Beauty therapist
Beauty therapists provide face and body treatments to help clients look and feel better.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
In your day-to-day tasks you may:
- give a facial by cleansing, massaging and toning a client's skin
- do a makeover by applying and advising on make-up
- shape eyebrows and colour eyelashes
- give a manicure, pedicure or other nail treatment like extensions and nail art
- remove unwanted facial and body hair
- do non-surgical skin improvement treatments
- offer ultraviolet (UV) treatments and spray tanning
Working environment
You could work in a salon, at a health spa, on a cruise ship, in a hotel or from home.
You may need to wear protective clothing.
Career path and progression
With experience you could progress to salon manager.
You could become self-employed and get your own salon, work from home or travel to clients.
You could also move into fashion, theatre or media make-up.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- customer service skills to put clients at ease
- sensitivity and understanding towards your clients’ needs
- the ability to work well with your hands for giving treatments
- excellent verbal communication skills to explain treatments
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- the ability to work well with others
- the ability to sell products and services
- to be able to carry out basic tasks on a computer or hand-held device
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a college course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- specialist courses run by private training providers
You could study for a college qualification in beauty therapy. This may help if you apply for jobs as a trainee in a salon or spa.
Entry requirements
Entry requirements for these courses vary.
More Information
You can apply to do a Beauty Therapist Level 2 Intermediate Apprenticeship, or Advanced Beauty Therapist Level 3 Apprenticeship.
These typically take between 15 and 18 months to complete as a mix of workplace learning and off-the-job study.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- some GCSEs, usually including English and maths, or equivalent, for an intermediate apprenticeship
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More Information
You could start out as a beauty therapy assistant in a salon or spa. You could then study for a qualification while you're working.
You could also train with a private beauty school.
Professional and industry bodies
You may find it useful to get professional recognition by joining a register like the Guild of Beauty Therapists.
Further information
You can find out more about careers in beauty therapy from the Hairdressing and Beauty Industry Authority and the British Association of Beauty Therapy and Cosmetology.
You can also find out more about working in creative careers from Discover Creative Careers
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.