L’Oréal is teaming up with Cosmo International Fragrances for exclusive access to the fragrance creation company’s ‘air only’ extraction technology.
Cosmo’s patent-pending process is a waterless, low-energy extraction technique that reveals the exact smell of a fragrance while preserving its integrity.
The technology harnesses the volatile fragrance molecules of flowers, fruits and other natural ingredients without the need for heating, cooling or chemical solvents used in conventional scent extraction.
According to Cosmo, this means the natural ingredients retain their integrity and, at the end of the process, can be recycled and reused in a second extraction, helping to reduce waste.
The partnership’s first collaboration will focus on tuberose for a future fine fragrance, targeted for release in 2024.
Barbara Lavernos, Deputy Chief Executive Officer in charge of Research, Innovation and Technology at L’Oréal, said the process would let the group’s 100-plus in-house fragrance experts “experience the olfactive power of flowers in an authentic way, as if walking in a garden, field or forest”.
“True-to-life scents are the perfumer’s dream come true,” confirmed L’Oréal Luxe President Cyril Chapuy.
“Together with Cosmo International Fragrances, our brands will take fine fragrance crafting to new heights by offering unprecedented olfactive authenticity, allowing natural ingredients to express their full olfactive identity like never before.”
He added: “From ingredient sourcing to refill adoption, we are innovating at every step to reduce our impact and shift towards a more responsible fragrance model.”
L’Oréal is well-known for collaborating with innovators in beauty ingredient development.
In June, the cosmetics giant announced a minority investment by its venture capital fund BOLD (Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development) in biotech firm Debut, building on existing development plans between the companies.
Debut makes polyphenols, biopolymers, and natural colours via advanced, cell-free biomanufacturing, which is said to go beyond the limitations of traditional fermentation processes.
In March, meanwhile, L’Oréal invested in a venture led by Korean biotechnology firm Geno to create sustainable alternatives to key ingredients in beauty products.
And the end of last year saw BOLD buy a minority stake in Microphyt, a French biotech firm that pioneered a low carbon process to produce microalgae.
