Skin rejuvenating devices are widely used in spas, where they have become a popular means of fighting ageing, without having to undergo invasive treatments such as plastic surgery or dermal fillers.
Earlier in the year P&G joined forces with Israeli-based Syneron to sell skin care products using Intense Pulse Light technology direct to the consumer.
Now the world's largest cosmetics company has followed suit and will work with US-based Light BioScience to develop products for the global market using its LED Photomodulation technology.
L'Oreal will also market BioScience's products including its GentleWaves device which is currently sold to physicians and medical spas.
In 2006 it was estimated that approximately 60 million non-invasive anti-ageing treatments were carried out in the U, which currently leads the market for such treatments.
With L'Oreal and P&G entering the market the light-based devices are moving out of the spa and into the home.
L'Oreal said Light BioScience's technology reduces wrinkles and improves skin appearance by stimulating the skin using low intensity LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes).
"We have decided to pool our in-depth knowledge of skin and Light BioScience's unique expertise in Photomodulation to offer consumers a new and complementary approach to skincare," said Jean-François Grollier, L'Oreal's executive vice-president of research and development.
L'Oréal has just created a development unit for instrumental cosmetics inside its research and development division in order to develop Light BioScience's technology.
"We are very excited about this agreement: we can take advantage of the support of the world's leading cosmetics research force to jointly develop some new and highly promising applications in skin devices," said Light BioScience's CEO Rick Krupnick, and David McDaniel, the physician who developed the scientific theory behind Photomodulation.