Beauty Therapist

Qualifications required

The ‘most common’ pathways into beauty therapy, are:

• Level 2 and Level 3 Diploma in Beauty Therapy (Annabelle recommends doing Level 3 as well as 2)

• T Level in Hairdressing, Barbering and Beauty Therapy

And for these qualifications you’ll usually need:

• 2 or more GCSEs at grades 9 to 3 (A* to D), or equivalent, for a level 2 course

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, for a level 3 course

• 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths for a T level

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There are courses available all over the uk, and your local college will undoubtedly run one of not all of these courses.

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In addition, a few good course sites are:

• City and Guilds

• NCFE

• The London School of Beauty and Makeup have courses specialising in Facials & Skincare, Beauty Therapy as well as advanced aesthetic courses teaching Laser & IPL.

• The Hair & Beauty Industry Authority (HABIA) also have endorsed course details via the website.

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As detailed above, many colleges train in 'general' beauty therapy, but, if like Annabelle, you decide to specialise in a particular area, i.e. waxing & brows, you can find many online courses aimed at enhancing this speciality:

• The Beauty Academy carries courses in Lash & Brow treatments, waxing, makeup and more.

• Sally Beauty has courses including skincare, Lash & Brow lift lamination, massage and threading.

• The Brow Geek offers many courses.

• As does The Secret Brow Club.

• Obviously, the most famous style of brow is the HD Brow and their training can be found here.

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Rules and regs

Any business in public premises needs to minimise health hazards, such as exposed wires, trip-able rugs, wet floors etc; and the risk of personal injury is particularly rife when it comes to beauty and spa treatments, due to the products, equipment and tools used on clients’ bodies. So vigilance with health and safety (and the health and safety act) in a beauty salon is of paramount importance.

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To avoid any risks posed by the use of beauty products (which are inherently made of chemicals), make a list of all of the products you’ll use in the salon and obtain hazard sheets from their manufacturers... Know what you'll be handling!

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Some products might contain harmful substances that can cause skin and respiratory problems, so it’s essential that you constantly assess their safety - for clients and for yourself. The Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH), will help with this. They have specific health and safety guides for hairdressers, manicurists, and piercing and micro-pigmentation (such as micro-blading) specialists.

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Liability insurance can vary, but is usually under £100 per annum, and can be provided by a variety of insurance providers. For example, Direct Line provides Beautician insurance (as an example).

 

Remuneration framework

How much Beauty Therapists can earn depends on many factors, namely, the type of treatments they do (most), how much they charge for those treatments, and indeed how many treatments they do a day, week, month etc. And, of course, geo shifts apply (London and other cities Vs smaller towns).

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According to Mr Google, BTs ‘typically’ earn between £16k and £40k per year, depending on what level they are out (starting out vs highly experienced, like Annabelle). However, those working for themselves, or indeed running salons, can earn a lot more than this.

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How to get started

As we’ve stated above, to be a BT,  you do need to become qualified and the links for courses are above. This isn’t a ‘learn on the job’ situation, like many of our other roles, although learning on the job is also vital to your success as a BT.

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And as we’ve already stated (and as Caroline pod 2, Nail tech, discussed), for certain ‘specialisms’, like nails, you don’t HAVE to do the whole beauty course and you could just do nail courses etc. However, to set-you up for the future, and to give you the flexibility for change later on, we would  suggest doing the full beauty course (2 and 3) first.

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We’d also recommend work experience… So as you’re training, offer to do some free (or even paid, if you can get it) work experience at a salon (that you’d like to work at!) near you. Be brave, be confident and go into each salons with a positive mindset and a solid work ethic attitude.

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Indeed give some great ‘getting started’ advice for BTs here.

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As does this official GOV page: https://nationalcareers.service.gov.uk/job-profiles/beauty-therapist

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Associations or official bodies to register with

The British Association of Beauty Therapy & Cosmetology (BABTAC) is the UK's leading membership organisation and insurance provider for professionals working in the beauty, holistic and sports therapy industries.

The Guild of Beauty Therapists is the UK trade body for the professional beauty industry.

The Academy of Beauty Therapy lists many other professional beauty organisations here.

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Your local council will likely require you to have a Special Treatment licence, which is on average £500 per annum. Check your council's requirements here.

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The Hair & Beauty Industry Authority has a lot of information on their website, including details relating to salon hygiene & sanitation. HABIA also has a Health & Safety pack to support you with best practice.

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Job site links

Focus on ‘local’ here (unless you have a burning desire to relocate), because petrol (and commuting) costs are more than ever, and on a BT salary, certainly a starting one, you'll need to spend wisely. So as we’ve said, visit your local salons and make yourself (and your credentials) known to them for any future jobs that might come up.

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BT jobs are listed on all the usual job sites, so googling will ping these for you, however, a few good links are:

Indeed

Reed

Total Jobs

 

Progression pathway

With experience, and with more/enhanced course qualifications (i.e. Decleor training, like Annabelle did), you can progress up the treatments ladder first of all, and start to do more expensive (and less basic) treatments to earn more money each day/week.

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Should you so wish, and if you’re working in a salon, you could also progress to a salon supervisor and then even a salon manager, again like Annabelle did.

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And of course (and as Annabelle has done) you can go it alone and be the master of your own destiny:

• Go ‘mobile’ which means you go to clients, not vice versa, and there can be a real market for this, particularly with the rich and famous!

• Rent your own room/space, or indeed set-up a space at your home (LOTS of BTs do this).

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You could also move into creative work: fashion, photography, theatre or media make-up and lots of creative studios and indeed model agencies have BTs on their books. You could even do this alongside your own set-up (it’s unlikely to work with a salon job, because they’ll need you in the salon each day).

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Social! We say it a lot, but let's face it, it's the key to nearly everyone's success these days. Build a reputation, and a following online; and certainly (if you want to work) in the creative/media world, they will expect this and look for this when recruiting new BTs to work with.

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With that social following you can then also become a beauty Brand Ambassador. Below are some of the best known Instagram accounts for Beauty/Brows, as an example. However, if you’re into beauty, you will already follow some biggies, so be sure to keep your follow list fresh and progressive:

• Kelley Baker - @kelleybakerbrows

• Amanda Khamkaew - @amandakhamkaew

• The London Brow Company - @thelondonbrowcompany

• Sophia Brows @sophiabrows

• AMC Brows @amc_brows