At Viva Technology in Paris, L’Oréal is showcasing its new human skin-like technology platform that more closely mimics the diversity of real, human skin, including conditions such as eczema and acne.  

Barbara Lavernos, deputy CEO in charge of research, innovation and technology, L’Oréal Groupe, says the new bioprinted skin “more closely mimics real human skin and opens up exciting possibilities for researchers across the cosmetic and health sectors.”

Viva Technology is Europe’s largest tech-start-up event. Lavernos will co-headline L’Oréal’s keynote in Paris today, where the beauty giant will also showcase several consumer-facing tech developments.

Functional Reconstructed Skin

Made possible by the convergence of biology, mechanics and electronics, this new skin technology from L’Oréal is said to more closely mimic skin. In addition to conditions such as eczema and acne, this skin has the ability to tan and heal from injury.

The technology comes from tissue engineering research conducted by L’Oréal and University of Oregon (UO).

UO researchers teamed up with scientists at L’Oréal to develop the multilayered artificial skin via a novel 3D printing technique invented by Paul Dalton, an associate professor in the Phil and Penny Knight Campus for Accelerating Scientific Impact at the UO.

According to OU, researchers from Dalton’s lab and L’Oréal co-developed plastic scaffolds that mimic the extracellular matrix via a network of finely structured 3D printed threads.

L’Oréal researchers grew cultured cells in the scaffolds to create the artificial skin with different cell types growing in each layer. The membrane prevents the cells in the different layers from mixing as they develop, according to a report from OU.

The underlying scaffolds resemble a mesh of threads. To make the porous scaffold, Dalton’s team used a 3D printing technique called melt electrowriting.

According to officials at UO, the new skin model can be grown in just 18 days rather than the 21 to 35 days it took to create previous scaffold-based artificial skin models.  

L’Oréal says this functional reconstructed skin will allow the company to amplify its knowledge of the skin and invent new, ultra-personalized products and experiences.