L’Oréal hails ‘exceptional’ third quarter 2026 led by dermatological and professional beauty

By Lynsey Barber | Published: 23-Oct-2026

The CeraVe and Kérastase owner’s business grew across all divisions in the third quarter of 2026, with a ‘remarkable’ performances from professional products and dermatological beauty

L’Oréal hails ‘exceptional’ third quarter 2026 led by dermatological and professional beauty

L’Oréal CEO Nicolas Hieronimus has hailed an “exceptional” third quarter and the return of the skin care category, which had underperformed in 2025.

Like-for-like (LFL) sales at the French beauty giant grew 7.2% to €11.6bn in the three months to 30 September, and 7.7% on an adjusted basis.

L’Oréal grew across all divisions, with “remarkable” performances from its professional products and dermatological beauty divisions, as well as a “strong recovery" in its luxe unit.

“L’Oréal delivered an exceptional third quarter as adjusted LFL growth accelerated to 7.7%,” said Hieronimus.

“The global beauty market, once again, proved its resilience in a challenging context, and we continued to significantly outpace it.

“Driven by the success of our innovation plan, and the passion of our teams, we continue to win in hair care and fragrances, but are now also outperforming the market in the all-important skin care category.

“Growing well ahead of the market in e-commerce, we continue to double down on this winning channel with spectacular results across all regions, notably emerging markets.”

Sales grew across all regions, apart from Latin America, with Europe and the South Asia Pacific, Middle East, North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa region (SAPMENA – SSA) the biggest contributors to growth.

In Latin America, Brazil grew in double-digits, said Hieronimus on a call with investors.

However, in Mexico a combination of a softening market, inventory issues in make-up, and commercial issues with one of its biggest customers resulted in only mid-single-digit growth.

“The impressive results in SAPMENA – SSA, including in India, and the strong performances across all developed regions, with a special mention of Europe, illustrate our local teams’ ability to win across terrains,” said Hieronimus.

“All this underpins my conviction that we are better positioned than ever to win in the long run leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to augment the strengths of the L’Oréal model.

“Our performance in the first nine months gives me confidence that L’Oréal will deliver another year of growth in sales and profit, whilst strengthening our global leadership.”

How did L’Oréal’s divisions perform in the first nine months of the year?

Hair care premiumisation drove 12.3 % adjusted LFL growth in L’Oréal’s professional products division, with double-digit growth at Kérastase as a result of new launches such as Gloss Absolu, Genesis and Chronologiste.

Redken Acidic Grow Full and L’Oréal Professionnel Keratin Alpha Sleek also fuelled momentum.

Hair colour had a “more challenging market backdrop”, however, sales continued to grow and the division continued to outpace the market.

L’Oréal’s consumer products division sales grew 4.2% on an adjusted LFL basis, with acceleration in unit growth.

L’Oréal Paris and NYX Professional Makeup were standout performers, but all of L’Oréal’s global brands in the division experienced growth.

Regional mass skin care brands “remained highly dynamic”, and L’Oréal continued the rollout of Mixa into new markets and Korean brand Dr.G into global markets, including China and Southeast Asia.

Dr.G launched in the US on TikTok Shop in October.

“The brand is already doing very well in Southeast Asia,” said Hieronimus on the call with investors.

“But the big play is to see whether we can also surf on that Korean wave in the West.”

In skin care, Garnier Dry Touch also expanded across Europe and Latin America, while L’Oréal Paris benefited from the launches of Glass Skin and Revitalift PDRN Filler.

Hair care brands in the division posted double-digit growth, with the rollout of L’Oréal Paris Elsève Collagen Lifter and Garnier Fructis Diamond Sleek.

Meanwhile in make-up, innovations such as L’Oréal Paris Infallible, Maybelline New York Sky Tubes Mascara and NYX Professional Makeup Fat Matte Smooth Lipstick drove sales, as did the rollout of 3CE in Asia.

L’Oréal Luxe’s adjusted LFL sales grew 5.8%, driven primarily by fragrance thanks to launches such as Prada Paradigme and Emporio Armani Stronger with You, which posted “stellar” growth, and Yves Saint Laurent’s Libre and MYSLF which grew in double-digits.

Recent launches Valentino Vendetta and Giorgio Armani I Will also had a “promising start”

Creed, which L’Oréal acquired earlier this year, delivered a strong performance

“I am very happy with the performance of Creed, which is also growing double-digits,” said Hieronimus.

“As I said last time, it fills the gap in our premium end fragrances, [and] they just launched a new fragrance called Iris Debonair, which is doing great, and that is also contributing to our overall fragrance performance, both in male and female.”

L’Oréal Luxe division’s skin care brands strengthened momentum driven by the ultra-premium segment, including "phenomenal” growth from Helena Rubinstein and its Re-Plasty franchise.

Yves Saint Laurent’s (YSL) make-up had strong double-digit growth, with blockbusters such as Lovenude Lip Blusher, All Hours Foundation and the recently launched Make Me Blush.

Adjusted LFL sales in L’Oréal’s dermatological beauty division grew 11.6%, with its three "billionaire" brands – La Roche-Posay, CeraVe and Skinceuticals – experiencing double-digit growth.

Launches such as La Roche-Posay’s Mela B3 Double-Dose and Anthelios UV Air, and CeraVe’s sun care range, helped boost growth.

On the call with investors, Hieronimus also highlighted the growing importance of GLP-1 weight loss drugs.

“We also see, which is a very important phenomenon for us, the rise of the use of GLP-1 is having an impact on beauty consumption and skin care consumption, in particular,” he said.

“So, we have products in Skinceuticals, but also in Kiehl’s, that have been designed to work alongside and complement GLP-1, and its side effects on skin sagging or other things like that.”