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“I’ve always been particular about my brows—even on shoots with incredible make-up artists, I’d insist on doing my own.”
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and luxury French skincare brand Lancôme is leading the charge
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“Of course, I’m very grateful for the successes we have achieved, and yes, we can celebrate these milestones. But I’m always cautious – I never believe I have ‘arrived’. To me, one day you’re in and the next you could be out. You can’t rest on your laurels.”
“I say ‘work in progress’ a lot or ‘this too shall pass’. Also: ‘don’t forget to have fun’.”
What is your mantra?
“In the beginning, the biggest challenge was
doing everything with a small team, but I truly believe it’s important to be hands-on to understand what your business really needs”
What is your most treasured fashion item?
scientist by training, Dr Vania Lacascade served as chief innovation officer for the L’Oréal Groupe before being appointed global brand president for Lancôme in July last year.
“We forecasted that the stock would last nine months — it sold out in six weeks.”
“When we got our first negative TikTok review two years in, I panicked. I thought we’d ruined everything and relied too much on social media. But it turned into one of my biggest lessons — we needed to be clearer about who each product is for. Instead of saying, ‘Everyone will love it,’ we started saying, ‘Don’t buy this if you’re not after that specific look.’
“Our community is our biggest strength. It’s at the core of everything we do. We started out wanting to simplify beauty, but now it’s evolved — I’m often the second person to know what’s launching next because it all comes from our community. They influence everything, from product development to shades. We regularly email our database asking questions like, ‘What do you want to see next?’ or ‘Should the next mascara be blue or brown?’
“We’re so fortunate to have such a close relationship with them. Our products are made for them — nobody else. Some of our biggest viral moments have come from everyday customers, not influencers. One girl in America filmed herself applying Lash Sculpt from Sephora in her bedroom — that video now has over 100 million views. It sold out across Sephora US. You can’t buy that kind of exposure — it’s pure community power.
“To stay ahead, we have to keep innovating — not just with products but with every aspect of the business: in-house processes, customer experience, and events. Three years ago, we hosted a community pop-up at a Pilates studio in London. We weren’t selling anything — just meeting people. There were classes upstairs, coffees and matchas downstairs, and a space to connect. People queued for six hours just to be part of it. It’s one of my proudest moments and reminded me why community matters so much.
We are living through a profound transformation that is reshaping our understanding of ageing and opening unprecedented opportunities for innovation. Luxury today is defined by quality, intention, and experience. So, too, is longevity. At the L’Oréal Groupe – including Lancôme – it is defined by a proactive approach that supports the skin’s vitality over time, not only its visible signs.
Longevity is not about fighting time; it’s about helping women move forward with confidence, vitality and an individual beauty that feels truly theirs. Technology is a key driver of this progress, enabling us at the L’Oréal Groupe to translate advanced science into meaningful, high-performance sensorial experiences for women. Two examples of this are Skin Screen, an in-store service capable of analysing and scoring your key skin parameters to help you build the most tailored skincare routine, and the recently launched Rénergie Anti-Ageing Nano-Resurfacer – Lancôme’s first at-home device designed to help renew skin appearance and boost formula penetration. Longevity allows us to take this further, to accompany women at every stage of life with solutions grounded in integrative science, while honouring their individuality and lived experience.
The L’Oréal Groupe has always embodied the synergy between cutting-edge science and emotion, from early Lancôme innovations like Nutrix and Génifique, which introduced women to genomics and the microbiome. Now, our Longevity Integrative Science™ applies the principle of longevity science to unlock the full potential of skin health and beauty throughout our lifespans. Drawing on 15 years research, the L’Oréal Groupe’s R&I teams have designed nine hallmarks of skin ageing, brought together in what we call the Wheel of Longevity for Beauty – research that fed directly into the development of Lancôme’s Absolue Longevity Soft Cream. Launched this year, marks a major milestone for the brand and a turning point for the skincare industry, opening a new chapter in products designed with longevity science. At the heart of this innovation is Absolue PDRN™ (polydeoxyribonucleotide). PDRN is one of the most buzzing biomedical procedures in Korea. It helps extend the skin’s longevity appearance by helping the skin to appear radiant.
“When we got our first negative TikTok review two years in, I panicked. I thought we’d ruined everything and relied too much on social media. But it turned into one of my biggest lessons—we needed to be clearer about who each product is for. Instead of saying, ‘Everyone will love it,’ we started saying, ‘Don’t buy this if you’re not after that specific look.’
“Our community is our biggest strength. It’s at the core of everything we do. We started out wanting to simplify beauty, but now it’s evolved—I’m often the second person to know what’s launching next because it all comes from our community. They influence everything, from product development to shades. We regularly email our database asking questions like, ‘What do you want to see next?’ or ‘Should the next mascara be blue or brown?’
“We’re so fortunate to have such a close relationship with them. They’re who our products are made for. Some of our biggest viral moments have come from everyday customers, not influencers. One girl in America filmed herself applying Lash Sculpt from Sephora in her bedroom—that video now has over 100 million views. It sold out across Sephora US. You can’t buy that kind of exposure—it’s pure community power.
“We are living through a profound
transformation that is reshaping our understanding of ageing and opening unprecedented opportunities for innovation”
The longevity revolution is here – and luxury beauty is at the forefront. Here, Dr Vania Lacascade, L’Oréal Groupe’s global brand president for Lancôme, reflects on a career guiding the future of beauty and what she’s learnt along the way
brand to Estée Lauder in 1995, and stepped down from the company in 2016. A mere four years later, in the middle of the pandemic, Brown surprised everyone—except, perhaps, herself—with the launch of Jones Road Beauty—a new venture that signalled a return to her makeup artistry roots by championed the concept of looking like yourself, only better. Current estimates place Jones Road at approximately $1billion, with this year’s revenue predicted to be over $150million.
But Brown is so much more than her multi-million dollar cosmetics brands. She’s a wellness advocate, teacher, mentor and creative. But at the centre of everything she does lies the same sentiment: that beauty should be simple, real and empowering. Here, in our Women Who Win series, she speaks to Lottie Winter about her reinvention, bravery and lessons learned from building not one, but two of the most influential beauty empires of modern times.
ew women have shaped modern beauty quite like Bobbi Brown. The legendary makeup artist and serial entrepreneur first appeared on the beauty scene with her namesake brand and its refreshing new stance on makeup that focused on accentuating natural beauty rather than covering it. She sold her
F
Image credits: courtesy of L'OREAL
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Il Porcellino in Chicago
My secret London spot is…
Personalisation is essential because longevity is not defined by chronological age, but by biological age, which is dynamic, individual, and shaped by genetics, lifestyle and environment. For the L’Oréal Groupe as a whole, as well as for Lancôme, this shift from “how old you are” to “how your skin is functioning” is fundamental. It marks a move from reactive correction to proactive care that supports long-term, healthier-looking skin and vitality. This personalised approach is driven by L’Oréal Longevity Integrative Science™, which examines the biological mechanisms behind skin ageing and how to act on its root causes. Personalisation is a way to offer solutions that respect women’s biology and accompany them across all stages of life.
The key entry point is diagnosis. L’Oréal Groupe is launching the Cell BioPrint™, a lab-on-a-chip technology measuring longevity biomarkers directly on the skin surface. These biomarkers help evaluate both biological age and the pace of ageing, offering women an unprecedented understanding of their skin ageing trajectory. With advanced diagnostics such as Cell BioPrint™, high-performance topicals, and innovative devices, we can create routines that adapt to their needs over time.
My scientific background is at the core of everything I do. As a doctor of pharmacy, I have always seen the skin first and foremost as a living, intelligent organ, a true expression of who we are, and a barometer of our inner health. This scientific understanding naturally shaped my approach to innovation: to look beneath the surface, to decode mechanisms, and to build bridges between science and beauty. But innovation also requires intuition, creativity and collective intelligence. It is never about innovating for the sake of it; it’s about staying alert, curious and constantly in motion, with a strong focus on our consumers, anticipating their needs, understanding their expectations and how different cultures react. My ambition is to continue transforming scientific progress into experiences that resonate deeply with women. To me, ageing is not something to fight, but something to understand, anticipate, and accompany with science, care and confidence.
“Personalisation is essential because longevity is not defined by chronological age, but by biological age, which is dynamic, individual, and shaped by genetics, lifestyle and environment”
AI deepens our scientific understanding and allows us to create truly personalised solutions. It plays a key role in diagnosis by analysing images and data to identify individual needs and recommend routines that optimise skin health over time. It allows prediction and prevention by integrating biological, environmental, and lifestyle data. And it creates immersive experiences that help women visualise the long-term benefits of longevity routines, adapting individual routines as the skin evolves. In terms of research and innovation, AI also accelerates ingredient discovery by analysing vast datasets and identifying correlations between actives and the biological pathways linked to the nine hallmarks of ageing that help us design more effective formulations.
The L’Oréal Groupee’s Wheel of Longevity for Beauty is powered by the Longevity AI Cloud™. It analyses more than 260 biomarkers of skin ageing to map skin health and guide the design of highly targeted products. This ecosystem is strengthened by open-innovation partnerships with Timeline, Veminsyn, Senisca, and leading academic experts. Tools, like Cell BioPrint™, co-developed with NanoEntek, offer personalised insights into biological age.
Women have moved from “fighting” age to owning it. They no longer want to look younger “at all costs”; they want to feel and look like the best version of themselves at every stage of life – with strong, healthy-looking, luminous skin and a deep sense of confidence. Ageing is less a problem to hide and more a journey to manage proactively, with science, choice and self-respect. The rise of longevity [science] reinforces this shift. It moves us from a reactive anti-ageing mindset to a proactive, integrative approach by anticipating and delaying the first signs of ageing, intercepting early signs and slowing their progression, and resetting established signs.
“Longevity
is not a trend.
It’s the future for beauty”
A
It was a natural evolution for a woman who, in her former role, had done much to set the organisation’s global research and innovation (R&I) roadmap – including its current focus on longevity – and was responsible for steering a number of disruptive skincare innovations along the way.
Because for Lacascade, it has never just been about the science. She understands all too well that innovation requires intuition and creativity alongside exactitude; that beauty is a state of being as much as it is a way of presenting yourself to world. And it is this – “the rigour of advanced science combined with the emotion, culture, and femininity that define the brand” – that, she says, guides her current leadership role, just as it did in her time working for the group as a whole.
Here, Lacascade speaks to us about new launches, the science of longevity in beauty and how – in a world where we all want to live better, not just longer, the L’Oréal Groupe’s increasingly personalised approach offers a proactive way to support our skin health throughout our lives.
“Innovation requires intuition, creativity and collective intelligence. It is never about innovating for the sake of it – it’s about staying alert, curious and constantly in motion”
Longevity is not a trend. It is the future for beauty, aligned with what women want: to live better, not just longer. It offers a proactive way to support skin health throughout life. The L’Oréal Groupe’s commitment to longevity builds on more than 115 years of expertise in skin and scalp biology and over 20 years of advanced research dedicated specifically to longevity. advances in AI and technology allow us to harness the richest biological databases in the industry to develop a unique longevity approach. Today, these decades of research, augmented by the power of technology and AI, converge at a moment when longevity becomes both scientifically achievable and culturally relevant, and Lancôme is the first brand in the L’Oréal Groupe to benefit from the full Longevity Integrative Science™ approach. It marks a decisive new chapter for us: transforming decades of fundamental research to support women throughout their lives.
At Lancôme, as in the L’Oréal Groupe as a whole, this evolution is aligned with who we are. Heritage and innovation are not opposing forces – they are our key pillars. Keeping them in balance means staying deeply grounded while evolving with confidence, shaping the future of beauty without losing what defines us. For decades, our skincare innovations have reflected a commitment to science and emotion, helping women feel understood and supported. Since 1935, we have brought together the strong cultural depth of our heritage with the constant reinterpretation of the brand through pioneering innovations, always in the service of women’s lives. To me, ageing is not something to fight, but something to understand, anticipate and accompany with science, care and confidence.
thing to understand, anticipate and accompany with science, care and confidence.
Dr Vania Lacascade
Lancôme Global Brand President
My secret London spot is…
“To me, ageing is not something to fight, but something to understand, anticipate and accompany with science”
When it comes to ageing well, it’s important to find the right routine. First of all, with products that are suited to your age and your skin, and that contain the right active ingredients in sufficient concentrations to be truly effective. Second, protecting your skin is essential, which means using a high SPF, ideally SPF 50, on a daily basis. Finally, lifestyle plays a key role: having a balanced diet, exercising regularly and getting enough sleep are all fundamental to maintaining healthy skin over time. And of course, that doesn’t mean giving up seeing friends or enjoying life – having fun and celebrating are also essential to feeling happy.
To me, ageing is not something to fight, but something to understand, anticipate, and accompany with science. I am very proud of our Absolue Longevity Soft Cream. But if I’m honest, my favourite product is actually the one we will launch next year. It will be our biggest skincare launch since Génifique, and embodies everything I believe longevity should be: accessible, universal, and grounded in science. What excites me most is that it will speak to all generations of women with the same ambition: to live well, age well, and fully own their story. So watch this space.
Dr. Vania with Marie Claire Editor-in-Chief Andrea Thompson at L’Oréal’s The Beauty of Longevity Conference, Paris, Summer 2025.
We are living through a profound transformation that is reshaping our understanding of ageing and opening unprecedented opportunities for innovation. Luxury today is defined by quality, intention, and experience. So, too, is longevity. At Lancôme, it is defined by a proactive approach that supports the skin’s vitality over time, not only its visible signs.
Longevity is not about fighting time; it’s about helping women move forward with confidence, vitality and an individual beauty that feels truly theirs. Technology is a key driver of this progress, enabling us to translate advanced science into meaningful, high-performance sensorial experiences for women. Two examples of this are Skin Screen, an in-store service capable of analysing and scoring your key skin parameters to help you build the most tailored skincare routine, and the recently launched Rénergie Anti-Ageing Nano-Resurfacer – Lancôme’s first at-home device designed to help renew skin appearance and boost formula penetration. Longevity allows us to take this further, to accompany women at every stage of life with solutions grounded in integrative science, while honouring their individuality and lived experience.
Lancôme has always embodied the synergy between cutting-edge science and emotion, from early innovations like Nutrix and Génifique, which introduced women to genomics and the microbiome. Now, L’Oréal’s Longevity Integrative Science™ applies the principle of longevity science to unlock the full potential of skin health and beauty throughout our lifespans. Drawing on 15 years research, L’Oréal’s research and innovation teams have designed nine hallmarks of skin ageing, brought together in what we call the Wheel of Longevity for Beauty – research that fed directly into the development of Lancôme’s Absolue Longevity Soft Cream. Launched this year, marks a major milestone for the brand and a turning point for the skincare industry, opening a new chapter in products designed with longevity science. At the heart of this innovation is Absolue PDRN™ (polydeoxyribonucleotide). PDRN is one of the most buzzing biomedical procedures in Korea. It helps extend the skin’s longevity appearance by helping the skin to appear radiant.
“We are living
through a profound
transformation that is reshaping our understanding of ageing and opening unprecedented opportunities for innovation”
“Personalisation is essential because longevity is not defined by chronological age, but by biological age, which is dynamic, individual, and shaped by genetics, lifestyle, and environment”
“Innovation requires intuition, creativity and collective intelligence. It is never about innovating for the sake of it – it’s about staying alert, curious and constantly in motion”
Image credits: courtesy of L'OREAL
GETTY IMAGES