L'Oréal faces 11,554 federal consolidated proceedings and 1,082 state-court actions over chemical hair relaxers in the United States, according to the company's half-year financial report dated 30 June. The French beauty conglomerate has separately retained Weil Gotshal & Manges and Ducera Partners to weigh options for offloading its talc-related liabilities, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

How large is the talc exposure?

L'Oréal US listed approximately 760 pending proceedings tied to the alleged presence of asbestos particles in certain talc-containing cosmetic products, per the same 30 June filing. No subsidiary case has proceeded to trial. Courts dismissed some claims; others settled, the company said.

L'Oréal stated in its half-year report that it "strongly contests" the claims.

What are the hair-relaxer allegations?

The combined 12,636 federal and state hair-relaxer actions sit within a multi-district litigation (MDL) pending in the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, plus various state venues. Plaintiffs allege L'Oréal and other manufacturers failed to disclose cancer risks associated with chemical hair relaxer formulations.

On 10 September, the Arizona Attorney General's Office filed a consumer fraud lawsuit against Softsheen-Carson, a L'Oréal subsidiary, and L'Oréal USA over the hair relaxer disclosures.

A L'Oréal USA spokesperson told Cosmetics Business the Arizona allegations "have neither legal nor scientific merit," adding: "L'Oréal's highest priority is the health and wellbeing of all our consumers. Our products are subject to a rigorous scientific evaluation of their safety by experts who also ensure that we strictly follow all regulations in every market in which we operate."

Why is this relevant to dermatology?

Talc asbestos contamination has emerged as a recurring concern in cosmetics litigation, with powder-based products drawing particular scrutiny in US courtrooms. Dermatologists routinely counsel patients on topical product selection and ingredient transparency. Hair relaxers fall within the dermatologic product safety conversation, where consumer use and alleged undisclosed cancer risks now drive both individual lawsuits and state-level enforcement actions.

What is L'Oréal's next move?

By retaining outside counsel and an investment bank, L'Oréal signals it may pursue a divisional transfer, a bankruptcy-remote vehicle, or an insurance-funded settlement structure to isolate the liabilities. Several US cosmetic manufacturers have already turned to comparable strategies after multi-year talc and chemical-exposure dockets.

Cosmetics Business contacted L'Oréal, Weil Gotshal & Manges, and Ducera Partners for comment; the three parties had not responded at the time of the WSJ report. Whether L'Oréal finalises a transaction before the Northern District of Illinois MDL reaches bellwether trials will shape the trajectory of consumer-facing dermatology products caught in the litigation's orbit.