Its founder - Eugène Schueller graduated from France’s national chemical engineering school in 1904 and went on to establish his own enterprise on 30th July 1909 that known as La Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux.
In 1925, the company renamed as L’Oréal. In 1931, Mr. Schueller came up with the idea of draping a sheet over the face of a Parisian building to create a giant billboard for O’Cap hair lotion. In 1932, in the early days of radio advertising when commercials were read by an announcer, Mr. Schueller aired what is believed to be one of the first jingles.
During the 1930s L’Oréal extended its product portfolio to include skin care and suntanning products.
The acquisition of Lancôme - a fantastic perfume, skincare and make-up brand - in 1964 was the first strategic move to become a luxury cosmetics empire.
One year later, purchasing Garnier enabled L’Oréal to own a portfolio of organic haircare products – a different compliment to haircare. In 1970, by taking over Biotherm, L’Oréal stepped its research effort to skincare field.
When Mr. Schueller died in 1957 and leadership passed to François Dalle, L’Oréal had entered most Western European countries and the U.S. (in 1953) by forming a licensee, Cosmair Inc., to sell its hair-care products to beauty salons.
In 1997, L’Oréal was a leader in beauty products, selling 500 brands and 2,000 different products (80,000 SKUs) throughout the world.
Loreal is present in 130 countries currently markets over 500 brands and several other products in all the segments of cosmetics business.
History of L'Oréal
