L’Oréal Reports Double-Digit Sales Gain As Skin Care Sales Soar

Driven by gains in all categories and channels, L'Oréal's 2021 sales rose 15.3% to $36.8 billion. By division, professional product sales rose 22.2%; consumer products increased 4.5%; L'Oréal Luxe jumped 21.9% and Active Cosmetics soared 30.3%.

“L’Oréal Luxe became the group’s largest division, with remarkable success in fragrances, while the consumer products division, the largest division by volume, strengthened its position, with noteworthy performance in makeup,” said CEO Nicolas Hieronimus. “The fast-growing professional products division continued its far-reaching transformation and became truly omnichannel. With a portfolio of brands that perfectly matches consumers’ health aspirations, active cosmetics also achieved spectacular growth, doubling in four years.”

Hieronimus noted that eCommerce sales rose 25.7%, to account for 28.9% of sales. He added that the company is investing in data and artificial intelligence, and establishing strategic partnerships such as its alliance with Verily, to better understand and characterize skin and hair aging mechanisms.

The professional products division achieved historic market share gains across all zones, with exceptional performance in the US and mainland China in particular. Haircare remained the No. 1 growth category. Kérastase had a spectacular year, driven by the success of Curl Manifesto. L’Oréal Professionnel, thanks to its disruptive innovation Metal Detox, and Redken, with its new Acidic Bonding Concentrate line, also recorded strong growth. Hair color made a very strong recovery, thanks in particular to the success of Shades EQ by Redken and Dialight by L’Oréal Professionnel.

The consumer products division gained market share in 2021, too. Momentum is strong in the US and fast-growing markets such as India, Brazil, Mexico and Indonesia. Growth was driven by the development of e-commerce, in all the zones and notably in emerging markets. All major brands grew, with an exceptional run of innovations in all categories. Sky High mascara by Maybelline was the most successful launch in the brand’s history. Within haircare, premium innovations include Dream Lengths Wonder Water by Elsève and L’Oréal Full Resist in mainland China. In skincare, Garnier’s Vitamin C Serum was well-received in many countries in the SAPMENA (South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa) and Latin America zones. NYX Professional Makeup also had an exceptional year, boosted by major launches and new types of partnerships, such as the one with Netflix's Money Heist (La Casa de Papel). L’Oréal Paris strengthened its position as the world’s No.1 beauty brand with sales approaching $7 billion.

L'Oréal Luxe sales nearly returned to pre-Covid levels. The division gained market share in its three categories. The ultra-premium brands Lancôme Absolue and Helena Rubinstein, and anti-aging innovations such as Retinol Skin-Renewing Daily Micro-Dose Serum by Kiehl’s performed very well in skincare. The division consolidated its leadership in fragrances, driven by the strength of established icons like Libre by Yves Saint Laurent and by promising launches like Alien Goddess by Mugler and Luna Rossa Ocean by Prada. In a less dynamic makeup market, performance was driven by Lancôme and Shu Uemura. The Division strengthened its position across all zones, recording significant market share gains in North Asia and excellent performance in Europe. Following the reorganization of its distribution network in North America, sales are again accelerating in this zone.

At the end of the year, L'Oréal Luxe finalized the acquisition of Youth to the People.

With health a concern for so many consumers, L'Oréal said its Active Cosmetics division outperformed a booming dermocosmetics market in 2021. The division strengthened an already solid relationship with healthcare professionals and confirmed its leadership in dermocosmetic recommendations. Active cosmetics posted strong growth across all zones, with exceptional performance in North America and North Asia. Offline sales saw a return to strong double-digit growth and online sales were exceptionally buoyant, exceeding one billion euros. Among brand accomplishments, La Roche-Posay more than doubled its growth rate, thanks to innovations such as Effaclar serum and Lipikar EczemaMED, which is revolutionizing the treatment of eczema. Vichy strengthened its European leadership in anti-aging, particularly in skincare for menopausal women, while accelerating in Latin America and North America. SkinCeuticals continued to gather momentum due, in part, to the success of Silymarin CF. CeraVe saw spectacular growth for the second year running, in both the US and the rest of the world.

By region, European sales rose 10.7%. North American sales rose 18.1%. North Asia sales rose 18.6%. Sales rose 10% in SAPMENA. Sales in Latin America jumped 20.6%.

Last year, L'Oréal bought back 4% of its own shares held by Nestlé.