Making it Big in the Beauty Industry. We all want to look good and take care of ourselves, don’t we? More people are investing time and money in their appearance, and increasing demand for beauty treatments will surely drive a  need for new beauty therapists  in the beauty industry.

Whether you want to learn basic beauty therapy techniques, switch careers or boost your earnings – if you’re a hands-on, sociable person and enjoy learning practical skills, then a beauty course might be an investment. There are plenty of beauty theapy colleges and specialist beauty schools in the capital that offer everything from intensive two-day beauty therapy courses to year-long beauty training courses leading to a qualification.

Beauty therapy covers a huge area of expertise and you’ll learn the basics of a wide range of treatments and therapies like waxing, massage, pedicures, manicures, electrolysis, facials and skin care. Once you complete the basics to a high level of competency, you’ll be expected to get to grips with other holistic treatments such as aromatherapy and reflexology. Many therapists have a specialist area that they study in more detail, but it’s essential to cover a range of beautifying techniques before tackling these areas.
 
Get qualified
If you want to become a therapist, then it’s vital to gain a recognised qualification. It’s a legal requirement and you’ll need it in order to obtain a licence. You could study for a National Vocational Qualification (NVQ), which are work-related, competence-based qualifications that allow you to work and train in a salon, spa or training centre with progress measured through ongoing, continuous assessment. It’s really important that you check before beginning a course that it leads to industry-recognised qualifications and that the examinations are approved  by one of the following organisations: City & Guilds, CIDESCO, CIBTAC, IHBC or VTCT.

The most important requirement for anyone aiming to perform beauty treatments on paying customers is plenty of hands-on experience. You need to be knowledgeable about all skin types, ages and potential health considerations. You have a responsibility to your clients to know your stuff, and to know how to adapt your knowledge and skill to suit each individual client.

Hands on
You’ll need confidence to be a good beauty therapist and you won’t be expected to jump straight from classroom theory to a working salon. Trainee beauty therapists will be expected to pair up during lessons and perform treatments on each other as part of the learning process. You’ll be assessed and once you reach a certain level of competency, you might be able to practise on members of the public who pay discounted rates to receive treatments. Many of the specialist beauty colleges in London have in-house salons where you’ll be able to treat real clients and it really helps trainees to reach industry standard before they qualify, like College of North West London’s Student Hair and Beauty Academy; London College of Beauty Therapy’s salon, and The London School of Beauty & Make-up’s London Esthetique student salon.

Trend watch
If you are already in the beauty industry, it’s important to keep up with the latest beauty needs and trends. For example, the last few years has seen an increasing demand for semi-permanent lash extensions. Previously only seen on Hollywood starlets and not on the high street, more women are asking for these extensions to enhance what nature gave them. You can take a short course to learn how to apply, maintain and remove these eyelash extensions – then offer this as one of your available treatments.

Short courses like this are ideal for maintaining your ‘edge’ in the industry if you’re a therapist, or for allowing non-professionals to learn a specific skill or technique. You could learn bridal make-up skills, eyelash extension or manicure techniques, all of which you could use to treat friends or boost your earnings in the evening or at weekends.

Career paths
The beauty industry does contain a wide range of job options: once you’ve done a course and qualified, you can work in a salon, from home or be a mobile therapist. There are lots of freelance options, and this is a draw for many people. If you freelance, you’ll have to buy your own equipment, so this is a consideration for business start-ups. With passion and drive, however, anything is possible. Just look at Jo Malone’s stratospheric rise from facialist to successful businesswoman. She started mixing her own oils at home and gave them to her clients as gifts, and soon she had hundreds of orders and a flourishing business to grow.
Londoners will always want to look good and feel good, so taking a beauty course might be a savvy investment in your future.

Case Study: Beauty Therapist
Hotcourses talks to mobile beauty therapist Mercedez Mirés about the realities of working in this competitive field.

‘I’d previously worked in hairdressing, but there wasn’t much money in it so I retrained to become a legal secretary. I didn’t really blend into that evironment well and after I was made redundant, I decided to study beauty therapy. It was always something I’d been planning to do anyway, but I was intending to leave it for a year. I saw the salon at Lewisham College and decided to study there, as I was won over by the up-to-date facilities.

I started an NVQ Level 2 and it was really exciting to finally do what I’d thought about for years – I was so passionate about learning it all. My tutors were great; they had done everything in the industry I wanted to do, including working in luxury spas abroad. I really looked up to them. After I finished my NVQ Level 2, I went on to Level 3 and started my own mobile beauty therapist business, Beauty Reigns. I do waxing, eye treatments, manicure and pedicures, acrylic nails and make-up. I also studied for an additional massage qualification,  which I found really useful.

I’m mobile, so I can go to clients or they can come to me if they prefer. I go all over London and some of the surrounding areas. I’ve got about 15-20 regular clients now. I love pampering people – it gives me a real buzz to make people happy.

I also love being my own boss. You push yourself harder and you don’t have to live up to anyone else’s standards other than your own. The core of my business is beauty and make-up, and my ethos is natural, organic beauty treatments – I don’t use any harmful chemicals.

In the future, I want to get into prosthetic make-up artistry for films as it’s an exciting and interesting area. I’m also a Mac Pro now, which means I can do professional make-up. I regularly get hired to beautify people for proms and weddings. I’ll always run my own business as well though – having my own business is exhilarating.

My course gave me the manual skills and background knowledge I needed to start out as a beauty therapist. I now know all about physiology, anatomy and the functions of the skin. Beauty is such a passion of mine and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do since I was a kid. I’m set now – this is it.’
 

Find Beauty Therapy courses in the UK and Beauty Therapy courses in London.