L'Oréal, in partnership with global neurotech leader, Emotiv, launches new device to help consumers personalize their fragrance choices

Clichy, 21 March 2022 – On the occasion of International Fragrance Day, L'Oréal, the beauty and fragrance world leader, and EMOTIV, the leading neurotechnology company, announced today a strategic partnership in beauty, to help consumers make accurate and personalised choices around their fragrance desires. The partnership which combines an Emotiv neurotech device with proprietary scents and algorithms by L’Oréal.

“We are constantly developing innovative, personalized experiences for our consumers,” says Guive Balooch, Head of L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator. “The intersection of neurotech, AI, and science is an exciting next step. The science of choosing a fragrance is very complex. This partnership promises innovation for the entire beauty industry as this is truly the first time that consumers will have access to a state-of-the-art, in-store experience that uses neuroscience to provide personalized, precise fragrance advice.”

Created by L’Oréal’s Technology Incubator, luxury brand Yves Saint Laurent, and a team of fragrance experts, alongside EMOTIV, the unique fragrance consultation experience connects neuro responses to fragrance preferences through a multi-sensor EEG-based headset. The headset uses machine learning algorithms that interpret EEG, while consumers experience proprietary scent families, to provide the ability to accurately sense and monitor behavior, preferences, stress, and attention in real-world contexts. The first-of-its-kind experience helps consumers determine their perfect scent suited to their emotions.

“Together with L’Oréal, we hope this partnership provides unique insights into how consumers feel about fragrances and about how scents make them feel through an unbiased lens,” says Tan Le, CEO of EMOTIV. “We’re simplifying the decision-making process by connecting emotion and scent through technology – in a way no one has done before. Rooted in science and powerful insights, this technological breakthrough will help consumers decode what fragrances are best suited to their needs.”

More than three-fourths (77 percent) of consumers want their fragrance to bring them emotional benefits. Through a blind test, L’Oréal also found that people connect various emotions, including happiness and relaxation, to their scent preference. More than half of consumers ages 12-34 say they choose a fragrance based on their mood.

“There are thousands of fragrance options, and we know it can be challenging for consumers to navigate the vast number of scents and make a choice that’s right for them,” says Stephan Bezy, International General Manager at Yves Saint Laurent Beauté. “Through this immersive system, we were able to get 95% of people the right fragrance personalized to their needs and desires, which is enormously higher than without this technology. It’s a huge first step in this category. Once we know which scents make people feel happy, energized, or other emotions, we can customize fragrances even more – the potential is boundless.”

The experience will be available worldwide in Yves Saint Laurent flagship stores in multiple countries later this year and through 2023.

About L’Oréal

For over 110 years, L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 35 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L’Oréal for the Future programme, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality.

With 85,400 committed employees, a balanced geographical footprint and sales across all distribution networks (e-commerce, mass market, department stores, pharmacies, hair salons, branded and travel retail), in 2021 the Group generated sales amounting to 32.28 billion euros. With 20 research centers across 11 countries around the world and a dedicated Research and Innovation team of over 4,000 scientists and 3,000 tech professionals, L’Oréal is focused on inventing the future of beauty and becoming a Beauty Tech powerhouse.

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