Green Sciences at the Heart of the Cosmetic Transition for L'Oréal for the Future
Over the past 10 years L’Oréal has entirely reinvented the way to design and manufacture our products, making sustainability a fundamental requirement. Today, we are going further with the L'Oréal for the Future program, and Green Sciences are one of the driving forces behind this transformation towards meeting the challenges of transparency, performance and respect for the environment.
Novéal, the industrial expert in green sciences: green chemistry, green extraction and biotechnologies
Novéal, is a development entity, created in 1938 by Eugène Schueller, and an integral part of the L'Oréal Groupe. Our passionate teams comprise 250 people that are committed to developing eco-responsible processes and sustainable industrialization of the performance ingredients of L’Oréal.
As experts in the field of green chemistry, biotechnology and green extraction, we strive on a daily basis to develop and innovate processes that reduce our environmental footprint and we are fully committed to the L'Oréal for the Future program.
Green chemistry, a winning sustainable approach to develop L'Oréal Groupe's star ingredients
Mastering the 12 PRINCIPLES OF GREEN CHEMISTRY commits us to a SUSTAINABLE and ENVIRONMENTALLY-FRIENDLY approach of continuous improvement.
The reduction of ENERGY EXPENDITURE, use of RENEWABLE NATURAL RESOURCES and reduction of the NUMBER OF DERIVATIVES in order to limit the production of wase are concrete examples of this.
Producing even more natural ingredients while meeting performance requirements is increasingly necessary to achieve our common goals and REDUCE OUR ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.
Ingredients examples:
Green ProXylaneR: improvement in the naturalness of ProXylane giving it a naturalness index score of 3.8, in compliance with the L'Oréal Natural Charter, minimisation to just 2 synthesis stages, 90% yield improvement, 20 times less waste produced since 2007 per kg of finished product.
Mexoryl SX: this exclusive organic sun filter of renewable origin is unique on the market, its main raw material is derived from camphor.
Lauryl Laurate: a fatty ester of natural origin, COSMOS certified, allowing the substitution of silicones in certain forms by providing melting, emollient qualities while remaining light and non-sticky.
Capturing the best of nature thanks to innovative extraction technologies
Novéal's plant extraction technology is a unique ECO-EXTRACTION process that makes it possible to extract molecules trapped in the parts of the plant that are the most difficult to extract, such as wood. While preserving the naturalness of the extracts, GREEN EXTRACTION technology releases the active ingredients from their matrix and protects the molecules most sensitive to oxidation, while concentrating them to make them even MORE EFFECTIVE.
Thanks to these HIGH-TECH PROCESSES, we can access active ingredients from plant parts that are not used in other industries and are UPCYCLED using neglected plant products to extract THE COSMETIC ACTIVE AND PLANT BASED INGREDIENTS OF TOMORROW.
Ingredient example:
Rose extract for Lancôme: Rose extract of Lancôme is one of these innovative ingredient: co-created with and inspired by nature! Its production is based on an eco-extraction innovative process of a part of the plant. Vegetal previously unexploited, considered as a waste product of agriculture, is now at the base of our process.
Plant cell and bacterial culture to produce high-performance and natural ingredients
Inspired by nature, BIOTECHNOLOGY gives us access to natural ingredients of interest while PRESERVING THE ENVIRONMENT. Cultivated in fermenters, our ingredients are obtained without pesticides or GMOs and do not compete with agricultural land. Sourcing is SECURE, independent of the seasons, sustainable and located in France, close to the factories.
Noveal has been VISIONARY and PRECURSOR in biotechnologies, in 1997 creating a dedicated factory in Tours which will be a “ WATERLOOP FACTORY” by 2024. With our R&D teams, we develop cutting-edge active ingredients to produce natural, high-performance cosmetic ingredients in the most respectful culture conditions possible thanks to :
- PLANT CELL CULTURE: producing dedicated differentiated cells to access the genetic potential of plants in a controlled environment while preserving biodiversity.
- BACTERIAL CULTURE: based on fermentation, it increases the growth rate of fragile bacteria while preserving their properties until formulation.
Ingredients examples:
Biotherm plankton: Life plankton is a particularly fragile micro-organism with extraordinary properties. With our know-how, we can put this strain in ideal conditions in terms of feeding, agitation and temperature. These optimal conditions allow it to develop (1 cell division every 6 hours vs. every 6 months in nature), thus allowing us to cultivate it while preserving its naturalness (Cosmos product), concentrating it and allowing to enjoy its benefits in our skin care products.
Lancôme rose cells: exclusive anti-ageing performance active ingredient derived from the culture of dedicated cells of a unique species of Delbard rose.
