Worldwide cosmetics leader L’Oréal is significantly dedicated to boosting skincare research and data regarding lifespan extension, asserting a clear requirement for beauty to put forward scientific knowledge within this arena.
Lifespan extension – the notion of prolonging life while preserving well-being and aesthetics – is debatably one of the leading trends of 2025; impacting numerous sectors, spanning from health services to food and drinks into physical activity, beauty and well-being.
Concerning the beauty aspect, lifespan extension exploration and creation of products is assuming diverse approaches, with researchers and companies monitoring cutaneous wellness indicators through time and innovating items like supplements, creams and instruments to react and shape alteration. Yet, as the sector proceeds to evolve surrounding lifespan extension, international beauty giant L’Oréal notes it will be essential progressions remain supported via profound scientific investigation, notably within skincare.
The lifespan extension “transformation”
“Lifespan extension represents a novel framework,” stated Carine Ballihaut, Skincare Research Transformation Director at L’Oréal. Speaking during the Cosmetic 360 exhibition in Paris, this month, Ballihaut expressed: “…It’s a transformation influencing each of us individually but also as a community.”
Notably, customers and the sector, equally, are being urged to reconsider the definition of lifespan extension, the L’Oréal skincare specialist indicated, given confirmation it entails much more than merely numerical age.
Scholarly comprehension around age-linked detriment to diverse organs, she conveyed, has “increased significantly” in recent years. Publications associated with lifespan extension, for instance, surpassed 100,000 between 2000 and 2024, with investigations pinpointing numerous foundational factors to age-related consequences upon the human physique.
Publications regarding cutaneous lifespan extension were additionally increasing rapidly, she mentioned. And Ballihaut emphasized this facet – analyzing lifespan extension and human skin – is where abundant data can still be unearthed.
Ageing clocks and biomarkers
While the “lifespan extension scholarly transformation” has been notably reinforced by the progression of over 15 biologically unique ageing clocks, permitting researchers to anticipate biological age dependent on molecular attributes, the cutaneous science perspective still necessitates greater emphasis, Ballihaut conveyed.
“Essentially, we currently possess verification that ageing clocks vary by organ,” she elaborated, “signifying blood-derived clocks may not precisely portray the biological age of skin. Consequently, propelling cutaneous lifespan extension science necessitates the creation of tailored clocks, founded upon a comprehensive awareness of cutaneous biology.”
For the prior half-century, she revealed L’Oréal has committed to “elucidating” the workings and indicators of ageing within cutaneous biology, substantially bolstered via clinical evaluations. Under its in-house scheme “L’Oréal Longevity Integrative Science”, the business is examining how cellular function, intercommunication, and inflammation affect cutaneous ageing and the creation of a ’Wheel of Longevity for Beauty’ seeks to decipher cutaneous ageing at the cellular, molecular and tissular dimensions, she declared.
“We’ve meticulously documented all such biological shifts–across molecular, cellular and tissular tiers–unifying and compiling ample data on 267 biomarkers of the skin. The quantification of such biomarkers renders a priceless summary of a dermatological state, empowering us to not solely predict but additionally to critically impact the skin’s upcoming path,” Ballihaut detailed.
This advanced data assembly could subsequently be incorporated with Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to associate biomarkers with active constituents and ultimately empower specialized product creation that may potentially decelerate the ageing advancement and expand the life expectancy of skin, she indicated.
“The inclusion of these biological features reveals encouraging new objectives and remedial approaches (…) As a beauty enterprise, we’re devoted to the depiction and established advantages of components on skin and how we can employ this data to instruct fresh product innovation.”
Skin lifespan extension markers
Nevertheless, Ballihaut mentioned there continues to be a “vital necessity to formulate specific innovation blueprints, expressly conceived to elevate cutaneous health”.
Lifespan extension skincare must be “rooted in a comprehensive understanding of the skin’s biological iterations across time”, she explained, “utilizing what we denote as lifespan extension markers”. Anticipating ahead, this will necessitate capital infusion from the beauty sector and insight and involvement from skincare specialists across the domain, she expressed – something her enterprise stays greatly concentrated on.
L’Oréal, for instance, has previously evolved a high-tech diagnostic instrument – L’Oréal Cell BioPrint – that it presented at the CES 2025 exhibition in Las Vegas, earlier in the year. The physical instrument employs a patch to measure proteins on the skin’s surface and deliver a thorough, tailored assessment of an individual’s biological cutaneous age in under five minutes.
Ballihaut characterized the instrument as a “significant discovery” for the sector and an element that should aid in advancing endeavors in cutaneous lifespan extension additionally. “As cutaneous biologists, we’re delighted. We can now proactively uphold cutaneous health prior to the noticeable indications of ageing, assisting your skin in functioning, optimally, for an extended period. This constitutes a fresh lifespan extension epoch.”
