A Five-Minute Skin Readout: L'Oréal's Cell BioPrint Rolls Out Under Lancôme
L'Oréal's Cell BioPrint — a tabletop "lab-on-a-chip" co-developed with NanoEntek — reads skin protein biomarkers from a tape strip in about five minutes. It debuted at CES 2025 and is now rolling out at scale under Lancôme in 2026.
TL;DR — Cell BioPrint, L'Oréal's tabletop "lab-on-a-chip," reads protein biomarkers from a facial tape strip in about five minutes to estimate your skin's biological age and how well ingredients like retinol will work. Unveiled at CES 2025, it's now rolling out at scale under Lancôme in 2026.
Skin analysis at the beauty counter has mostly meant a camera and some guesswork. L'Oréal's Cell BioPrint swaps that for actual proteomics — and it's now reaching stores.
What it is
Cell BioPrint is a tabletop device that reads the proteins in your skin, co-developed by L'Oréal and the Korean biotech firm NanoEntek. It debuted at CES 2025 (Jan 6, 2025), and in 2026 Lancôme became the first L'Oréal brand to launch it at scale — NanoEntek shipped a first production batch to nine countries, with the Lancôme rollout beginning in late March 2026, per KoreaBiomed.
How it works
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1 | A tape strip is pressed to the cheek/jaw, then dipped in buffer |
| 2 | It's loaded into a microfluidic "lab-on-a-chip" cartridge (NanoEntek) |
| 3 | In ~5 minutes it reads protein biomarkers (FLG2, TG3, IDE, LCN1, YKL40) |
| 4 | It outputs a skin "biological age" + how well ingredients like retinol will work |
The whole process takes "just five minutes," the company says, per Engadget. L'Oréal's Guive Balooch has noted the strip can be applied near the jawline and that sunscreen won't throw off the reading.
Why it matters
The pitch is prediction over description — spotting issues "before they're visible" and telling you whether an ingredient like retinol will actually work for your skin, rather than guessing, per Cosmetics Business. "With skin being the largest organ, and a key part of people's well-being, we are thrilled to unveil Cell BioPrint, an exclusive microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology coupled with our century-long skin science leadership," said Barbara Lavernos, L'Oréal's Deputy CEO for Research, Innovation and Technology.
FAQ
What is Cell BioPrint?
A tabletop "lab-on-a-chip" device from L'Oréal (co-developed with NanoEntek) that reads skin protein biomarkers from a tape strip in about five minutes, estimating skin's biological age and ingredient responsiveness.
How long does it take?
About five minutes, according to L'Oréal.
When and where did it launch?
It debuted at CES in January 2025 and is rolling out at scale under Lancôme in 2026, shipped to nine countries starting late March 2026.
What does it actually measure?
Protein biomarkers in the skin (reported as FLG2, TG3, IDE, LCN1, YKL40) that map to skin "biological age" and how well ingredients like retinol will perform.
Sources: Engadget, Cosmetics Business, WWD, KoreaBiomed (2026 rollout).
Image: Shixart1985, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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