When it comes to the hair color category, L’Oreal is used to making history. In 1907, the beauty giant released the world’s first synthetic hair dye, called “Aureole” — an innovation that ultimately changed hair coloring forever. Fast-forward 113 years and now, L’Oreal is set to disrupt the hair color market once again with the industry’s first at-home hair color device.
Called Colorsonic, this lightweight, handheld device precisely mixes to create 40 different shades of hair color to choose from and applies it evenly, delivering consistent at-home hair coloring results — without the mess. Think of this trusty little gadget as a magic wand for hair dye — simply turn it on, brush it through your hair from root to end for uniform color application, wait 30 minutes, before rinsing out the hair dye, and prepare to be amazed when you’re left with perfect, salon-worthy color.
While the development of the Colorsonic has been years in the making for the L’Oreal Technology Incubator team — seven years, to be exact — the ongoing coronavirus pandemic was seemingly the biggest push for the brand to accelerate the device’s creation. According to a press release from L’Oreal, over the course of the years-long pandemic, the at-home hair color business grew by 6 percent. With more consumers choosing to go the DIY route with their hair color and the hair-dye market booming, the announcement of Colorsonic’s upcoming launch couldn’t have come at a better time.
“Colorsonic is a way to use technology to break some of the boundaries that people have when it comes to their fear of coloring their hair. That’s especially true today, where we’re at home and want to do more things at home. We need to make people’s lives easier [when they] do it,” Guive Balooch, Global Head of Research and Innovation’s Tech Incubator at L’Oreal, told Glossy.
For anyone who’s ever struggled with coloring their hair at home, the Colorsonic seeks to completely revamp the entire process. And if there’s any doubt about just how much of a game-changer this device will be for consumers, just know that it has already been named as a 2022 Innovation Honoree by the Consumer Electronic Show (along with the brand’s forthcoming AI-based diagnostic tool, Coloright) before it’s even hit the shelves so, don’t be surprised if it ends up becoming your new must-have hair tool when it officially goes on sale in early 2023.
“Our century-long, deep experience and leadership in hair coloration has allowed our researchers, data scientists and Tech engineers to completely revisit and reinvent the haircoloring experience for both: at home with Colorsonic, a unique user-designed re-usable device allowing a precise vibrant result of haircoloration, and for hair stylist with Coloright, the most personalized and advanced experience in hair salons to achieve desired hair color results anywhere in the world,” said Barbara Lavernos, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, in Charge of Research, Innovation, and Technology, in a statement. “L’Oreal’s BeautyTech leadership allows us to push the boundaries of tech multiplied by science for breakthroughs in more personalized, inclusive and sustainable beauty experiences.”
At the moment, information regarding both the price and availability of the Colorsonic has yet to be released. For now, we highly suggest following @lorealusa to keep updated on all news surrounding this groundbreaking hair tech device.
