Yesterday evening (Tuesday, May 6, 2025), the winning students in L'Oréal's innovation competition were announced in Israel. They presented a groundbreaking shaving device that combines three actions – shaving, hair suction, and skin nourishment – while providing a solution to the problem of hair residue in the sink.
Dozens of students from Israel's leading universities, including: the Coller School of Management at Tel Aviv University, the Arison School of Business at Reichman University, and the business schools at the Hebrew University and Bar-Ilan University, arrived yesterday (May 6th) at the final of the Brandstorm 2025 innovation competition, organized by L'Oréal Israel.
The students chosen as the competition winners, Linoy Ezra, Hadar Raphael, and Daria Sela, from the Arison School of Business at Reichman University, will represent Israel in the international final of the L'Oréal group, which will take place at the leading European technology and startup conference, Viva Technology in Paris, on June 12-13, 2025.
The Brandstorm competition, now in its 33rd year, is being held this year under the leadership of L'Oréal's Consumer Products Division, which invited young students from around the world to present groundbreaking solutions in the field of beauty, while integrating values of marketing and technological innovation, combined with gamification, artificial intelligence, and sustainability. The chosen topic for this year's challenge is "Men. Beauty and Grooming."
The winning team, guided by Dr. Talia Rimon and teaching assistant Elisa Cohen-Solal from the Arison School of Business at Reichman University, presented 'Trima', a groundbreaking shaving device that combines three actions – shaving, hair suction, and skin nourishment with L'Oréal Men Expert products, while providing a solution to the problem of hair residue in the sink. The device allows for convenient, natural, and routine exposure of men to the world of grooming through the act of shaving itself.
The Israeli team will compete in the final against 43 teams from 64 countries, carefully selected from over 230,000 participants worldwide. The winners will receive a prestigious internship at the L'Oréal group's global headquarters in Paris.
As part of the local final competition held at L'Oréal Israel, the teams presented their innovative solutions to a judging panel that included the company's top executives: Eli Sagiv – CEO of L'Oréal Israel, Libby Angel-Kazez – VP of Human Resources, Ilan Nakash – CEO of the Consumer Products Division, Gali Lev – VP of Marketing and Digital, and Shai Katz – Marketing Manager of the Consumer Products Division.
According to Eli Sagiv, CEO of L'Oréal Israel: "L'Oréal's Brandstorm competition is a true incubator for young talents, through which we provide students with a rare opportunity to tackle real-world business challenges and integrate into a prestigious internship at L'Oréal's global headquarters in Paris and here with us in Israel. This year's mission, to crack the code of male beauty, is one of the most ambitious we have known, and it presents a challenge of combining technology, gamification, innovation, and sustainability and harnessing them to make the beauty field accessible to a new generation of male consumers."
Sagiv added: "I am proud of the high level of the projects presented by the teams in Israel, which combine innovation and creativity befitting a startup nation. Warm congratulations to all the participants and especially to the winning team – I have no doubt that the talented students will represent us with honor in Paris!"
The Brandstorm competition is a proven springboard for promising careers at L'Oréal globally and in Israel: among its alumni is Gali Lev, VP of Marketing and Digital at L'Oréal Israel, who was recruited to the company after participating as a student in the competition about a decade ago, as well as Nitai Skalar, a member of last year's winning team, who has since joined the company's finance team, and more.
Dr. Talia Rimon, mentor of the winning team from the Arison School of Business at Reichman University: "Elisa and I are very proud of our students who identified a significant consumer insight and proposed a creative and innovative solution. I am pleased with the fruitful cooperation over many years between Reichman University and L'Oréal Israel, and proud to lead the Brandstorm competition at the university. The competition provides an excellent opportunity for students to practically deal with challenges in marketing and innovation, and it is also an excellent opportunity to integrate into L'Oréal. I am proud of our many graduates who have already integrated into L'Oréal, and I wish Daria, Hadar, and Linoy great success in the global competition in Paris in June."
Written in collaboration with Reichman University
