablend
EM Michelle Phan

Board of directors
Current members of the board of directors of LOral are:
Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and CEO
Jean-Pierre Meyers, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
Franoise Bettencourt Meyers, Director
Paul Bulcke, Director
Charles-Henri Filippi, Director
Xavier Fontanet, Director
Bernard Kasriel, Director
Christiane Kuehne, Director
Marc Ladreit de Lacharrire, Director
Jean-Victor Meyers, Director
Virginie Morgon, Director
Annette Roux, Director

Louis Schweitzer, Director

Management committee
The management committee includes:
Jean-Paul Agon, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Laurent Attal, EVP Research and Innovation
Jean-Philippe Blanpain, EVP Operations
Nicolas Hieronimus, President Selective Divisions
Brigitte Liberman, President Cosmetic Active division
Marc Menesguen, President Consumer Products Division
Christian Mulliez, EVP Administration and Finances
Alexis Perakis-Valat, EVP Asia Pacific Zone
Alexandre Popoff, EVP Eastern Europe Zone
Sara Ravella, EVP Communication, Sustainability and Public Affairs
Frederic Roz, EVP of the Americas Zone
Geoff Skingsley, EVP Africa - Middle East Zone
An Verhulst-Santos, President Professional Products Division
Jrme Tixier, EVP Human Resources and Advisor to the Chairman
Johen Zaumsel, EVP Western Europe Zone

As at year end 2013:

Breakdown of share ownership: 33.31% by the Bettencourt family, 23.29% by Nestl, 21.8%
by international institutional investors, 9.3% by French institutional investors, 5,7% by
individual shareholders, 1.9% treasury stock and 0.7% by employees.

In 2003, LOral announced its 19th consecutive year of double-digit growth. Its
consolidated sales was 14.029 bn and net profit was 1.653 bn. 96.7% of sales derived from
cosmetic activities and 2.5% from dermatological activities. LOral has operations in over 130
countries, employing 50,500 people, 24% of which work in France. 3.3% of consolidated sales is
invested in research and development, which accounts for 2,900 of its employees. In 2003, it
applied for 515 patents. It operates 42 manufacturing plants throughout the world, which employ
14,000 people.
Cosmetics sales by division breakdown: 54.8% from consumer products at 7.506 bn, 25.1%
from luxury products at 3.441 bn, 13.9% from professional products at 1.9 bn, and 5.5%
from active cosmetics at 0.749 bn.
Cosmetic sales by geographic zone breakdown: 52.7% from Western Europe at 7.221 bn,
27.6% from North America at 3.784 bn, 19.7% from rest of the world at 2.699 bn.
In 2007, LOral was ranked 353 in the Fortune Global 500. The company had earned $2,585
million on sales of $19,811 million. There were 60,850 employees.

Since
the 80's,
LOral has invested 900 million in researching alternatives to animal testing for product safety,
using methods such as reconstructed skin models, like the Episkin model [23] at their research centers
in Gerland, France, and Pudong, China.

Nevertheless, this is complicated by markets such as China, where animal testing of all
cosmetics for human use is obligatory.Cosmetics by brands such as The Body Shop, which refuses
to do animal tests, are thus not available on the Chinese market.
In 2013, LOral was part of a consortium calling on the EU to invest more in research on
alternatives to animal testing.

In 2014, L'Oreal was listed 61st among 1200 of India's most trusted brands according to
the Brand Trust Report 2014, a study conducted by Trust Research Advisory, a brand analytics
company.
In 2008, L'Oral was named Europe's top
business

employer

by

The

European

Student

Barometer,a survey conducted by Trendence that

covers 20 European countries and incorporates the
responses of over 91,000 students.
The L'Oral-UNESCO Awards for Women in
Science was established to improve the position of
women in science by recognizing outstanding women
researchers who have contributed to scientific progress.
The awards are a result of a partnership between the French cosmetics company
L'Oral and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and
carry a grant of $100,000 USD for each laureate.
The same partnership awards the UNESCO-L'Oral International Fellowships, providing
up to $40,000 USD in funding over two years to fifteen young women scientists engaged in
exemplary and promising research projects.
L'Oral organises every year the L'Oral Brandstorm, an acknowledged business game
for students in 43 countries. The game is related to marketing and has a first prize of $10,000, a
second prize of $5,000 and a third prize of $2500.
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L'Oral is also involved in the "Look Good...Feel Better"- project which is a Beauty
Industry Charity which was formed over 16 years ago to help woman combat the visible side
effects of their cancer treatment of which L'Oral is a founder member.

The LOral Paris icons are among the most beautiful women in the world. I am very
honoured to be joining this family. The Because Im worth it tagline means a lot to me. Beauty
is not skin-deep; it can be a means of self-affirmation, a true indicator of personality and
confidence", says Aimee Mullins.
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"I'm excited to work with a brand that consistently offers a wide range of superior products that
are attainable for women everywhere.", says Jennifer Lopez.

Every woman has the right to feel beautiful., says Cheryl.

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I have always believed that you have to be

yourself. Anything can happen if you really
Never give up.", says Karlie Kloss.

confident in
work at it.

I dont regret anything in life. I always move on.", says Eva Longoria.

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