Fashion firm primps rural ambitions

L'Oreal started the international "Beauty for a Better Life" program in 2009, aiming to help certain disadvantaged communities regain self-esteem and reintegrate socially through free training programs, including hairstyling, makeup and beauty care. The potential payoff: independence and employment opportunities.

The program has been established in almost 20 countries and benefited more than 1,500 people from Latin America to Asia, through Europe and the Middle East.

In Vietnam, 300 women were trained over three years, helping them become financially independent. In Brazil, out of 130 young people from underprivileged neighborhoods who received training in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, 70 percent went on to find work.

"We hope the training program could enable society's most vulnerable members to find their place," says Sara Ravella, director of communications, sustainable development and public affairs for L'Oreal and director-general of the L'Oreal Foundation, at the recent ceremony to launch the program in China at Polus International College in Chengdu.

In each country, L'Oreal works with a local partner that is familiar with the country's particular conditions and can identify the right beneficiaries. In China, it works with its long-term partners, the China Youth Development Foundation and the vocational college, which offers makeup and hair-styling courses.

In beauty-related professions, says Polus founder and president Yan Hong, "passion, creativity and imagination take center stage". Those qualities boost self-confidence and motivate people to develop careers.

"Young people are the future and hope of China," says Wang Xudong, vice-secretary-general of the China Youth Development Foundation. "Unfortunately some young people lose the opportunity to complete their studies. In order to improve their employment potential, it is crucial to encourage these youngsters and train them with necessary skills. We hope that 'beauty for a Better Life' will broaden the horizons of young students, and help them to better integrate into society."

While the program in other countries focuses on hairstyle training, China's will be the first to teach makeup and beauty care.

In addition to the 40 students selected from Polus, the foundation will find 60 more young people from other poverty-stricken areas, including Ya'an, the town that suffered a major earthquake in April, to join the program.