L’Oréal History: From Parisian Hair Salons to Global Beauty Empire Since 1909

L’Oréal’s history began with a vision to create a safe, synthetic hair dye for Parisian women. Since then it has maintained a commitment to continual innovation and empowering people across the world to feel good about themselves.

The history of this well-known brand is a valuable read for business owners, marketers, and content creators. The story shows the benefits of being innovative and sticking to your vision. At Business2Community, we’ve gone through all our reliable sources to provide you with a complete overview of L’Oréal’s 100-year journey.

Who Owns L’Oréal?

L’Oréal is a publicly traded company, listed on the Paris Stock Exchange. According to the brand’s website, by the end of 2023, the Bettencourt family, descendants of founder Eugène Schueller, owned 34.73% of the shares. International institutional investors held 30.7% of the stock, while Nestlé owned 20.13%, institutional investors in France held 6.63%, individuals owned 5.92%, and employees accounted for 1.89%.

Schueller was a French chemist with a keen interest in business. The visionary founder launched what would go on to become the L’Oréal Group in 1909 with the development of a hair dye which he sold to hair salons across Paris. His business was first known as La Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux.

Liliane, the only daughter of Eugène Schueller, joined her father’s company at the age of 15 as an apprentice. She married Andre Bettencourt in 1950 who went on to become deputy chairman of L’Oréal.

In 1957, upon her father’s death, Liliane Bettencourt inherited the business and became its main shareholder. L’Oréal was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1963 but Bettencourt and her family have continued to own a majority stake. At the time of her death in 2017, Liliane’s net worth of $44.3 billion made her the richest woman and 14th richest person in the world.

Who is the L’Oréal CEO?

Nicolas Hieronimus was appointed CEO of L’Oréal in 2021. He succeeded Jean-Paul Agon who was obliged to retire at the age of 65 after serving 15 years as CEO. Agon retained his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

During his 15-year tenure, Agon led L’Oréal through a digital transformation and a drive to lead the way in corporate social responsibility. The brand’s leaders, however, are no strangers to controversy with its founder, chemist Eugène Schueller, reported to have been a Nazi sympathizer.

According to the Smithsonian magazine, Schueller provided financial support and space in the L’Oréal offices to La Cagoule, an extreme anti-Communist, anti-Republican, and antisemitic movement in France. Deputy chairman and husband of Liliane, Andre Bettencourt, was also linked to the radical group.

In 1990, the scandal emerged when L’Oréal CEO François Dalle was accused of ousting French-Israeli businessman Jean Frydman from the organization’s audio-visual subsidiary, Paravision. Frydman alleged that the move was driven by a threat from the Arab League to boycott companies with any link to Israel.

The ensuing investigation and legal action uncovered the brand’s historical affiliations with anti-Semitism and reached as far as the former French President, Francois Mitterand.

A chronological list of L’Oréal CEOs is below:

Growth and Development of L’Oréal

Started by a visionary founder in 1900s Paris who saw an opportunity to create the synthetic hair dyes women wanted, L’Oréal has stood the test of time as a global beauty brand.

Here, we give you a summary of the key events in the brand’s long history.

1909-1945: Young French Chemist Develops the First Synthetic Hair Dye

L’Oréal’s history began in Paris at the start of the twentieth century. At that time, women who wished to dye their hair would use ingredients such as henna and indigo which were unpredictable and limited in the range of colors they could offer. In 1907, chemist Eugène Schueller began to develop the first artificial hair colorants and sold them to hair salons across Paris.

The visionary founder’s hair color formula proved extremely popular and, in 1909, he established the Société Francaise des Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux, which later became known as L’Oréal.

Schueller’s business launched at just the right time as, following the end of the First World War and the emergence of the Jazz Age, women wanted shorter, colored hairstyles. Throughout the 1920s, the number of hair salons in France grew rapidly, providing a growing market for L’Oréal. In 1928, the business started to diversify from hair colorants when it acquired a soap company called Monsavon.

Beautiful actresses with short blond hair, such as Jean Harlow and Mae West, made blond hair extremely popular during the 1930s and 40s. L’Oréal’s range of hair bleaches sold particularly well at this time. The brand embraced other changes, too. For example, when the French government first introduced paid holidays in 1936, the brand launched Ambre Solaire suntan lotion to meet the new market demands.

Fuelled by its domestic success, L’Oréal’s sales network expanded internationally with new subsidiaries established in Italy, Belgium, and Denmark. Even during the Second World War, business thrived as women continued to color their hair and buy cosmetics. By the end of the war, L’Oréal’s products were being shipped to the UK, Argentina, and Algeria.

1945-1970: L’Oréal Commits to Innovation and Pushing New Frontiers

François Dalle and Charles Zviak, who would go on to play important roles in L’Oréal’s future, joined Monsavon in the early 1940s. By 1948, Dalle was appointed as joint general manager.

The post-war era brought a period of rapid economic growth. The 1950s also saw the rise to stardom of new blond screen icons such as Marilyn Monroe and Brigitte Bardot, making it a highly lucrative time for L’Oréal.

The brand was committed to constantly innovating. To achieve this, by 1950, L’Oréal had built a research and development team of some 100 chemists. On a mission to conquer new markets, the business branched into skincare products, signing a partnership with the skincare brand Vichy in 1954.

Founder Schueller died in 1957 with François Dalle succeeding him as chairman and CEO – the latter being a role he had held since 1948. Under Dalle’s leadership, L’Oréal entered a new era of growth. The company’s focus turned to international expansion with new distribution channels in Uruguay, Algeria, Canada, Mexico, and Peru, strategic acquisitions, and the launch of many iconic products.

Through the 1960s, fashion trends and women’s beauty needs evolved rapidly, and more and more women wanted to escape the past’s conservative femininity to take on bolder, more individual looks. This included the rise of the supermodel and the unique boyish style embodied by Twiggy and the “mod” movement. Those inspired by Brigitte Bardot sought long hair that they could wear loose and sexy or opt for a sophisticated look with an “up do”.

To accompany consumers’ changing lifestyles, L’Oréal opened a new research and production center and, in its commitment to innovation, it also opened cosmetological and bacteriological facilities to drive a more scientific approach to skincare. The brand embraced this new era, innovating to develop exciting new products that achieved the results women wanted while being perfectly safe.

L’Oréal was listed on the Paris Stock Exchange in 1963, during a period of restructuring.

In 1961, L’Oréal sold Monsavon to Proctor and Gamble to concentrate on its core businesses of hair and skincare products. Throughout the 1960s, the brand went on to make several strategic acquisitions:

• 1961: Cadoricin, a hair hygiene specialist
• 1964: Jacques Fath perfumes and luxury cosmetics brand Lancôme
• 1965: Hair product brand Garnier
• 1968: Fashion and perfume house André Courrèges

These buy-outs helped L’Oréal enter the high-end skincare, make-up, and perfume markets. With the extra resources and knowledge these companies added to the group, it launched several emblematic products, such as Elnett hair spray and Récital hair dyes.

1970-1980: L’Oreal Encourages Women to Prioritize Self-Esteem with Iconic Tagline

Lindsay Owen-Jones joined L’Oréal at the turn of the decade as general manager of L’Oréal’s public products division. Owen-Jones would go on to be its fourth chairman and CEO in 1988.

Préférence, L’Oréal’s revolutionary hair color for use at home, was launched in the 1970s. This was a significant turning point in L’Oreal’s history as it marked the birth of the brand’s world-renowned tagline, “Because I’m worth it”. This was a crucial moment for women everywhere as it was the first advertising message to highlight the importance of self-esteem and self-care.

During the 1970s, L’Oréal restructured into several new operational divisions and launched a new management structure. It also increased the pace of its international expansion, with a focus on New Zealand, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong.

This expansion was made somewhat easier by L’Oréal’s alliance with Nestle. The Swiss food manufacturer became a major shareholder in 1974 when Liliane Bettencourt gave around half of her shares in L’Oréal to Nestle in exchange for 3% of its stock. The move was said to be driven by a fear that her business could be nationalized if the Socialist Party succeeded in gaining power in France.

Throughout the decade, L’Oréal continued to make smart acquisitions within the haircare and beauty industry:

• 1970: Biotherm, a French skincare brand
• 1973: Cosmetics brands Gemey and Ricils, and the skincare company Jeanne Piaubert
• 1975: The perfumery Roja (which merged with Garnier in 1978)

As well as expansion in its core markets, L’Oréal also made acquisitions in new frontiers. In 1973, it bought a controlling stake in the pharma company Synthélabo which specialized in cardiovascular drugs and hospital consumables. This move into the pharma industry was followed by the acquisition of Metabio-Joullie in 1979 which was merged with Synthélabo in 1980 to create France’s third-biggest pharma firm.

In 1977, L’Oréal bought stakes in Marie-Claire Album and Interedi-Cosmopolitan as it looked to make its mark in magazine publishing.

1980-1990: L’Oréal Continues its Focus on Innovation and Diversification

Women’s emancipation continued into the 1980s, as more women continued to take on roles in the public sphere and the workplace. L’Oréal marketed make-up and skincare products as ways of helping women face the world feeling good about themselves.

The brand also started to take a more active role in Synthélabo, increasing its research and development budget. The extra resources enabled it to become the first private laboratory to get involved in the World Health Organization’s neuroscience research project. Synthélabo also expanded internationally with joint ventures and acquisitions in the USA, UK, Japan, Switzerland, and Italy.

In 1984, Dalle resigned as CEO of L’Oréal and was succeeded by Charles Zviak. Along with some operational restructuring, Dalle decided to centralize the management of the business’s finances with the creation of L’Oréal Finances in 1987.

L’Oréal continued its focus on innovation and growing its research and development facilities. The number of research staff employed by the brand reached 1,000 in 1984. This commitment to constantly innovating led to much success in new product launches, such as Lancôme’s Niosôme which was one of the first anti-aging creams to be given the seal of approval from independent dermatologists.

In 1984, Nestlé acquired Warner Cosmetics for L’Oréal which gave it access to several prestigious brands such as Ralph Lauren, Paloma Picasso, and Gloria Vanderbilt. L’Oréal also bought skincare and cosmetics brand Helena Rubenstein Inc. and a toothpaste manufacturer Laboratoires Goupil in 1988. The brand’s final acquisition of the 1980s was the specialist dermocosmetics brand Laboratoires Roche Posay.

Despite an obvious focus on its key markets, L’Oréal bought a 10% stake in the French television broadcaster Canal Plus in 1986 and a 75% stake in Paravision International in 1988. Paravision managed the creation, production, and distribution of audiovisual products.

In 1988, Lindsay Owen-Jones took over as chairman and CEO.

1990-2024: Becoming a World Leader and Embracing Diversity

In late 1990, L’Oréal became center-stage in a legal battle with Jean Frydman, a former director of Paravision. Frydman alleged that he had been forced to resign from Paravision by former CEO François Dalle. Frydman claimed that the move was driven by the Arab League’s boycott of companies with any link to Israel.

The ensuing investigation and legal action uncovered the company’s historical affiliations with anti-Semitism. However, in 1991 Frydman settled the case in exchange for a letter of apology.

Owen-Jones’ main focus was on making L’Oréal the world leader in cosmetics through a truly global presence. Under his stewardship, the brand also employed the technology developed in making Lancome Niosome to launch a mass-market skincare line, Plentitude. Plentitude was launched in the late 1980s, and within two years it had captured a significant market share.

The arrival of the new millennium heralded a turning point for the brand as it began to expand more aggressively into new markets and distribution channels. It was around this time that it also first began to tackle the challenge of sustainable development.

With a commitment to meeting the beauty needs of all, L’Oréal Men Expert was launched in 2005. L’Oréal Men Expert was the first mainstream anti-aging line for men and has evolved to offer an extensive range of high-quality hair, body, and skincare products for men.

In 2006, the business bought the British skincare retailer The Body Shop for £652.3 million ($1.2 billion at the time) only to sell it to Natura Cosmetics in 2017 for £880 million ($1.134 billion at the time).

The brand embraced the digital opportunity of the 2000s. In 2010, L’Oréal made a huge commitment to digital marketing and ecommerce and moved at pace to stay ahead of its competitors, including recruiting thousands of digital experts, upskilling employees, and focusing on data-driven marketing and targeted advertising.

By 2017, digital made up 38% of the business’s total media spend, a 50% increase from 2014.

Jean-Paul Agon succeeded Owen-Jones as CEO in 2006. During his tenure, the brand committed itself to a diversity and inclusion-driven mission statement of Beauty for All. This has seen the brand further embracing diversity and inclusion in its strategy. For example, it launched a new make-up campaign in 2016 featuring a man for the first time. This campaign carried an updated advertising message, “Because we’re all worth it”.

Adrien Koskas, General Manager at L’Oréal UK said:

We are very aware that the cosmetics market is growing and that more guys are using makeup and making makeup blogs. This campaign shows we are listening to everybody, different characters with very different stories

The company also featured an advert with a transgender model for the first time in 2017 in the campaign for its True Match foundation. The product boasts 33 different shades of gender-free liquid foundation and the ad campaign included a diverse line-up of spokespeople, including, influencers and celebrities.

Today’s L’Oréal is characterized by many ethical and socially responsible initiatives designed to tackle the sustainability challenge.

What Brands Does L’Oréal Own?

As of 2022, L’Oréal owned 36 brands organized under four divisions, including:

History of the L’Oréal Logo

The brand’s first logo was relatively simple, featuring a large, dark brown oval with “L’Oréal” written in a peach color.

Soon after producing this first logo, L’Oréal moved to something more sophisticated and professional featuring black letters.

In 1914, L’Oréal changed the font style and made the “O” much larger to stand out from the rest of the letters. This logo stayed with the organization for almost 50 years.

In 1962, L’Oréal introduced the current version of its logo. It features thinner letters and the “O” is slightly smaller but still larger than the rest of the letters.

The Future of L’Oréal

Over 100 years since its founding, L’Oréal continues to perform well. In 2023, it reported an impressive €41.18 billion (~$44.47 billion at the time) in sales – an 11% increase on 2022. It seems that the brand’s commitment to innovation and diversification into related markets continues to serve it well.

A significant challenge for the brand as it moves into the future will be tackling its significant sustainability challenges. As a company that manufactures and distributes millions of products across the globe, it can have a huge impact on the environment and local communities. Its management has set bold, measurable targets for 2030 covering climate, water consumption, biodiversity, and natural resources. These include:

• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and increasing the use of renewable energy across its supply chain.
• Increasing the amount of water recycled in its manufacturing processes.
• Ensuring all raw materials for its products and packaging are traceable and from sustainable sources.

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