IIE-Vega students land L’Oréal internships after representing the country in Paris
Though they didn’t make it into the finals in Paris, the experience taught the students a lot about professional pitches, and what questions to expect in the industry.
Three Independent Institute of Education (IIE)-Vega third year students from the Bordeaux campus recently represented South Africa at the L’Oréal BrandStorm Internationals in Paris, securing internships for 2026 at L’Oréal South Africa’s head office in Johannesburg.
Siphokazi Khala (IIE Bachelor of Arts in Strategic Brand Communication), Katelyn Klue (IIE Bachelor of Communication Design), and Rebaone Reabetsoe Nia Masisi (IIE Bachelor of Commerce in Digital Marketing), from Team Scalp Pro, were crowned the national winners of the L’Oréal BrandStorm earlier this year from over 200 team entries, which led to their Paris trip.
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L’Oréal BrandStorm is an international competition open to 18 to 30-year-olds worldwide. Each year, participants are challenged to develop ideas for a specific business division.
This year’s brief focused on men’s beauty and care, with teams asked to propose innovative, inclusive, sustainable, and scalable solutions.
Masisi explained that while they did not make it through to the final round, securing the internships was the real win. “This was a huge relief. I had started to ask myself: ‘What am I going to do once I graduate?’”
The centrepiece of Scalp Pro is a microdermabrasion device which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to analyse scalp density, moisture, and dryness. It can be used individually, or with the Scalp Pro range, including a multi-wash, oil, and scalp serum, designed to hydrate, soothe, and protect the scalp.
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“Our lecturers helped us think further than our original main focus of the device and serum,” said Khala.
“They encouraged us to consider men’s routines and lifestyle choices. That’s when we also came up with the tagline: ‘Being bald is a lifestyle. It’s a choice’. From that, we were able to highlight the key things that made our concept strong.”
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