L'Oreal Paris is the world’s largest cosmetics company and has contributed to helping women embrace their exceptional beauty for over 100 years. Its concentrations focus primarily in the fields of hair color, skin care, sun protection, makeup, perfumes and hair care. L'Oreal’s story began in early 20th century Paris when French chemist, Eugène Schueller, developed an original hair color formula he called, Auréole, and throughout the rest of his career, devised and manufactured his own unique beauty products, which, to this day, remain prominent in the dermatology and pharmaceutical industries. In 1909, Schueller listed his new company as the Société Française de Teintures Inoffensives pour Cheveux. In 1920, L'Oreal hired three chemists and by 1950, their research teams were as large as 100 each; today, they reach nearly 2,000. L'Oreal was introduced to the United States in 1953 and when Schueller died four years later, he left control of the company to François Dalle, who was CEO for 27 years. After the company went public in 1963, L'Oreal bought what is now the popular French cosmetics manufacturer, Lancome Paris. L'Oreal became the world’s number one cosmetics company in the 1980’s. In 2006, it made a £652 million deal to take over another trendy beauty company called, The Body Shop. The corporation currently markets more than 500 brands and several thousands of individual products, which can be found with numerous distributors like hair salons, supermarkets, the internet, and beauty outlets. Now expanding globally, they have five worldwide research and development centers located in France, Japan, China and the United States. Currently, Eugène Schueller’s daughter, Liliane Bettencourt, and well-known Swiss food company, Nestlé, each control more than a quarter of the shares and voting rights. L'Oreal continues to be one of the hippest brand names in the world. Their advertising slogan, “Because you’re worth it” was written in 1973, during a time of social revolution and feminist thinking; the message was all about what women thought while celebrating their self-confidence, choices, individuality, and style.
