PARIS – L’Oréal has taken a minority stake in temporary tattoo-maker Prinker Korea Inc.

The world’s largest beauty company said in a press release Monday that the investment into the South Korea-based company was made through the company enterprise fund BOLD Business Opportunities for L’Oréal Development.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Prinker Korea, which launched in 2015, invented and manufacturers the world’s first digital temporary tattoo device “with a goal to encourage consumers and offer recent tools for self-expression,” in response to L’Oréal.

Prinker’s temporary tattoo device is compact and lightweight, enabling the creation of durable yet easy-to-wash-off tattoos in color or black-and-white, at home or in store.

On the Prinker app, it’s possible to decide on a tattoo from amongst greater than 12,000 designs. People may create their very own drawings on the Prinker app, too, that are then made into tattoos.

Prinker claims to have the world’s first and only cosmetics inks and primer to be wholly compliant with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Voluntary Cosmetics Registration Program, in addition to the European Union’s Cosmetics Products Notification Portal.

The debut iteration, Prinker S., was introduced in January 2020, with a price tag of $269. Two years later got here Prinker M, a smaller, lighter version costing upward of $199. That gizmo measures 103 by 55 by 75.5 mm, and weighs just 169 grams.

L’Oréal and Prinker have worked together for some years to develop L’Oréal Brow Magic, billed to be the primary handheld, electronic brow makeup applicator to offer a custom brow shape. It was just unveiled on the Consumer Electronics Show, or CES.

“Using AR technology and patented AI algorithms, the device scans the user’s face and makes recommendations on the very best brow shape, which is then printed in seconds mechanically,” explained L’Oréal.

“At L’Oréal, our researchers are partnering with high-end technology startups to create the longer term of beauty,” said Barbara Lavernos, L’Oréal deputy chief executive officer accountable for research, innovation and technology.

“Through this strategic investment, we will fulfil our deep commitment to bringing breakthrough beauty technologies that really empower boundless personalization and self-expression into the hands of every one,” she added.

Luke Yun, cofounder and CEO of Prinker Korea, said L’Oréal “aligns with our mission of empowering consumers with versatile and customizable tech to precise themselves. Their century-long heritage of beauty, research and development, and sharp give attention to beauty technology will allow us to achieve more consumers than ever before. Their investment will enable us to create innovations that can have the very best solutions for people worldwide, and we’re elated to work together to achieve this goal.”

Prinker’s temporary tattoos have won quite a few CES Better of Innovation awards and the worldwide iF Design award. Eventually 12 months’s Cosmoprof in Bologna, Italy, Prinker’s stand drew crowds day by day.

In late November 2022, BOLD took a minority stake in Microphyt, a French biotech company, with the aim of developing recent cosmetic solutions.