L’Oréal Partners With Citizen Science Outfit uBiome

L’Oréal’s pursuit of beautiful and healthy skin took another step forward at SXSW in Austin, Tex., where the beauty giant announced a new partnership with citizen science start-up UBiome. The latter will analyze samples from consumers interested in learning about their unique skin microbiome, an “ecosystem” of bacteria, fungi and other elements that protect the skin. When this ecosystem is out of whack or off-balance, any number of issues can spring up, from acne and body odor to eczema, rosacea and psoriasis. The company performs the analysis on a swab from the subject — similar to 23andMe DNA tests, but for skin. Part of L’Oréal’s “science of skin care” push, the deal opens up more research and understanding of the skin’s ecosystem, while also giving the beauty company access to (anonymized) data for the development of future products. For L’Oréal, the partnership is a natural progression of its longstanding work, and follows up a string of recent projects. Its own research in the skin’s microbiome goes back more than a decade, with 50 published papers, and includes findings on things such as its effect on aging skin, among other aspects. The work has led to the development of numerous products, as well as the brands

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