L’Oréal fragrance and hair boost Q1 growth, outpacing global beauty market

L’Oréal Group has reported strong top-line growth in Q1 of 2026, with fragrance and hair as the primary segments driving growth. For the first financial quarter, the company achieved 7.6% like-for-like growth, or +6.7% adjusted. 

The group cashed in the first quarter with €12.15 billion (US $14.21 billion). Overall, L’Oréal grew faster than the global beauty market, which sits at approximately +3.8%, indicating market share gains.

“Despite current geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainties, we are optimistic about the outlook for the global beauty market. Our multi-polar model, the determination of our teams, as well as our innovation power, make me confident that we will continue to outperform and achieve another year of growth in sales and profit,” says Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO at L’Oréal.

Growth was seen across all regions, with Europe as the top contributor. Emerging markets demonstrated growth by double digits, with 15.4% growth. E-commerce also surged forward for the group with double-digit growth, driven by emerging markets and Europe.

The Q1 report shows L’Oréal’s skin segment is seeing benefits from innovation momentum and recovery in the Asian market.

All of the group’s divisions grew in Q1, with the Professional Products Division and L’Oréal Dermatological Beauty up by double digits and the Luxe division recovering with a boost from the Chinese market.

Additionally, in the Luxe division, L’Oréal completed its acquisition of French luxury beauty brand Kering Beauté in late March, the group’s largest acquisition to date. 

The deal features the signing of 50-year exclusive licenses for the creation, development, and distribution of fragrance and beauty products under Bottega Veneta and Balenciaga once the current contracts end. The move contributed to L’Oréal’s growth in fragrance — a category increasingly honed in on by the industry.

L’Oréal also recently invested in US-based premium body care brand, Hanni, through the group’s venture fund, Bold. The natural body care brand emphasizes an eco-conscious portfolio through its vegan and clinically tested formulations. L’Oréal’s investment demonstrates a growing interest in the increasingly important body care category.

“L’Oréal is off to a great start with adjusted like-for-like growth of 6.7%. We not only outperformed a beauty market that remains dynamic but accelerated our market share gains around the world,” says Hieronimus.

At the end of March 2026, currency fluctuations negatively affected sales by -5.5%. However, if exchange rates at that date (€1 = US$ 1,1532) continue through to year-end, the overall impact for 2026 would moderate to about -1.3%.

Professional Products

Emerging markets boosted L’Oréal’s global sales growth.

L’Oréal’s Professional Products reported 13.1% growth, driven by premiumization, innovation, and expansion in emerging markets, with strong momentum across all categories.

All geographical regions grew at double-digit rates, with emerging markets leading, notably Brazil, Mexico, and Southeast Asia. Premium hair care was the main driver of the Professional Products division, boosted by strong brand performance and new product launches. Hair color grew despite a challenging market, supported by innovation.

Hair styling is forecast to be a future growth lever for the division, with the global rollout of Color Wow expected to contribute significantly in 2026.

Innovating consumer goods

Consumer Products’ growth, while more modest than professional products, still outperformed the global market in sales with +4.1%. The division’s strategy was based on making beauty innovations accessible to “everyone, everywhere.”

Top-performing brands included L’Oréal Paris, Garnier, and NYX Professional Makeup, while skin care brands Mixa and Thayers achieved strong double-digit growth. All regions grew, with Europe maintaining momentum, North America driven by hair care, and emerging markets — India, Brazil, Vietnam — leading overall growth.

Makeup growth in the consumer products division was fueled by innovation, and skin care is starting to recover, supported by new product launches, according to L’Oréal.

Investing in Luxe

L’Oréal’s Luxe showed a growth of 5.6%, outperforming the selective market across all regions. The group attributes this performance to the fortitude of its brand portfolio, strategy, and the implementation of its “aggressive” innovation plan.

Growth in the division was driven by fragrances, innovation, and emerging markets. Emerging markets grew by approximately 10%, while North America accelerated and outperformed the market. In North Asia, performance improved with the stabilization of the selective market. China showed high single-digit growth, though travel retail remained weak.

Skin care’s rebound and strategic acquisitions also aim to reinforce long-term market leadership in Luxe.

Fragrances were the main growth driver in Luxe, led by new launches, Yves Saint Laurent Libre, and Valentino Born in Roma. 

L’Oréal’s Luxe skin care is recovering, outperforming a still-flat market through innovations and brands such as Kiehl’s and Helena Rubinstein. 

In the division, makeup growth was driven by premium innovations such as Yves Saint Laurent Lovenude and Prada Touch Blush.

Derma Beauty growth

Fragrance and hair care drove L’Oréal’s Q1 performance.

Dermatological Beauty showed 10.2% growth, attributed to its innovation pipeline. Growth was primarily bolstered by dermatological skin care brands, hero products, and expansion across all regions, with particularly fast growth in emerging markets.

The derma division achieved strong, broad-based growth across all regions, with Europe and North America growing mid–high single digits and North Asia and emerging markets in high teens.

La Roche-Posay led the momentum through its Cicaplast range and product expansion of Hyalu B5 Suractivated. CeraVe continued its global recovery, driven by moisturizers, hair care in North America, and new sun care in Europe. SkinCeuticals maintained strong growth, supported by key anti-aging products. Vichy delivered solid performance, especially in collagen and hair care lines, particularly via Collagen Specialist 16 and the Dercos range, respectively.

Diverse strategies

L’Oréal Group has maintained a diverse strategy in its operations. In addition to the Kering Beauté acquisition and investments such as with Hanni, the company has made investments in research, tech, and societal endeavors.

Touted as the first scientific agreement of its kind, L’Oréal and Institut Pasteur announced a research partnership in early April. The research aims to deepen the grasp of skin as an organ while informing future targets for active ingredients and solutions.

Earlier this year, the group also expanded its AI partnership with Nvidia with the aim of allowing streamlined breakthroughs in formulation discovery.

For International Women’s Day, the group pledged an additional commitment of €50 million (US$57.9 million) for its L’Oréal Fund for Women, renewing its five-year commitment to the fund. The beauty giant aims to empower and improve the well-being of five million women by the end of this commitment in 2030.