Beauty therapists are specialists who work in salons, health clubs, or even spas that assist their customers or clients in selecting the right cosmetics they should use and ensure that their overall beauty and attractive features are maintained.
In addition to all this, beauties may also serve to either recommend or, in some cases, sell beauty products directly to their clients, which will promote healthy skin. However, selling beauty products may entail that a beauty therapist also has knowledge and passion for such products on the market.
Furthermore, beauty therapists must know how to provide effective massage and apply the correct amount and types of cosmetics like artificial tanner, tint eyelashes, and even dye eyebrows according to the customers’ requests.
Overall, their services may start with attending to facial issues, such as identifying skin types, removing acne, recommending the most suitable products to their customers, and removing facial hair through either waxing or electrolysis.
This post aims to equip us with the knowledge of how to become beautists and to make proper justice to the topic; we shall treat the matter in consecutive steps. Sometimes, beauty therapists may be referred to as either estheticians or skincare specialists in some places.
Job Of A Beauty Therapist
The job of a beauty therapist involves, in most cases, standing for a very long period on one’s feet. Therefore, based on this explanation, it is obvious that a beauty therapist must be very physically fit to withstand this stress.
To begin with, prospective beauty therapists in most climes, like the United Kingdom and even the United States, are required to possess a minimum of a high school diploma which can be acquired through the completion of a state-approved educational program. Some high schools are known to run courses in vocational education like cosmetology or even esthetician training, which will invariably prepare them for any licensing examinations subsequently.
Degree programs, diplomas, and even certificate courses are available in most high schools, such as vocational schools, technical colleges, or community institutions which may involve lectures, demonstrations, or salon training under supervision by an instructor. In most cases, these courses may include skin care, skin chemical treatments, manicure, pedicure, anatomy, physiology, massage, hair removal, eyebrow arching, and lots more.
The students would also be required to take courses in health and safety issues that include sanitation and infection control for not less than two years. This mandatory formal training can easily be seen as an indispensable requirement, especially because it equips you with the necessary communication skill to interact and socialize with customers. (To learn more about how to socialize with your customer as a therapist plus what not to say, visit BetterHelp for a more detailed guide on this topic)
This communication skill also enables you to keep records and put down in writing any such thing that may have to be written for subsequent references. Through this formal education, you acquire very important management skills that will enable you to operate independently and as an employee in any organization.
There is also the matter of effective time management in which you will learn how to make the most use of your time very efficiently despite numerous demands or having the need to attend to many things simultaneously. Formal education teaches you how to effectively make the most of your time without offending your clients. They will be glad for the care given to them.
After all, everything is done to accomplish their satisfaction. In a nutshell, the relevance of formal education for all intending beauty therapists cannot be overemphasized, which is why it is a primary requirement before becoming one.
After acquiring this high school diploma, the intending beauty therapist can go for on-the-field experience in any cosmetology or esthetics. This is important since certain things cannot be learned in a secular school curriculum, especially concerning practical-oriented studies.
This is why polytechnic or technical training demands that you go for industrial attachment or students’ industrial work experience scheme (SIWES). The field experience recommended here is reminiscent of or similar to the industrial attachment explained above. During this field training, you are expected to learn the most important secrets of the profession and all other details you might not have acquired in school, which will make you a complete beauty therapist.
In other words, learning is much more complete when theoretical knowledge is fortified with practical skills and exposure. Field education, in this case, refers to practical exposure to that aspect of beauty therapy you have chosen to make a career. This can be done by going into formal apprenticeship training with recognized or licensed skincare specialists or estheticians who will train and supervise you in a formal setting.
Though there is a requirement for a minimum educational level for all intending beauty therapists, it does not imply that others without this education cannot make a career in it, but they may, however, be required to complete more hours of preparation and coaching as apprentices than those who have had the benefit of formal education. After completing this training, apprentices are eligible to apply for the requisite licensing that will enable them to practice either on their own or as employees with others.
Before You Can Practice As a Beauty Therapist
Before you can practice as a beauty therapist, either on your own or as an employee, you must get the requisite license, conditions for which vary from state to state. However, generally, there is a minimum age requirement one must have attained before the issuance of any license, and there is also a minimum educational requirement you must have obtained, like, say, a diploma, at least.
The period spent in the field for training in either cosmetology or esthetics after higher education studies is also considered before issuing the license. There is also the additional requirement that you pass a written and practical examination to ascertain your competence or otherwise.
Thereafter, you can find work as a licensed nail/beauty therapist in a salon, barbershop, or spa. We can, therefore, say that to become a career beauty therapist, there are what we may call Career Requirements, such as:
- Educational attainment should not be less than a higher diploma in a state-owned or approved school after secondary education.
- Specialist Education refers to that aspect(s) of beauty therapy you have chosen and to which you have devoted more time and attention under the supervision of an instructor.
- Having satisfied all the criteria listed above, you must obtain a license that permits you to practice as you desire (either on your own or as an employee).
Conclusion
Though there is a minimum requirement for all would-be beauty therapists, it does not imply that those without it cannot have a career in it if they so choose. This means apprentices without formal education can still go into it but must ensure that they do so through recognized beauty specialists or licensed skincare experts.
Those without formal education, however, are likely to spend a long time as apprentices and may also be required to take additional examinations that will attest to their competence on the job. The latter must obey these conditions, for they will eventually stand you in good stead as either an independent beauty therapist or an employed one.
This complete training is of incomparable importance when one considers beauty therapists’ challenges about dismal or poor remuneration, especially in the United Kingdom. However, with this in-depth training and requirements before becoming one, you can outsource to augment the meager payment.
Demands by employers of labor in the United Kingdom, for instance, show the growing relevance of beauty therapists, and this may be your chance to cash in, thereby making the best of the occasion. There is also the sales of beauty products, through which beauty therapists can further expand their income horizon by supplying either their clients or other beauty therapists.
Finally, it is very clear that becoming a beauty therapist is an easy process, but it entails that you follow certain modalities before doing so, which have all been explained in the post. What is more, it does not matter whether you have any formal education, but you must comply with certain regulations in your best interests. That is all there is to it.
