“We’re aiming for €10 billion,” says L’Oréal Paris global brand president Laetitia Toupet. “We’re confident. We are the number one global brand. We’ll get there with a very clear strategy, a strong brand mission, and very powerful innovations.”

Toupet, who has 25 years at L’Oréal Group under her belt in various roles, is well-versed in guiding brands to reach milestones: under her leadership as global brand president of La Roche-Posay from 2015 to 2022, the dermatological brand surpassed the €1 billion mark. But L’Oréal Paris is a different undertaking.

L’Oréal Paris revenues were above €7 billion in 2023. (L’Oréal Group doesn’t break out sales for individual brands, but typically reveals when they pass milestones.) As the world’s largest beauty brand within the world’s largest beauty conglomerate, L’Oréal Paris benefits from the group’s scale in innovation, marketing, and distribution. Its heritage also gives it an edge in the popular haircare category, while an impressive ambassador roster helps keep the brand on the cultural map.

But it’s competing in a difficult market: indie brands are courting young US shoppers, Chinese brands are emerging as alternatives to global players, and Korean skincare is still on the rise. In 2025, L’Oréal Paris witnessed mid-single-digit growth, boosted by haircare and makeup, according to Fabrice Megarbane, consumer products president, during the group’s annual earnings presentation. It marked a deceleration compared with 2024, when the brand grew 9%.

When Toupet joined L’Oréal Paris in July 2025, succeeding Delphine Viguier-Hovasse, she was tasked with strengthening the brand’s role as a beauty leader. Given her background heading up the group’s dermatological division, the appointment signaled a zeroing in on the brand’s weakest category, skincare, alongside carving out a space at industry-defining events like the Cannes Film Festival and expanding into men’s beauty.

I spoke with Toupet before and during the film festival — her first time at Cannes in her new role — to unpack how she plans to drive L’Oréal Paris toward its revenue ambitions.

Engaging with the cultural agenda

L’Oréal Paris strives to be part of the cultural conversation. Its partnerships with the entertainment industry include Emily in Paris and The Devil Wears Prada 2, it creates beauty looks for its brand ambassadors at the Met Gala, and even hosts a runway show during Paris Fashion Week.

Cannes Film Festival, of which the brand has been an official partner for 29 years, is a particular platform for L’Oréal Paris’s firepower. This year, giant posters of its many brand ambassadors — from Jane Fonda and Eva Longoria, to Gong Li and Viola Davis — are occupying the facade of Hôtel Martinez.

“The Cannes Film Festival has an audience with as much impact and visibility as major sporting events like the Super Bowl or the Olympics,” says Toupet. “For us, it is an extraordinary opportunity to highlight the brand’s mission, to celebrate the beauty of all women and of all ages.”

The 2025 Cannes Film Festival garnered a potential reach of 20 billion social media and press impressions, as well as an ad value worth €325 million, according to the brand. This year, the L’Oréal Paris teams are producing a high volume of content, specifically behind-the-scenes videos such as its “car glam cam” and “beauty hacks”, where the brand’s global makeup artist, Harold James, takes audiences through each look before it hits the red carpet. More than 200 interviews with L’Oréal Paris ambassadors are organized during the festival.

During the official opening of this year’s festival, Fonda and Li, who celebrate their 20th and 30th anniversaries this year, respectively, as brand ambassadors, took the stage at the Palais des Festivals, to declare the ceremony open. They were repping beauty looks created by the L’Oréal Paris team.

Fonda, 88, reflects on 20 years of being an L’Oréal Paris ambassador. “It seemed like an aberration. Why do they want me? I’m not a model,” she says. “But they stayed with me, and I learned a lot from the other brand ambassadors from all over the world. That’s one of the things that’s so exciting. I mean, being able to open the festival last night with Gong Li… wow.”

The event is not only an image driver, but also a business driver.  “Behind the looks, it’s about which products are used to create these extraordinary makeup looks. And so, it ultimately leads us to products,” says Toupet. Many of the brand’s Instagram posts during the festival feature a “get the look” caption, detailing each product used. These products are then featured on the homepage of the brand’s e-commerce site.

Playing to its skincare strengths

Finding its place in an innovation-driven skincare market will be key for L’Oréal Paris’s growth.

“Mass beauty brands such as L’Oréal Paris need to carve out a space in skincare between dermatological and luxury beauty brands, while also responding to the rise of K-beauty,” says Pierre Tegnér, equity analyst at Oddo BHF.

The K-beauty market is highly fragmented, but L’Oréal Paris can use its strong R&D to create Korean-inspired products while relying on its global brand trust and recognition. L’Oréal Group has 21 research centers worldwide, including one in Seoul, which opened in 2018. “Being very strong in Asia is a huge advantage,” Toupet says. “It gives us a competitive edge by allowing us to innovate much faster, taking innovations that originate in Asia and making them accessible worldwide.” (In 2024, L’Oréal Group also acquired Korean skincare brand Dr.G.)

The executive notes that recent skincare innovations such as its Glass Skin range, which launched in January, has helped the brand regain momentum in countries such as China. (L’Oréal Paris returned to growth in China in 2026, after navigating a challenging Chinese market the year prior.) The range is inspired by Asian beauty formulations and consists of a liquid care treatment and a mask that melts into the skin, replumping in just 90 minutes. “We unpacked the science behind it, and created a new range capable of reproducing inside the skin what those aesthetic procedures do,” Toupet says.

“We need to strengthen and reposition ourselves around what we do best — using science to deliver visible beauty,” Toupet continues. “We’re here to visibly transform women’s skin, whether immediately by giving it incredible radiance, restoring plumpness, and staying focused on our core business: preserving youthfulness and correcting signs of aging.”

Innovation is key across categories. In makeup, the L’Oréal Paris Infallible 3-Second Makeup Setting Spray Mist, launched in 2024, quickly became the brand’s second bestselling makeup product in 2025. “We used to focus on mascaras and lipsticks — the core makeup staples everyone knows,” Toupet notes. “Today, beauty routines have become far more diversified.”

L’Oréal Paris also intends to address concerns associated with GLP-1 weight-loss treatments, from skin sagging to hair thinning. Toupet says supporting women through these changes has become a focus for the brand. “We know that GLP-1 treatments can contribute to hair loss. We have tests demonstrating that our Elseve Fiber Booster [or Growth Booster, depending on the country] range helps stimulate regrowth for women experiencing hair loss,” she explains. “Another effect of GLP-1 drugs is accelerated skin sagging. We demonstrated with the Revitalift range that when women are undergoing these treatments, it supports them perfectly in combating loss of firmness.”

Because men are worth it, too

In April, L’Oréal Paris appointed Formula 1 driver Charles Leclerc as brand ambassador. Leclerc joined fellow racing driver Carlos Sainz, who joined in May 2025, in the L’Oréal Paris ambassador pool. The brand was without a male brand ambassador for over two years before Spanish F1 star Sainz joined. The timing is no coincidence.

“We’re accelerating in the men’s segment, either through unisex products like the haircare ranges we have under Elseve, or through our dedicated line called Men Expert, which includes skincare and hygiene products,” Toupet says. “We’re in a recruitment strategy: on the one hand, the market itself is evolving, with men taking more care of themselves, and on the other hand, we’re pushing more strongly in that direction.”

A Men Expert skincare product launch is slated for mid-June, with Leclerc starring in the campaign, his first for the brand.

Tapping Leclerc aligns with the brand’s mission, Toupet insists. “We are committed to supporting women around the world,” she says. “And I think it’s by standing together with men, by having men who also support this cause, that we’ll make even more progress.”