L'Oréal unveils "next-generation" hair drying tool and acquires Gjosa in latest beauty tech moves

L’Oréal Group has unveiled a "next-generation" hair drying tool, designed with professional stylists for both beauty professionals and consumers at home.

The AirLight Pro, which was announced at CES 2024 on Tuesday, has been developed in partnership with Zuvi, a hardware startup company established by drone engineers and leading scientists.

Unlike traditional hair dryers, the new innovation is equipped with a 17-blade, high-speed motor and patented infrared-light technology designed for fast hair drying without excessive heat.

By efficiently drying water on the hair's surface, it is also left with internal moisture in the strand resulting in smooth, shiny hair. The tool uses up to 31% less energy consumption too.

Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L’Oréal Group, said: "With AirLight Pro, we prove that technology can augment beauty performance, caring for multiple hair needs, and reduce its environmental impact. That’s the future of beauty we are aiming to create."

Mingyu Wang, Founder and CEO of Zuvi, added: "We’re proud of the work we’ve done to date and now to have a partner like L’Oréal, a company with over 100 years of expertise in haircare and beauty, to take our products to the next level. Together, we are and will continue to create ground-breaking beauty technologies."

The AirLight Pro marks the latest beauty tech innovation from L’Oréal and comes as the group adds Switzerland-based environmental tech start-up Gjosa to its portfolio.

It has signed an agreement to acquire the outstanding shares of Gjosa, after first investing in the business and launching the L’Oréal Professionnel Water Saver professional shower head in 2021.

The aim of the acquisition is to innovate and scale multiple applications of Gjosa’s technology for beauty, while protecting the coveted resource of water through its water fractioning technology.

Laurent Manca, CEO of Gjosa, said: "Combining L’Oréal’s beauty market leadership together with Gjosa’s core expertise in water conserving technologies will contribute to transforming the beauty industry with new, sustainable beauty tech innovations at scale."

Last year, L'Oréal also introduced two new innovations to help make beauty more accessible, named HAPTA and Brow Magic.

HAPTA is a handheld, ultra-precise smart makeup applicator for users with limited hand and arm mobility. Meanwhile, Brow Magic is an at-home electronic eyebrow makeup applicator that provides users with customised brow looks.