L’Oréal’s Aura Botanica: leading the way for prestige natural beauty?
The range is from the global beauty giant’s Kérastase brand, and L’Oréal says it combines ‘high performance, natural ingredients and biodegradability’ - a combination of three core consumer demands that have emerged as increasingly key in the recent period.
Indeed, while consumer enthusiasm for naturals and organics has not let up in recent years, consumers often perceive such items as offering lower levels of performance and quality as a necessary trade off.
“The Aura Botanica collection was set the bold goal of offering products that blend high performances, natural ingredients and biodegradability – a first in a sector where naturally-based products have not always managed to deliver stable formulas and great sensory experiences,” confirms L’Oréal.
Has it achieved its aim?
In a statement in December, L’Oréal suggests that its range has proved a winning formula.
“A few months after the range was launched, they seem to like the way the brand is positioning itself,” the company says.
“SEO websites worldwide are buzzing with positive reviews from users, propelling Aura Botanica posts to seven million views on social media and driving a 76% increase in new visitors to Kérastase’s website.”
How did it go about the product development?
L’Oréal describes the product range’s development as a cross-company effort.
“No fewer than five different teams collaborated on the project within Research and Innovation at the L’Oréal Group, including Raw Materials representatives, biodegradability experts, the Natural and Organic business line and Instrumental Evaluation,” the company explains.
In a process lasting 18 months, the teams narrowed down the available ingredients to develop formulations for four hair care products.
Assuring biodegradability was, the company suggests, one of the main challenges: “Advanced research engineer Jean-Florient Campion explains that a product is biodegradable if it can be ‘broken down by the action of micro-organisms contained in wastewater treatment stations or the environment’.
“Tests on the selected ingredients revealed a biodegradability ratio of over 98%, which Jean-Florient calls “unique and unprecedented” for a professional range with such demanding standards.”
