This is an episode of the Glossy Beauty Podcast, which features candid conversations about how today’s trends are shaping the future of the beauty and wellness industries. More from the series →
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When it comes to innovation in the beauty industry, few wield more power and influence than Guive Balooch, L’Oréal Group’s longtime tech leader.
“In the last three or four years, [we’ve seen] this incredible shift in the speed of innovation,” Balooch told Glossy. “It feels great to work on things that are shaping the future of our industry.”
Since Balooch last joined the Glossy Beauty Podcast in 2021, his team has released a light-powered blowdryer called the AirLight Pro; an in-store skin diagnostic device called Cell BioPrint; Water Saver, an in-salon water reduction tool; a home hair-color application tool called Color Sonic; and many more innovations.
He’s also taken on an expanded role as global vp of tech and open innovation, where he now oversees the partnerships driving L’Oréal’s future innovation. This includes investments in Swiss longevity biotech company Timeline and San Diego-based Debut Biotech.
In today’s episode, Balooch shares insights into the future of beauty innovation, which includes further exploration of the skin’s microbiome, ingredient creation through biotechnology and beauty at the intersection of longevity. He also shares details on his team’s use of AI, the latest shift in consumer desires, and the unexpected inspiration behind L’Oréal’s new 3D printable eyebrow technology called 3D shu:brow.
But first, Lexy Lebsack is joined by senior reporter Emily Jensen to walk through the biggest beauty and wellness news of the week. To start, the hosts discuss a new $28,000 fragrance from LVMH-owned Maison Francis Kurkdjian. The new 10-year anniversary edition of the brand’s Baccarat Rouge 540 comes with many perks for the investment, including access to events and a members-only club.
Jensen and Lebsack also dive into the latest earnings at Puig, which saw 7.7% like-for-like sales growth driven primarily by fragrance sales, which made up 73% of the quarterly sales. And they discuss Macy’s Inc., which saw its best comparable sales growth in 12 quarters, thanks to boosts of 3.6% at Bloomingdale’s and 1.2% at Bluemercury.
Finally, everything you need to know about the influx of lawsuits in California courts challenging “made in America” marketing claims by top beauty brands including Unilever-owned Paula’s Choice and It’s a 10, which is privately held.
On the shifting focus of innovation
Balooch: “I’ve been in the beauty industry now 20 years, and what I have seen the last, I would say, three or four years, is this incredible shift in the speed of innovation for beauty — for the consumer, mainly. For example, we see that technology can help guide us to better products faster and give us information about our skin and hair in a more effective way, so that we’re not guessing anymore. We’re not auditioning [products] anymore, when it comes to skin care. [We’re getting] virtual try-on and other things that help us [audition a product] in a very fast and effective way. All of these things have really shifted and provided us with a lot of opportunity, but there’s even more now. Now, what I see are new areas, even beyond biotech-powered longevity, for example, where people are talking more about wanting to live better and wanting their skin to look better for a longer period of time. It’s not just anti-aging; it’s living well.”
On the innovation consumers want
Balooch: “What we’re seeing in biotech is a result of 10-20 years of science. Back in the day, when I started at L’Oréal, the scale wasn’t there. There were these great fermentation processes and green processes, but you couldn’t scale them, or the performance wasn’t as good. This goes back to the hairdryer and the comments about the shower head: Consumers want to have a positive impact on the world, on the climate, and on our environment, but we don’t want to suffer any consequences on our beauty routine. So now, we’re at a stage when you see brands, like Debut Bio, that can scale and give us ingredients through biotech that are as good, if not better, than the ingredients we had before. It has really become very mature. Then there are all these new areas, like vertical farming and sustainable cultivation, that are still at the beginning, too, and I think that we’re going to see more and more investment in that area [for beauty ingredient sourcing].”
