Empower skin health

Our skin is a dynamic ecosystem full of living cells interacting together and with their environment. We are committed to developing products that respect this ecosystem and that are easily assimilated into the skin. To achieve this, we have determined very specific criteria for selecting our ingredients and for formulating our products. To minimise the number of ingredients and undesirable molecules, we prefer pure, polyfunctional ingredients, already present in the skin or close to the natural skin constituents, used in just the right doses.

Our skin is a wonderful ally, and we should protect it. It is alive, permanently renewing, communicating and adapting to change. To do this, it has developed sensitive, efficient and sustainable biological mechanisms. By supporting and strengthening these natural mechanisms, our products help the skin to adapt and draw on its own resources to restore its balance by itself.

Our skin is constantly being unsettled by external factors such as climate, sunlight, pollution, hygiene practices, clothes and air conditioning. It is also affected by internal factors including physical fitness, hormones, food and diet, mood, sleep, medication, smoking and physical activity. So, when our skin suffers or shows signs of stress, we think it is important to adopt a comprehensive approach and identify and act on the root causes, as well as the consequences, to provide lasting efficacy.

Life and nature know how to do things, how to grow, how to evolve, how to adapt. Our skin is a living organ whose innate abilities to adjust and heal are our first source of inspiration to achieve things effectively and sustainably. We use nature as our example and try to imitate what it does best with ingredients whose mode of action is to reproduce or imitate the structure and mechanisms of healthy skin.

We are attentive to patients’ and dermatologists’ needs and strive to create innovative products to support medical treatments, facilitate prescribed follow-up treatments and therefore improve quality of life. Our research and development teams benefit from international partnerships with prestigious universities (Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nantes, The University of Tokyo…), research centres (Inserm, Institut Curie, CNRS…) and innovative start-ups. They work hand in hand with leading doctors (Pr Dreno, Pr Picardo, Pr Misery…) and learned societies (EADV, AAD…) to test our ideas, challenge our theories and provide comprehensive answers that target the biological causes of skin imbalances.

To ensure long term efficacy and leave no room for compromise on tolerance, we lead clinical studies on patients in collaboration with well-respected hospitals and research centres (CNRS, Institut Curie, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Nice…). Together, we evaluate how our products complement the prescribed medication before, during and after it is administered. Using our products in this way allows a longer period between treatments and can relieve potential side effects. It is also useful in preventing relapse following treatment. Hand in hand, we strive to improve patients’ quality of life.

To further and share knowledge of the latest advances in dermatology, we organise and support scientific events attended by thousands of healthcare professionals across the globe. The close links we have developed, and continue to broaden, with the medical community allow us to accompany patients before, during and after their dermatological treatments and to better serve scientific progress for dermatological care.

Our products are first in vitro tested on reconstructed skin cells in our laboratories to guarantee their efficacy and tolerance. Each year, more than 200 biological experiments are carried out in NAOS laboratories. It is only then that we carry out in vivo tests on real human skin.

Each year, we work with as many as 8000 volunteers worldwide to evaluate the efficacy, tolerance and sensoriality of NAOS’ formulas. An expert team of doctors, pharmacists and scientists closely monitor these tests and the evaluation of our products in real-life conditions of use.

Our products also undergo exacting instrumental measurement tests under dermatological control using high-performance instruments. These tests provide us with important quantitative data regarding the efficacy of our formulas in terms of hydration, levels of sebum and redness for example.

We also collaborate with hospitals and clinical research partners to lead clinical studies on patients suffering from specific skin pathologies. Under this medical supervision, improvements in the skin condition and the patients’ quality of life are monitored objectively. Over the past 10 years, more than 70 clinical trials have been conducted on more than 9000 patients

This strategic location between the perfume makers in Grasse and the pharmaceutical laboratories in Montpellier blends sensoriality and science with the quality of French know-how in design and production. Our headquarters in Aix-en-Provence, where our research and development and production teams are based, covers 20 000 m² and we produce 120 million units there every year.

More than 120 biologists and chemists work together at our dedicated campus. Our on-site experts push the boundaries of research and development to design your skincare products in our own NAOS laboratories. 650 ingredients are rigorously selected to formulate our products which take a full 18 months to be ready to be put on the market. Each product must pass a battery of stringent assessments including quality, clinical and usage, stability, tolerance and efficacy tests.

Our R&D team works closely with a broad and expert network to serve the health of your skin and provide you the best of science. Leading dermatologists, renowned learned societies, prestigious universities and innovative start-ups take part in our research programmes and help us advance dermatological research. Together, benefitting from a shared vision of ecobiology, we pave the way for new biological answers to improve the health of all types of skin.

We are absolutely uncompromising about safety throughout the product development process to safeguard our users’ health. A set of rigorous steps is followed in the selection of our ingredients and formulas, and they undergo a series of stringent laboratory tests to ensure they remain stable over time, in terms of smell, color appearance, pH and viscosity.

To guard against the risk of contamination, we conduct extensive microbiological tests to ensure that our formulas are able to defend themselves against contamination during use. We also perform compatibility tests on our formulas and packaging and search for more than 29 undesirable molecules (formols, phthalates, bisphenols etc.).

A systematic toxicological evaluation is performed on each of our products with the help of qualified experts in toxicology to assess them against strict margins of safety. As many as 235 of these tests are carried out every year. Specifically, they determine the risk of toxicity according to who may be using the product (adults, children, babies), the skin condition (healthy, irritated, damaged) and the amount of product to be applied (large or small doses).

Before testing our formulas on volunteers, we reconstruct human skin cells to conduct in vitro tests. Extensive testing and clinical trials are then performed on 8000 volunteers and patients across the globe to ensure the long-lasting efficacy and tolerance of NAOS’ products. In accordance with the European Union regulations, at no point during the design and development of our products do we test our ingredients and formulas on animals.

The selection process for our formula ingredients is extremely rigorous and the result is that we use only 2% of the total ingredients available to the cosmetic sector. This exceptionally careful selection means we are able to provide the best balance of safety, efficacy and tolerance in our products. Wherever possible, we choose biomimetic ingredients which are naturally present in the skin. We also prefer ingredients that are pure, polyfunctional and adjust their dose to respect the skin’s ecosystem. This harsh selection minimises the risk of allergies and adverse skin reactions.

We insist on extremely high safety standards that go beyond the already stringent European Union regulations. This applies especially to the needs of delicate baby skin and damaged irritated skin. In addition, we closely monitor the latest scientific developments to ensure we continuously improve not only the packaging but also the sensoriality, efficacy and security of our formulas.

We are highly concerned about the continuing safety of our products and their effect on our users. We have therefore developed reliable, global cosmetovigilance procedures to monitor the quality and tolerance of our products after their launch on the market. This ensures that potential adverse effects are reported to us rapidly and allows us to take action promptly. Today we report less than 5 unwanted local reactions to the application of our products for more than 1 million products sold.

At NAOS, we cherish this key value. We believe you have the right to know what you are putting on your skin and were the first to give you access to a digital platform to fully understand the composition of our products. For us, this transparent approach means openly sharing knowledge to allow everyone to understand and choose what’s right for them in complete autonomy.

You deserve straightforward, uncomplicated, reassuring information about the products you use on your skin. Ask.NAOS presents the nature, role and origins of all our ingredients: what they are; what they’re for; and how we get them. We share key information with you so you can better understand our technologies and patents. We tell you everything.

It is easy to learn about our product formulas as you can simply scan the QR code on the back of our products or go directly to our site Ask.NAOS.com. You’ll find all the details you need to choose the right skin care product for your needs in full autonomy. This means you can be sure that the products you choose will respect your skin and your health.

To contribute to our objective to minimise the environmental impact of our products, we are constantly seeking to identify innovative ingredients of the future. We work hand in hand with our suppliers to define responsible sourcing practices and fabrication processes for our skin-care ingredients. Thus, we strive continually to upgrade our selection criteria to allow us to work towards greater sustainability. This is already the case for example for 98% of our raw materials derived from palm oil which today come from responsible and sustainable sources.

We have integrated the respect we have for the world around us and its precious and rare resources into our product development, particularly for our packaging. To reduce greenhouse gases and waste as well as fossil resources and water consumption, our four key priorities are to REDUCE plastic, REPLACE traditional materials with more sustainable alternatives and REUSE and RECYCLE our packaging. In practice, this approach is not new to us, we were the first to adopt large-size product formats, meaning we use less plastic across all our ranges. We have completely eliminated notices, spatulas, and cellophane and the cardboard we use is sourced from certified, sustainably managed forests. In addition, we are working on numerous other projects that will significantly improve our environmental footprint over the next 5 years.

We are committed to measuring the impact of our rinse-off and suncare products on both saltwater and freshwater aquatic ecosystems. To achieve this, we monitor 2 key indicators: the biodegradability of our rinse-off products and the ecotoxicity of our sunscreen formulas. 100% of our rinse-off cleansers are demonstrated biodegradable and the “Aquatic Ecosystems Tested” logo stamped on our suncare products shows that they have a limited impact on coral reef viability, marine algae growth and preserve freshwater plankton.

At NAOS, we believe in the power of working together to meet the challenges of the global environmental emergency. That’s why we want to involve our entire ecosystem in our transition, from our employees, suppliers and subcontractors to our consumers, an even other brands and companies through strategic open innovation partnerships. We actively participate in 3 consortia including EcoBeautyScore, alongside 50 key players in the cosmetic sector. Together, we aim to develop a common environmental impact assessment and a harmonized scoring system for all cosmetic products. Our wish is to provide everyone with clear, transparent, and comparable environmental impact information, based on a common science-based methodology.