Skincare, Rewritten by Light: Inside Lucibel.le’s Beauty Tech Revolution
*LUCIBEL.LE
*LUCIBEL.LE
It’s rare to witness a technological leap that doesn’t just disrupt an industry, but quietly lays the foundation for a new one. For Frédéric Granotier, that moment came not from a Parisian beauty lab or Silicon Valley startup, but from an unlikely source: the energy sector. In 2008, as the world began to awaken to the potential of LEDs, Frédéric Granotier, then working in finance and industrial lighting, saw something that most didn’t. He wasn’t just thinking about efficiency or sustainability. He was imagining light as a biological force, a material with the power to interact with skin at the cellular level.
He founded Lucibel that same year, initially as a company focused on LED lighting for professional spaces. But a clinical study in 2013, on the regenerative effects of red light, crystallized what had been, until then, an intuition: light wasn’t just illumination. It could be transformation. That insight led to the launch of Lucibel.le Paris, a bold foray into what Granotier calls cosmétique par la lumière: skincare informed by photobiomodulation, powered by medical-grade light, and designed with precision and beauty in mind.
Over a decade later, Lucibel.le stands at the vanguard of light-based beauty, blending French innovation with scientific credibility. From its signature OVE mask, now a design object in its own right thanks to a collaboration with Olivier Lapidus, to patented technologies like Energy Mapping™ and a landmark partnership with Dior Spa, Lucibel.le hasn’t simply followed the beauty tech boom; it helped architect it. Frédéric Granotier’s vision stretches beyond anti-aging or skin rejuvenation, it’s about reimagining beauty as an intersection of light, longevity, and emotional wellbeing.
In this conversation, we speak with Frédéric Granotier about the future of skincare, the myths clouding the LED beauty space, and how Lucibel.le is rewriting the rules, one photon at a time.
You began your career in finance and energy before founding Lucibel. What drew you to light, not just as a technology, but as a transformative medium?
In 2008, when I realized that an LED electronic chip could emit strong light while consuming very little electricity, I had the intuition that LED technology would revolutionize the lighting industry, and that’s exactly what happened starting in the early 2010s. So, in 2008, I founded the Lucibel Group, with its initial focus on designing and manufacturing LED lighting for professional environments.
Lucibel started as a lighting innovator. What was the moment you realized this same technology could change how we think about skincare and self-care?
It was in 2013 that I came across a clinical study conducted in the United States in a hospital setting on the impact of light on the skin. Upon reading the results, I realized that the future of cosmetics would one day rely on LED light. So, from 2013 onwards, I wanted Lucibel to design and manufacture the first home device in Europe that would beautify the skin using light. And that’s exactly what we did, with a device launched in 2014, whose effectiveness on the skin was demonstrated through a clinical study. Lucibelle Paris was born!
In launching Lucibelle Paris, you transformed a deep-tech company into a beauty brand. How did you bridge that shift between industrial engineering and the skincare industry?
For 12 years, our values haven’t changed: performance, design, and French manufacturing. Creating a cosmetic brand with those values meant surrounding ourselves with top-tier expertise. Lucibel already had the best engineers in LED technology on its team. We needed to quickly build strong medical expertise, so we began close collaboration in 2013 with Michèle Pelletier, a dermatologist globally recognized for her work in photobiomodulation. Then we felt the need to bring in a brilliant designer, and we chose Olivier Lapidus, because he is both visionary and immensely talented.
What does “cosmétique par la lumière” mean to you, and how is Lucibel rewriting the codes of beauty?
At Lucibelle Paris, we have believed since 2013 that the future of cosmetics will go through light, because light can deeply beautify the skin in a much more effective way than all anti-aging creams and serums. Through photobiomodulation, light acts on the cell to naturally accelerate the production of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.
Lucibelle Paris is therefore a pioneering brand that had this vision before others. It is this decade-long head start that gives us undeniable technological superiority today, a superiority reflected in the significantly higher efficacy of our devices compared to all competing products.
The major beauty houses became aware of this revolution a few years ago. Dior was the first major brand to join this revolution by announcing its partnership with Lucibelle Paris as early as July 2022.
The OVE mask has been called a beauty tech masterpiece. What was the original vision behind its creation, and how did your collaboration with designer Olivier Lapidus elevate that vision?
The OVE beauty mask from Lucibel.le Paris is indeed considered by many as a technological masterpiece in beauty tech, a fact proven by the fact that it has already been exhibited in several museums.
Our goal was to design a mask that could treat the entire face with photobiomodulation, and ensure it could be used while sitting comfortably, without resting or pressing on the face.
Twenty years ago, Olivier Lapidus invented a luminous fabric. Light is a material that speaks to him, that inspires him. And it was this symbiosis with light that enabled his creative gesture with the OVE mask’s design, very clean, very elegant, almost unreal, and capable of evoking true emotion at first glance. That’s how the OVE mask became the icon of our brand!
Energy Mapping™ is central to the OVE mask’s innovation. Why is precisely calibrated light more effective than the “more LEDs, more power” approach we often see?
All of OVE's competitors emit homogeneous light across the face. However, certain zones of the face, particularly the T-zone, require enhanced efficacy. That’s why we invented and patented an Energy Mapping system that distributes the light according to the specific needs of each area of the face.
Despite that, our OVE beauty mask remains the most powerful on the market in terms of energy delivered per square centimeter. This is what enables the mask to deliver a visible glow to the face in just 12 minutes, and exceptional results after 3 months of use.
What are the most compelling, clinically proven skin benefits users can expect from the OVE mask, and which results continue to surprise even you?
A clinical study conducted by the Gredeco laboratory showed that after 3 months of use, two 12-minute sessions per week, the OVE beauty mask by Lucibelle Paris results in a 38% reduction in wrinkle depth, a 23% reduction in pore diameter, a 70% decrease in sebum levels, and more even skin tone. These results are exceptional and confirm Lucibelle Paris’s technological leadership in light-based skincare.
The LED beauty market has become crowded and confusing. What are some of the most common misconceptions you hear, and how does Lucibel set the record straight?
In recent years, new cosmetic brands have been popping up almost every month, claiming to be LED technology experts. The truth is, the vast majority of Lucibelle Paris's competitors were created by opportunists who simply import low-performance, and sometimes even dangerous, devices from China. They have no real understanding of LED technology and, of course, no ability to design their own products. These brands take advantage of how new and unfamiliar this market still is to many consumers. In particular, some brands focus their marketing on the number of LEDs in their mask, which is complete nonsense and a sign of total ignorance. What matters isn’t the number of LEDs, but the quality of the LED and the actual energy delivered to the skin. With only 40 LEDs, the OVE mask from Lucibelle Paris is nine times more powerful, in terms of energy dose delivered to the skin, than the most powerful competing mask. That’s why our users get such incomparable results!
Moreover, some brands deceive consumers by presenting themselves as French, when in fact their devices are entirely designed and manufactured in China. I urge every potential buyer to look closely at where a mask is made and verify whether it has been the subject of a dedicated clinical study. Many brands use generic clinical studies, conducted by others on the general effects of light on skin, to obscure the ineffectiveness of their own products. This is dishonest and misleading.
I strongly encourage all consumers to be extremely cautious. Beyond the disappointing performance of most Chinese-made masks, some can even be dangerous for the skin and eyes, as they fail to meet European safety standards for imported goods. Our skin, our face, is the most precious thing we have. We must demand the best: proven efficacy and complete safety.
For those new to LED beauty, what best practices or rituals do you recommend to truly unlock the potential of the OVE mask?
We recommend using the OVE beauty mask by Lucibelle Paris for two 12-minute sessions per week. There is no risk in using it more frequently, but it isn’t necessary. The mask is so powerful that two sessions per week are enough to provide skin cells with all the energy they need to naturally accelerate their production of collagen, elastin, and hyaluronic acid.
Beyond skin rejuvenation, users report better sleep, reduced stress, and even improved mood. How do you view Lucibelle’s role within the broader wellness movement?
Indeed, beyond its impact on the skin, the red light emitted by the OVE mask from Lucibelle Paris also acts on the brain’s frontal lobe, which governs mood. A session with the OVE mask provides relaxation, calm, and this effect is medically demonstrated and explained.
That’s why we recommend using the OVE beauty mask in the evening, it helps you fall asleep faster and improves sleep quality.
The Dior Spa collaboration brought Lucibel.le to one of beauty’s most prestigious addresses. What did that moment mean for the brand, and for you personally?
We are very proud that DIOR chose Lucibelle Paris as a partner in the realm of cosmetic light therapy. Our beauty masks are now installed in DIOR spas across France and internationally, and our consumer-facing mask is sold by DIOR in their spas and on their website.
This partnership is a huge acknowledgment of the superior technological performance of the OVE beauty mask. As you can imagine, DIOR and LVMH’s R&D teams spent nearly a year conducting efficacy and safety tests before confirming the results of our clinical study and signing this partnership with Lucibelle Paris.
This agreement marks a major milestone in the history of Lucibelle Paris. DIOR now refers to Lucibelle Paris as “the luxury reference brand in photobiomodulation,” which adds major credibility and builds strong trust among our clients and partners.
Lucibelle’s user base includes aestheticians, athletes, biohackers, and beauty minimalists. How do you design for such a diverse and global audience?
It’s true that we now have a broad and increasingly international client base. Unlike many new light-based cosmetic brands, we are not here to make flashy marketing moves or to maximize short-term profits.
We are passionate about designing beautiful, high-performance products, and we have a sincere desire to make our customers happy. That’s what drives us every day, what pushes us to constantly innovate, and what inspires us to go even further.
I think our customers resonate with our values: performance, aesthetics, French manufacturing, but also authenticity, sincerity, and naturalness.
Among the new players in this field, we may not have the largest marketing budget, but we certainly have the largest R&D budget. And that, in our view, is what really matters to build long-term trust and satisfaction.
Lastly, what kind of legacy do you hope to leave with Lucibelle Paris, and what future of beauty are you helping illuminate?
Lucibelle Paris was the first French brand to design, manufacture, and bring to market, as early as 2014, a home-use device to beautify the skin with light. We are a pioneering brand that opened the door to this revolution in cosmetics, made possible by the unexpected arrival of LED technology in skincare protocols.
Our brand plays a key role in this ongoing revolution and, in just a few years, has become the reference player thanks to its expertise in photobiomodulation and light-based cosmetics.
I’m thrilled that this revolution is finally reaching consumers, because I truly believe that light is THE effective and natural solution for enhancing the skin.
I want to thank all our customers for their trust and for the continued encouragement they give us to keep innovating.
Beyond the OVE beauty mask, Lucibelle Paris has recently launched the HAIR OVE helmet, to speed up hair growth, make hair shinier and less dull, increase density, and reduce hair loss. Other disruptive innovations are on the way... I guarantee they will amaze you. So stay tuned and follow Lucibelle Paris in real time!
