2026 L’Oréal USA Summer Internship Program – Research & Innovation – Undergraduate
Join L'Oréal: As the #1 beauty company in the world with over 37 international brands – CeraVe, Kiehl’s, Maybelline, Prada Beauty, and Redken to name just a few – we embrace diversity and inclusion, sustainability, innovation, and well-being in the workplace to lay the groundwork for you to be able to help drive the future of beauty.
The L’Oréal USA Summer Internship Program is a paid, 11-week experience where you will be fully integrated into the day-to-day activities of a team while also leading your own, individual strategic project to discover what it is truly like to develop a career at L’Oreal. We are committed to giving our interns the space to explore, to have full time employee responsibilities, present their own insights to senior management, and to become future leaders. At the end of the summer, you will present your project to senior leadership for the opportunity to be considered for a full-time return offer into our Management Trainee program.
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis beginning August 15th through September 30th. We encourage students of diverse backgrounds to apply, including, but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender expression, LGBTQ+, military status, and people with disabilities.
Who You Are:
- Ambitious students currently enrolled in a 4-year college or university who are expected to graduate between December 2026 – July 2027
- Trendsetters and innovative thinkers who want to create the beauty that moves the world
- No prior industry experience is necessary to apply
- Minimum Requirements:
- Able to start working fulltime starting September 2027 upon graduation with your bachelor’s degree in:
- Chemistry (Organic, Polymer, Physical, etc.)
- Engineering (Chemical, Biomedical, Materials Science, etc.)
- Other related engineering or life sciences
- Legally authorized to work in the US on a fulltime, permanent, and ongoing basis without requiring sponsorship now or in the future
- Willing to relocate to any USA-based office that has a summer internship opportunity, including:
- Skills Key to Success in Research & Innovation:
- Experience working in a laboratory environment, through internships, university coursework, extra-curricular activities, part-time work, etc.
- Ability to communicate technical information to a non-technical audience in order to present out key research findings
- Have the ability to work in a fast-paced environment and display a sense of urgency and initiative, while balancing creativity and flexibility
What You’ll Do:
You will be placed onto an R&I team within one of the R&I departments such as:
- Application Domain (Applied Science)
- Development (Formulation Science)
- Advanced Research
- Evaluation
- Augmented Beauty
Become immersed in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment disrupting conventional wisdom on how our consumers buy our products
- Gain industry experience working in a laboratory environment
- Work on creative and resourceful solutions to issues that arise with product development, product performance and product innovation
- Develop working relationships with cross-functional teams, labs, and international colleagues to ensure breadth of individual project
- Gain exposure of trends in the beauty market, as well as in the literature/research field
- Fully own an individual project with strategic business impact that you will present to senior management
The Program:
- This is a paid internship opportunity. Housing assistance is provided on an individual basis based on eligibility per our L'Oréal Relocation Policy.
- All interns will be paired with a mentor and buddy to help guide you through your internship
- Professional development & social programming is an integral part of your internship experience to understand our culture. From networking events to trainings, your calendar will always be full!
- There are many perks to being a summer intern, but two standout ones are access to our company store that has discounts on L’Oréal products and our Summer Friday program – every Friday during your internship is a half day!
What's In It For You:
- Salary Range: $24-$31 per hour (The actual compensation will depend on a variety of job-related factors which may include geographic location)
- Relocation Assistance
- Hybrid Work Policy (3 Days in Office, 2 Days Work from Home)
- Hybrid work policy is dependent on team and location needs and not guaranteed
- Flexible Time Off (Paid Company Holidays, Volunteer Time, Summer Fridays)
- VIP Access to the L’Oréal Company Store for Discounted Products
Being a member of the L’Oréal USA Summer Internship Program, you will feel empowered to contribute to tangible, meaningful ways from day one because in an organization founded on entrepreneurism and agility, your ideas are not only heard and valued, but they are often put into implementation, too.
Want to stand out? Join the largest youth innovation case competition in the world: BRANDSTORM! Showcase your entrepreneurial spirit and be a part of the future of L’Oreal. Register now
My People. My Purpose. That’s the Beauty of L’Oréal – Are you ready?
ABOUT L’OREAL
Innovation has fueled L'Oréal’s business for more than 100 years and we will rely on our culture of innovation and entrepreneurship to help us continually evolve. L'Oréal’s dynamic culture provides its employees with entrepreneurial freedom and opportunities to drive transformation across its €29.87B business, encompassing over 37 brands, around the globe. In the US, we have 12,000 employees working collaboratively across 14 states to build leading edge technologies, launch highly personalized products, reimagine consumer experiences, and develop creative solutions to reduce our environmental footprint.
Don’t meet every single requirement? At L'Oréal, we are dedicated to building a diverse, inclusive, and innovative workplace. If you’re excited about this role but your past experience doesn’t align perfectly with the qualifications listed in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyways! You may just be the right candidate for this or other roles!
We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and take pride in a diverse environment. We would love to find out more about you as a candidate and do not discriminate in recruitment, hiring, training, promotion, or other employment practices for reasons of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, marital or veteran status, medical condition or disability, or any other legally protected status.
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