IBM & L'Oréal Build AI for Sustainable Cosmetics

IBM, the American tech company, and L'Oréal, a leading beauty & cosmetics company, have collaborated to use AI to advance sustainable cosmetics. IBM’s AI technology and infrastructure will be used to ‘uncover new insights in cosmetic formulation data, facilitating L'Oréal's use of sustainable raw materials for energy and material waste reductions.’

The announcement also claims that this is the first AI model intended to advance sustainable cosmetics. Furthermore, the partnership is said to help L'Oréal meet its target of sourcing most of its product formulas from bio-sourced materials by 2030. 

The AI model will use a ‘large number of formulations’ and data points to accelerate the product formulation process, including re-formulation and production of existing products. These tools are also said to enable 4,000 researchers at LO’real to build eco-friendly cosmetics. 

"As part of our Digital Transformation Program, this partnership will extend the speed and scale of our innovation and reformulation pipeline, with products always reaching higher standards of inclusivity, sustainability, and personalisation," said Stephane Ortiz, Head of Innovation Métiers & Product Development, at L'Oréal Research & Innovation.

This is the second time in 2025 that L'Oréal has announced a new development at the intersection of cosmetics and AI. At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025, the company unveiled a device called Cell Bioprint that analyses skin protein levels and delivers insights to improve skin health and ageing. The device was developed in collaboration with Korean biotech company NanoEnTek. 

Having said that, L'Oréal has been exploring groundbreaking technologies for a long time. In 2018, L'Oréal acquired a Canadian company called Modiface to use AI and augmented reality (AR) for skin diagnostics and assessments for customers, based on ‘15 years of scientific research on skin ageing’. ModiFace also helped the company integrate AI-enabled product try-ons and virtual makeup on Amazon. 

That said, CES 2025 featured an array of beauty-tech announcements. Notably, Samsung, the South Korean tech giant, introduced a new product called the MICRO LED beauty mirror. This mirror uses AI to provide personalised beauty tips based on skin analysis.