Advanced Chip To Replace Fluffy Bunnies In Cosmetics Testing

As part of the cosmetic industry's attempt to shift away from animal testing for makeup, L'Oreal and the Hurel Corporation have designed a new chip that simulates the behavior of skin cells, eliminating the need to test the allergic response of lab animals to cosmetics.

The chip contains a layer of cultured human dendritic cells, a type of skin cell associated with immune response. When the skin comes in contact with an allergen, the dentritic cells migrate to the lymph nodes to alert the body of the problem and provoke an immune reaction. In the chip, an artificial lymph node rests across a chemical gradient from the cultured dentritic cells. If a compound that causes allergic reactions in humans contacts the chip, the dendritic cells migrate towards the artificial lymph node, setting off the chip.

For the US or the European Union to approve new makeup for sale, the cosmetic company needs to prove that the compound doesn't cause any allergic reactions. Currently, they prove this by applying the make up to the skin of a female rat. A fully functional prototype of the chip won't be ready until 2011, but a commercial version needs to hit the shelves by 2013, when a European Union ban on animal testing goes into effect.

L’Oreal Paris Announces New Hair Expert - Hair Stylist Johnny Lavoy

L’Oreal Paris is thrilled to add hair expert and Internet sensation Johnny Lavoy to the company’s roster of beauty experts in the United States. Lavoy’s recent rise to fame in the beauty industry was fueled by his “How to Get the Look” videos that appear online via Ford Models.

Lavoy is a sought-after hair stylist, based in Connecticut and New York City, and has worked on many national advertising and editorial campaigns. “Johnny is the perfect fit for L’Oreal Paris,” said Karen T. Fondu, president, L’Oreal Paris division, L’Oreal USA, Inc. “He has an amazing ability to interpret high fashion or red carpet hair looks and his step-by-step approach easily teaches women how to achieve a similar look at home. We are very excited to partner with Johnny and bring his style advice and L’Oreal Paris expertise to women across the country.”

Estée Lauder unveils new skin profiling system

Estée Lauder has introduced a state-of-the art Advanced Skin Profiling System to help pinpoint customers’ perfect skincare regimen quickly, accurately and exactly. The Estée Lauder Advanced Skincare Profiling System took three years to develop and now analyses skin for the first time ever, from multi-level perspectives, said a statement.

Revolutionary technology allows Estée Lauder’s Beauty Advisors to assess how the appearance of a customer’s skin is aging compared to her peer group, taking into account her age, ethnicity and location. Based on the individual’s skincare diagnosis, the Beauty Advisor can accurately tailor the perfect skincare solution for her.

This exclusive, in-depth diagnostic system precisely reads an unprecedented 11 key skin measurements including visible and non-visible aging markers. These include sebum, lines and wrinkles, visible spots, radiance and pores, making it Estée Lauder’s most comprehensive skin analysis ever. The whole diagnosis can take less than five minutes and incorporates video and multi-sensor technologies.

An exclusive, state-of-the-art skin scope uses three types of light to measure skin’s concerns at multiple levels:
• Visible light helps analyse visible surface spots
• Polarised light measures clogging and impurities
• UV Light looks beneath the skin surface measuring concerns not visible to the naked eye

Japan's Shiseido to buy Bare Escentuals for $1.7 billion

Shiseido Co Ltd, Japan's largest cosmetics company, has agreed to buy U.S.-based Bare Escentuals for $1.7 billion, as it looks to speed up its expansion and break into a new part of the North American market. The California-based firm, which markets natural-looking cosmetics and runs 800 retail outlets in the United States, will operate as a separate division of Shiseido, and its brands will continue to be run by CEO Leslie Blodgett.

Shiseido has been focusing on growth in China to offset a $24 billion home market that is shrinking as Japan's population ages. The company said adding Bare Escentuals, a San Francisco-based cosmetics and skincare firm, would help it move into the fast-growing natural-ingredient cosmetics market.

"Bare had good opportunities for growth internationally, but the size that they are, they needed greater resources. Shiseido provided them so many greater resources... into Europe and into Asia," Jason Gere, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets, said. "It's just much more difficult for smaller companies to grow on their own when they want to grow internationally," he said. Gere added that it would have been difficult for Bare to grow earnings while they still continued to invest in advertising and other infrastructure. "For Bare, this, in many ways, provides them the same growth opportunity, with much easier way to achieving them."

"Shiseido is not a global player on natural-ingredient products, for which demand is growing," Shiseido President Shinzo Maeda told a news conference. "By capitalising on Bare Escentuals' strength in this area, we can expand our clientele." He said Shiseido can also capitalise on Bare Escentuals' TV and Internet-based marketing expertise. Cosmetics sales via these channels are growing in Japan, but Shiseido has been a small player.

Henri Bendel to Carry Youngblood Cosmetics

Mineral makeup company, Youngblood Cosmetics, has scored an exclusive contract with the iconic NYC department store, Henri Bendel. The natural mineral cosmetic company has long been a mainstay in the offices of doctors and aestheticians, spas, med-spas and salons, and will now be the first and only such cosmetic company to be carried at Bendel.

“We’re thrilled to be Bendel’s exclusive mineral brand,” founder Pauline Youngblood- Soli says excitedly. Youngblood will be hosting an inauguration soiree at their Bendel counter on January 20th.

Consumers may stick with cheaper cosmetics, survey suggests

A survey carried out by US-based McKinsey & Company into the consumer habits of Americans shows that cosmetics companies targeting the prestige market may be disappointed if they think consumers will return to them with the end of the recession.

To read the full article, click here: Consumers may stick with cheaper cosmetics, survey suggests