Coloright and Colorsonic, two L'Oréal innovations, are among the winners of the 2022 CES Innovation Awards. These two innovations reinvent the consumer experience in hair coloring.
At CES 2022, the world's premier consumer technology conference, L'Oréal Group is unveiling its latest Beauty Tech innovation to reinvent the entire hair color category: Colorsonic, a lightweight, portable device that uses an innovative and safe process to blend and apply hair color evenly, giving consumers consistent color results at home.
Also featured: Coloright, for hairdressers, is an artificial intelligence-connected hair coloring system that relies on virtual fitting to project desired shades and an algorithm to achieve personalized hair color on demand, with more than 1,500 custom shade possibilities.
"Our robust experience and century-long leadership in hair color has enabled our researchers, data scientists and Tech engineers to completely revisit and reinvent the hair color experience both at home with Colorsonic, a unique user-designed, reusable device for vibrant precision hair color results; and for hairdressers with Coloright, the most personalized and advanced in-salon experience for achieving desired hair color results anywhere in the world. L'Oréal's leadership in Beauty Tech allows us to push the boundaries of science-enhanced technology for breakthroughs in more personalized, inclusive and sustainable beauty experiences."said Barbara Lavernos, Executive Vice President of Research, Innovation and Technology at L'Oréal.
When the Covid-19 pandemic caused many salons to temporarily close, the use of at-home hair color increased by 6 %. During this time, consumers were faced with the challenges of a home hair coloring process that has remained largely unchanged for decades, namely messy hair dye and the complexity of applying color to hard-to-reach areas.
Developed in response to these consumer needs and perfected over five years, Colorsonic is based on a custom blending mechanism that combines a precise amount of developer and formula to create a hair color. The machine then dispenses the correct amount of color and applies it to the hair with an oscillating nozzle whose bristles move in a zigzag pattern to distribute it evenly throughout the hair. In five steps, the consumer can :
- Choose a hair color from the 40 shades offered on the Colorsonic website. The ammonia-free coloring kit is shipped directly to your home.
- Load the color cartridge into the unit for on-demand color mixing. The color and developer are separated until the unit is turned on, which is essential to preserve the color and keep it fresh.
- Brush from roots to ends for even color application. The oscillating nozzle - specially designed to avoid spillage, over-saturation and dripping - moves 300 times per minute to cover hair quickly and effectively. An attachment is also included for those with long hair (shoulder length or longer).
- Wait 30 minutes before rinsing.
- Remove the cartridge from the unit and store the remaining color for easy touch-ups at any time. The cartridge system allows Colorsonic to store remaining color for future touch-ups and to cover white hair.
"After years of research and development, we are excited to unveil technologies at this year's Consumer Electronics Show that modernize the experience of millions of people around the world who color their hair at home and in salons, said Guive Balooch, director of the L'Oréal Tech Incubator. Our goal is to leverage science and technology to solve age-old problems for consumers, and Colorsonic is a perfect example of the power of innovating for consumers by innovating with them."
The unveiling of Colorsonic is part of L'Oréal's ongoing commitment to provide exceptional personalized beauty experiences that are environmentally friendly. This commitment is reflected in various features:
- Post-consumer recycled plastic: Colorsonic is a reusable device with a recyclable formulation cartridge that uses less plastic per application than at-home hair color boxes.
- Reusable gloves: Existing at-home hair coloring products include single-use gloves in each box. Colorsonic replaces the single-use gloves with high-performance gloves that can be reused up to 10 times.
- Lightweight shipping packaging: the Colorsonic device and the color cartridges are shipped in certified recyclable paper packaging.
L'Oréal plans to market Colorsonic in the United States from the beginning of 2023.
Technology that modernizes the salon hair color experience
In addition to transforming the at-home hair color experience with Colorsonic, L'Oreal is equally focused on the next evolution of the salon hair color experience. Coloright is a hair coloring system for hairdressers that is connected to artificial intelligence and creates personalized hair color on demand. It puts innovation in the hands of professional colorists and personalizes the in-salon hair color experience, powered by a patented algorithm to deliver more accurate coloring.
The machine is equipped with a reader, which analyzes the customer's hair by measuring factors that influence color effectiveness, including hair color, percentage of white hair, length and density, and a dispenser that contains dry beads made of hair color, along with cartridges of cream bases, developers and thinners. Together, these dispensed components create a customized hair color recipe. The extremely precise device dispenses all the components of the formula and in total, Coloright is capable of providing over 1,500 customized possibilities.
After an online edition in 2021, the 2022 edition of CES in Las Vegas will be held in person from January 5 to 7, 2022.
