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History: Cheveux ("Safe Hair Dye Company of France" Literally "French Society For Inoffensive Hair Dyes")
History: Cheveux ("Safe Hair Dye Company of France" Literally "French Society For Inoffensive Hair Dyes")
History: Cheveux ("Safe Hair Dye Company of France" Literally "French Society For Inoffensive Hair Dyes")
In 1909, Schueller registered his company, the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour
Cheveux ("Safe Hair Dye Company of France" literally "French Society for Inoffensive Hair Dyes"),
the original L’Oréal. The guiding principles of the company, which eventually became L’Oréal, were
research and innovation in the field of beauty.
In 1920, the small company employed three chemists. By 1950, the research teams were 100 strong;
that number reached 1,000 by 1984 and is nearly 2,000 today.
L’Oréal got its start in the hair-color business, but the company soon branched out into other
cleansing and beauty products. L’Oréal currently markets over 500 brands and many thousands of
individual products in all sectors of the beauty business: hair color, permanents, hair styling, body and
skin care, cleansers, makeup and fragrances. The company's products are found in a wide variety of
distribution channels, from hair salons and perfumeries to hyper - and supermarkets, health/beauty
outlets, pharmacies and direct mail.
From 1988 to 1989, L'Oréal controlled the film company Paravision, whose properties included
the Filmation and De Laurentiis libraries. StudioCanal acquired the Paravision properties in 1994.
L’Oréal purchased Synthélabo in 1973 to pursue its ambitions in the pharmaceutical field. Synthélabo
merged with Sanofi in 1999 to become Sanofi-Synthélabo. Sanofi-Synthélabo merged with Aventis in
2004 to become Sanofi-Aventis.
The company has recently faced discrimination lawsuits in France related to the hiring of
spokesmodels and Institutional racism. In the UK, L'Oréal has faced widespread condemnation
from OFCOM regarding truth in their advertising and marketing campaigns concerning the product
performance of one of their mascara brands.
Protest group Naturewatch continues to allege that L'Oréal continues to test new ingredients on
animals.[4] The company states that no animal testing has taken place since 1989 and that L'Oreal has
invested significantly in alternative methods for chemical safety testing. [5]
Following L'Oréal's purchase of The Body Shop, who continue to be against animal testing, The Body
Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick was forced to defend herself against allegations of abandoning
her principles over L'Oréal's track record on animal testing. She declared that her belief in the power
of cosmetics to enhance female beauty was greater than any concern over animal testing. As a result,
calls were made for shoppers to boycott The Body Shop.[6]
In 1987, L'Oréal and 3 Suisses founded Le Club des Créateurs de Beauté specializing in mail order
sales of cosmetic products.
[edit]Business
[edit]Corporate governance
[edit]Board of directors
Current members of the board of directors of L’Oréal are: Jean-Paul Agon, Francisco Basco, Werner
Bauer, Liliane Bettencourt, Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, Charles-Henri
Filippi, Xavier Fontanet, Bernard Kasriel, Marc Lacharrière, Jean-Pierre Meyers, Lindsay Owen-
Jones,Franck Riboud, Annette Roux and Louis Schweitzer.
[edit]Management committee
The management committee includes:
Cosmetics sales by division breakdown: 54.8% from consumer products at €7.506 bn, 25.1%
from luxury products at €3.441 bn, 13.9% from professional products at €1.9 bn, and 5.5% from
active cosmetics at €0.749 bn.
Cosmetic sales by geographic zone breakdown: 52.7% from Western Europe at €7.221 bn,
27.6% from North America at €3.784 bn, 19.7% from rest of the world at €2.699 bn.
In 2007, L’Oréal was ranked 353 in the Fortune Global 500.[7] The company had earned $2,585 million
on sales of $19,811 million. There were 60,850 employees. [7]
The awards are a result of a partnership between the French cosmetics company L'Oréal and the
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and carry a grant of
$100,000 USD for each laureate. [1]
In May 2007, L'Oréal was one of several cosmetic manufacturers ordered by the Therapeutic Goods
Administration in Australia to withdraw advertising regarding the wrinkle removal capabilities of their
products.[11]
In July 2007, the Garnier division and an external employment agency were fined €30,000 for
recruitment practices that intentionally excluded non-white women from promoting its shampoo,
"Fructis Style".[12] L'Oréal is reported as saying the decision was "incomprehensible", [13] and would
challenge the measure in court.
In July 2007, the British Advertising Standards Authority attacked L'Oréal for a television advert on its
“Telescopic” mascara, featuring Penélope Cruz, stating "it will make your eyelashes60% longer." In
fact, it only made the lashes look 60% bigger, by separating and thickening at the roots and by
thickening the tips of the lashes. They also failed to state that the model was wearing false eyelashes.
[14]
[edit]Brands
Brands are generally categorized by their targeted markets, such as the mass, professional, luxury,
and active cosmetics markets.
[edit]Head office
L'Oréal Group has its head office in the Centre Eugène Schueller in Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine,
near Paris.[15] The building, constructed in the 1970s from brick and steel, replaced the former
Monsavon factory, and employees moved into the facility in 1978. 1,400 employees work in the
building.[16] The building is often referred to as the "Beauty Factory" by the public. In 2005 Nils
Klawitter of Der Spiegel said "the building, with its brown glazed façade of windows, is every bit as
ugly as its neighborhood." Klawitter added that the facility "gives the impression of a high-security
zone" due to the CCTV cameras and security equipment. The world's largest hair salon is located
inside the head office building. As of 2005, 90 hairdressers served 300 women, including retirees,
students, and unemployed people, per day; the customers are used as test subjects for new hair
colours.[17]
L'Oréal USA has its headquarters in New York City,[18] its New Jersey headquarters is in Berkeley
Heights.[citation needed]
[edit]See also
l'ancienne usine Monsavon, à Clichy-la-Garenne dans les Hauts-de-Seine. Les salariés du siège de
l'Oréal y ont emménagé à partir de 1978. Aujourd'hui, ils sont 1.400 à y travailler."
17. ^ Klawitter, Nils. "L'Oréal's Great Bluff." Der Spiegel. 7 March 2005. 1. Retrieved on 27 November 2009.
18. ^ Contact Us, L’Oréal USA corporate heaquarters .
[edit]External links
Paris portal
Companies portal
Official website
History section, official website
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