Lancôme keeps forging the future of skin care, with its sights now firmly set on longevity — the science of health-span, rather than age-span.

“We consider longevity across all ages,” said Françoise Lehmann, the L’Oréal-owned brand’s global president for 12 years, before stepping down in July.

Lancôme’s longevity adventure is unfurling, most recently with Absolue PDRN, which is said to augment a cell’s longevity mechanism to extend the skin’s youth. It is encapsulated in the Absolue Longevity Cream. 

“How is longevity fashioning Lancôme’s strategy in skin care? It is very holistic,” said Lehmann. “It’s a new paradigm for beauty.”

She foresees longevity becoming a lifestyle. Some people will want the best of both worlds — antiaging, skin care’s traditional focus since the 1920s, and longevity. So Lancôme is positioning itself to service both. 

“There will be people — ‘ultras’ — who will only take a longevity approach, then there are others who will say ‘I want both,’” said Lehmann. “It opens up perspectives, the field of vision. It’s the first time we’ve had such a revolution in beauty.”

And it’s just the beginning. 

Lancôme is in a position of strength as the first brand at L’Oréal to benefit from discoveries found by the group’s Longevity Integrative Science. The mission of that is to delve into how cellular activity, communication and inflammation impact skin aging. Researchers focus on the root causes of biological aging to extend skin cellular health span.

Longevity, according to Vania Lacascade, who succeeded Lehmann at the helm of Lancôme, “is something that will change, as well, our relation with age.”

“We think longevity is so important for Lancôme because it’s an opportunity for us to lead in the space that we master today, which is skin care,” she said. “Longevity is becoming a scientific and a societal reality. People don’t just want to live longer, they want to live better. It is this opportunity to change the narrative. It’s not about fighting time. It’s about optimizing every stage of life. 

“There is this notion of owning your age,” continued Lacascade. “Obviously, it’s linked to genetics, but you can influence it with your environment, with your lifestyle. It’s a positive vision of aging that perfectly fits with the vision of Lancôme. The longevity piece is a proactive movement. It’s a continuous journey, but it requires you to be aware of the way your skin is functioning. You have this ongoing care across the years. It’s really for every generation.”

In terms of products, Absolue Longevity will be followed by a host of other longevity-linked initiatives from Lancôme. “Longevity is going to be a major subject for the years to come,” said Cyril Chapuy, global president of L’Oréal Luxe.

Longevity gives new options, according to Annie Black, Lancôme’s international scientific director.

“We’ve been talking about prevention for many years now, but mostly associated with photoprotection, and with UV products,” she said. “Longevity puts prevention back in the center stage in a different way. For us, it means that now we’re developing active ingredients that are also in prevention, that are not necessarily UV filters. So it’s a very interesting scientific avenue on this side, too.”

Lancôme has been a visionary from the start. The 90-year-old brand’s first skin care product was Nutrix, an all-purpose repair cream, introduced in 1936. That product still exists in the brand portfolio today.

“It was launched at a time when skin care was not at all yet a cultural norm,” said Alexandra Kerr, international vice president for skin care at Lancôme.

“Lancôme has been talking about science for a very long time,” said Black. When she perused some of the brand’s old campaigns, Black was blown away by the realization that as early as 1965, Absolue was already talking about skin regeneration.

The brand has expanded subsequently, and in 2017, Absolue launched a super-premium skin care range.

“It was a very important element of premiumization of the brands,” said Chapuy. “Lancôme was luxury, but mainstream luxury. Absolue helped a lot to bring more seriousness, premiumness in our skin care offer.”

Another iconic skin care franchise for Lancôme is Génifique. For its introduction in 2009, Génifique was described as a “Youth Activating Concentrate” and was among the first, if not the first, antiaging serum on the market, according to Kerr. 

“Génifique has been a great milestone, because it [marked] the entry into genomics and longevity, and with a strong scientific foundation behind the product — aside from being a very great product,” said Nicolas Hieronimus, chief executive officer of L’Oréal.

“I still use Génifique personally,” he continued. “It really made Lancôme enter the future. When we see today the launch of the longevity platform for Lancôme, in the end, it is the natural sequel to Génifique.”

The product has been refreshed numerous times, including with Advanced Génifique serum, out in 2013 and upgraded in 2019.

In China, where it has garnered a cult following, Génifique has the nickname “Little Black Bottle.” Tens of millions of bottles of it have been sold worldwide. 

“Génifique is always pushing the boundaries and coming with new scientific territories that are often breakthrough,” said Black, highlighting some latest product launches, such as Génifique Ultimate Serum, containing Nrf2, considered the repair switch of skin cells, and Advanced Génifique, formulated with microbiome science.

Chapuy believes Génifique Ultimate and Absolue Longevity will bring a very strong scientific statement to Lancôme.

“We talked about genes 15 years ago — so things that you wouldn’t see a lot on the market,” said Black. “With Génifique, when we do renovate it, it’s always very complex because we’ve [already] done something really big. So what’s next? It’s extremely challenging, because each time we try to put the bar really high, and we need to come out with something new, something disruptive.”

Rénergie, first out in 1992 with Double Performance cream, has also become important for Lancôme. Today, the serum has a triple pump bottle.

“It was the first in the market to launch a product with three chambers,” said Kerr. Those allowed for ingredients that normally could not be combined to be contained together in one bottle.

The ingredient story is important for Rénergie.

“Expectations of our consumers are changing, and now people want more transparency,” said Black. “They are also educated about skin care. [Consumers] know the ingredients much more, and what they do. So it also helps us to keep on our toes, to put the right ingredients together. This is one of the reasons why Rénergie is so interesting, because we are able to play with these ingredients that are known by most people who use cosmetics, but put them into combinations and do things that normally others can’t do, haven’t thought of doing or haven’t tried doing.

“When we looked at most products that have peptides, they have combined maybe two or three, five, six or seven — maybe 10 maximum — but no one had ever put as many different types of peptides in one jar,” she said.

Rénergie ranks first among antiaging skin care brands in the U.S. and in the “Europe Five” zone of countries, including the U.K., France, Germany, Italy and Spain.

Lancôme has deep expertise in developing daily photo-protection products, such as UV Expert, spanning more than 30 years. 

“We’re very well-known for formulas that are very lightweight, compatible with makeup,” said Black. “We’ve been ahead on the maraket for quite some time on the topic of daily photoprotection.” 

In the category, Lancôme places first in North Asia and is number two in the U.S. with UV Expert. “We’re outgrowing the market,” said Kerr. “We always launch the best technologies, the most future-forward ones.”

Among the recent key introductions was UV Expert Xtreem Shield in Asia, made with what’s said to be the first UV technology that self-regenerates.

Lancôme is a frontrunner in beauty tech — for both in-store and at-home use, as well. The Pro Radiance Booster was its first launch, in 2009, to work with the Génifique franchise and using ultrasound technology.

“We’ve also pushed the diagnostics part really far, and we’re going even further with longevity and Cell BioPrint,” said Black. The device by that name, expected to land in stores in March 2026, can reveal to consumers what is happening in their skin.

“This is really powerful,” said Black, adding tech is something Lancôme continues to pursue. “Now, we’re going into the unseen, or the invisible, to look at biomarkers. We’re also developing more devices to push performance. So the combination of different types of energies and active ingredients is something that we’re continuing to look into and develop.”

Already on the market is the Rénergie Nano-Resurfacer | 400 Booster, a device made to augment cosmetic penetration into the stratum corneum and amplify a product’s performance. It was created to amplify Rénergie H.C.F. Triple Serum’s work on wrinkles, dark spots and skin texture for clinical-grade results at home.

“We actually proved that we boost product performance,” said Black.

High-tech and high-touch are key elements of Lancôme skin care.

“It is all about innovation, spearheading, creating what hasn’t been done before on the market,” said Kerr. “But also innovating without intimidating our consumers.”

Even complex technology is developed to feel desirable, luxurious and approachable.

“We elevate our consumers,” she said. “We also reassure and educate them. That’s what is true to Lancôme — it’s this kind of human-centered approach.”