With a focus on water sustainability and high tech innovation, L’Oréal has acquired the outstanding shares of Switzerland-based water fractioning specialist Gjosa, and unveiled its sustainable professional hair drying tool, AirLight Pro.
The company first invested in Gjosa in 2021, and, in 2018, co-developed a sustainable hair rinse system.
The company's water fragmentation technology, featured in the L’Oréal Professionnel Water Saver by Gjosa, reportedly allows hair salons to reduce water consumption at the backbar by up to 69%.
Since 2023, the sustainable showerhead has been rolled out to more than 10,000 professional hair salons across Europe and the Middle East, reportedly helping save more than 182 million liters of water, equivalent to 72 Olympic-sized swimming pools.
The plan is to continue this roll-out to over 200,000 salons worldwide in the coming years, addressing the increasingly water-stressed global environment.
“Acquiring Gjosa further strengthens our ability to build sustainability directly into our products and services, allowing us to seamlessly integrate water-conserving technology into new formulations and beauty tech innovations,” said Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO, L’Oréal Groupe. “Together, we can rapidly scale up sustainable beauty solutions with enhanced performance that are less resource intensive and introduce them to the wider beauty ecosystem.”
“By 2030, nearly 60% of the world’s population is expected to be water-stressed," said Barbara Lavernos, deputy CEO in charge of research, innovation and technology, L’Oréal Groupe. "Combining science and technology will play a vital role in our efforts to protect this valuable resource. Both L’Oréal and Gjosa are passionately committed to the environment, providing the best beauty experiences to people around the world whilst conserving the precious resources of water. With Gjosa officially joining L’Oréal, we can accelerate research and innovation and go-to-market with more innovative and sustainable beauty tech solutions for the professional and consumer markets. We are excited to welcome Gjosa into our family.”
"L’Oréal has been our most important partner and it makes utmost sense to become part of the L’Oréal Groupe of companies, as we seek to build on the early success of Water Saver and parlay this into new use cases, form factors and markets," said Amin Abdulla, co-founder and board member of Gjosa. “Our partnership has been extremely open and collaborative from the start, so the whole of Gjosa is excited for this new chapter as part of the L’Oréal Groupe family and culture.”
“Combining L’Oréal’s beauty market leadership together with Gjosa’s core expertise in water conserving technologies will contribute to transforming the beauty industry with new, sustainable beauty tech innovations at scale,” said Laurent Manca, CEO of Gjosa.
L'Oréal Groupe simultaneously unveiled its AirLight Pro professional-grade hair drying tool at this year's CES.
The tool is designed for both beauty professionals and consumers at home and was developed in partnership with Zuvi, a hardware startup company established by drone engineers and scientists.
AirLight Pro uses a combination of infrared-light technology and wind to dry the hair rapidly in a way that renders it visually smoother and hydrated, per the company. The process uses "up to 31% less energy consumption," according to L'Oréal Groupe.
The blow dryer uses Zuvi's LightCare technology, which leverages infrared light and high-speed wind to efficiently dry water on the hair surface, which leaves internal moisture in hair strands. It also features a 17-blade, high-speed motor and infrared technology powered by tungsten-halogen bulbs, which reportedly provide fast drying without excessive heat.
According to the companies, AirLight Pro delivers as much as 33% more hydrated hair and as much as 59% visually smoother hair.
Because drying times are faster, the device results in the previously mentioned lower energy consumption.
Tested by L’Oréal on more than 500 people across multiple hair types, AirLight Pro is designed to adapt to the needs of the individual user. The hardware, firmware, and app work seamlessly to make it possible for every user to customize the settings for their individual needs.
As part of the collaboration, L’Oréal made a minority investment in Zuvi through its BOLD Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development fund.
AirLight Pro will be launched this year to consumers and professionals in select markets such as the United States and Europe by the company's salon professional brand, L’Oréal Professionnel.
Hieronimus detailed this and other strategic investments in beauty tech during his opening morning CES keynote.
“For 115 years, L’Oréal has been leveraging science to innovate and provide consumers with unforgettable beauty experiences that fulfill their individual beauty aspirations," the executive said. "With AirLight Pro, in partnership with Zuvi, we prove that technology can augment beauty performance, caring for multiple hair needs, and reduce its environmental impact. That’s the future of beauty we are aiming to create.”
“Zuvi’s mission is to leave the world better than we found it by disrupting technologies and innovating for the future,” said Mingyu Wang, founder and CEO of Zuvi. “With our expertise in optics, aerodynamics, and consumer electronics design, we have created an exceptional product. We’re immensely proud of the work we’ve done to date and now to have a partner like L’Oréal, a company with more than 100 years of expertise in haircare and beauty, to take our products to the next level. Together, we are and will continue to create ground-breaking beauty technologies.”
“For over a decade, L’Oréal Research and Innovation has been creating a new beauty science powered by technology: augmented beauty," said Lavernos. "Technology that truly answers age-old consumer needs with unparalleled results. AirLight Pro, with over 150 patents filed, perfectly embodies this breakthrough in beauty by, for the first time, bringing a solution for drying while caring for the hair as well as the planet.”
“As the historical brand leader and trusted partner of hairstylists since 1909, L’Oréal Professionnel has always elevated the professional industry with pioneering innovations,” said Anne Machet, general manager for L'Oréal Professionnel. “We’re thrilled to partner with Zuvi and invent the new generation of hair dryer. Powered with infrared light, AirLight Pro offers superior professional performance for all hair types, with significantly reduced energy consumption. The new perfect companion for all hairstylists!”
