L'Oreal brings technology to beauty products

The beauty industry, which has relied on tactics of creating mystery and intrigue around its products to drive sales, is now turning tech savvy. French cosmetics giant L'Oreal has launched a tech incubator, employing two dozen people in San Francisco and elsewhere, to explore ways to utilize big data and other algorithms to target its products more specifically.

The company plans to analyze large data sets to find specific marketing solutions such as the right color for nail polish, or patches that measure the absorption of ultraviolet radiation. The analysis can also be used to spot emerging beauty trends ahead of the curve. The French group is looking at improving its products and customer connect with the technology.

The Silicon Valley technology has already helped L'Oreal Lancome brand develop an individualized makeup foundation, known as "Le Teint Particulier." The system, which is now functional in some retail outlets, scans a person's skin and uses an algorithm that designs a custom-blended product based on skin tone. The system was developed by California startup Sayuki, which L'Oreal bought in 2014.

L'Oreal's team also created the Makeup Genius application which uses virtual reality to allow people to try various makeup schemes on their smartphone. It has been downloaded some 20 million times.

But L'Oreal is not new to such innovations. The company earlier also worked with California Organovo to introduce bioprinting, creating three-dimensional human tissue to test its cosmetics and pharmaceuticals on. With PCH Lime Lab, the French company created a patch that sticks to one's skin and changes color with exposure to sun rays.