The L’Oreal Beauty for Better Life is a global initiative by L’Oreal Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the cosmetics giant to help unprivileged women who are challenged by difficult socio-economic situations to regain their dignity, humanity and femininity and to help them find their voice and a place in the society. The Beauty For a Better Life is absolutely free also and encompasses a line up of international standards beauty courses and provide high-quality training for women who wants to pursue a career in beauty. The programme is already in place in more than 30 countries including Malaysia and offers new perspectives to nearly 4,000 women each year! 

The Beauty for a Better Life training program is the result of a strong partnership between the L’Oréal Foundation, the group’s subsidiaries and well-known local stakeholders such as NGOs and governmental authorities Since beauty contributes to feeling better and living better, the works of the L’Oréal Foundation is based on the conviction that beauty can help those who are vulnerable to feel better and live better. This is why the L’Oréal Foundation has chosen to support those to whom life has dealt a rough hand, by helping them rediscover their fighting spirit and self-esteem through the provision of beauty therapists who have been specially trained to work in medical and social settings.

Beauty for a Better Life programme was first initiated in Malaysia by L’Oréal Malaysia back in 2016. The objective of bringing the program to Malaysia is because L’Oreal wants to contribute its part in empowering young women in the country through education. All L’Oreal Beauty For Life programmes in Malaysia are tuition-free and focuses mainly on training young women to land a career in the sectors of professional hairdressing and beauty care. The courses have a minimum 1,000 hours of training and include internships at prominent beauty and hair establishments in Malaysia like Shu Uemera, Urban Decay, YSL Beauty and more. They also get to attend special classes conducted by L’Oreal ambassadors.

L’Oréal Malaysia ‘Beauty For A Better Life’ Class Of 2019.

For a fourth consecutive year, L’Oreal Malaysia has partnered with the National Council of Women’s Organisations (NCWO) to help upgrade the facilities and syllabus of the hairdressing course offered by the Vocational Training Opportunity Centre at YWCA Kuala Lumpur. L’Oreal fully sponsors the courses for hairdressing and beauty and also renovates some of the rooms and providing additional training for VTOC instructors.L’Oreal targets women who do not have access to these types of education privately, hence they give them opportunities. 

L’Oreal also follows up with the students after they graduated to help them find a job usually at its subsidiaries or partners. The job opportunities in the beauty industry in Malaysia is vast, especially in Kuala Lumpur. There are approximately 50,000 hair and beauty salons in Malaysia and 60% of them are situated around Kuala Lumpur and Klang Valley area. The thing is the beauty sector is only getting bigger and bigger hence the demands for well trained professional make-up artists, beauticians, hairstylists and such are huge so upon completing the courses these women have a big future ahead of them.

Amisha A/P Rudin from Gua Musang, Kelantan, the recipient of the Best Performance Award is currently doing her internship at a beauty salon in Kuala Lumpur.

Recently, after 12 months of training, 24 Malaysian women aged between 16-20 graduated from L’Oréal Foundation’s Beauty for a Better Life programme. These young women are now certified hairdressers and makeup artists and are ready to make their marks in the beauty industry!

Puan Hannah Yeoh, Deputy Minister of Women, Family & Community Development.

The graduation ceremony was graced by Guest of Honour, Yang Amat Berhormat Puan Hannah Yeoh, Deputy Minister of Women, Family & Community Development. She remarked that the Beauty for a Better Life programme complements the ministry’s efforts to develop underprivileged women by providing vocational training opportunities. She also highlighted that the raining is tuition-free hence eradicates the barrier for young women from poor families to gain a professional skill, and making a living from it. 

Zaireen Ibrahim, the Corporate Communications Director of L’Oréal Malaysia.

Zaireen Ibrahim, Corporate Communications Director of L’Oréal Malaysia emphasized that L’Oréal Malaysia is committed to giving back to communities through various corporate social responsibility initiatives and one of which is Beauty for a Better Life. With this programme, their vision is to change the lives of young women by giving them the inspiration and high-quality education for a career in beauty and hairdressing sector, hence helping them to earn a sustainable income for better livelihood.