How to become a Beautician

Beauticians, also known as Beauty Therapists, work in the beauty industry, are trained professionals involved in providing beauty, hair, nails, and skin services to improve clients appearance. Some work in specialty areas such as personal styling and makeup application. With the improvement in the standard of living, in the last couple of decades among the masses and their increasing awareness about their health and beauty, the profession of a beautician is progressing at a fast pace.

• Sterilizing workspaces, changing treatment room sheets, and disinfecting all tools and equipment before each use
• Provide bleaching, dyeing, and other hair coloring services
• Recommend hair styles and provide hair cutting services as per customers' preference, hair type, and facial features
• Schedule appointments with clients for various services
• Record customer and provided services information
• Exhibit and retail hair and skin care products as well as other cosmetic products
• Suggest beauty treatments based on client’s concerns
• Shampoo, wash, condition, and blow dry hair
• Offer scalp and skin beauty treatments
• Collect payments for the services
• Develop new styles and techniques
• Provide hair spa, smoothening, straightening, waving, and curling services
• Eliminate facial hair and groom eyebrows
• Shave, trim, and shape beards and moustaches
• Train or supervise other assistants
• Provide body and head massage using hands, fingers, or vibrating apparatus
• Suggest and provide information about, regular application of lotions and creams
• Provide manicure and pedicure services by cleaning, shaping, filing, and polishing fingernails and toenails
• Apply artificial fingernails and perform nail art
• Provide facials, bleach, and face clean-ups services
• Removing facial or body hair through waxing
• Stay updated with the recent trends
• Resolve complaints from guests and inform the supervisor about any accidents
• Ask clients about medical conditions and allergies before offering services
• Follow health, hygiene and safety principles
• Provide referral to other professionals when required.

A beautician first and foremost be able to create a relaxing ambiance. They need to have knowledge and good understanding about hair, skin, and nail care. They should be extremely skilled at providing non-medical care and relaxation treatments to clients.

They must remain calm, patient, helpful, hygienic, and confident. They work closely with clients to deliver services. Therefore, need to have exceptional customer service, interpersonal, and verbal communication skills comprising active listening, tact, problem solving.

They must act professionally and civilly when client is dressing/undressing or while providing services at intimate body parts. A good beautician has to respect their clients' privacy and susceptibilities, and will not reveal or chatter about what they see and hear.

They need to be flexible and adaptable with their services to carter to client’s needs. They need to also possess physical strength and stamina to provide the services for long hours.

They may work with very sharp tools, thus they need to have manual dexterity as mistakes can have serious consequences. They need to be extremely careful while providing treatment with tools or chemicals, in order to not harm client’s faces, bodies, and appearance. 

They must have strong sense of style, understand clothes, and possess strong body image and language. One must also possess knowledge of current trends in fashion, makeup, and hair. They need to possess risk taking behaviour, creative, judgement and decision-making skills.

1. Beauty salons and spas
2. Wellness centers and resorts
3. Makeup studios and artists
4. Cosmetic brands and companies
5. Bridal and event makeup services
6. Film, television, and theater industry
7. Fashion and runway shows
8. Beauty product retail and sales
9. Beauty training institutes and academies
10. Freelance beautician services.