A Day in the Shoes of an Esthetician

Throughout my life, several careers have wandered through my mind, from being a Veterinary technician to being a makeup artist. Recently the career of an Esthetician has crossed my mind and has really interested me. Esthetics has to do with skin care management. It is not to be confused with dermatology though. I discovered this career while doing research on cosmetology. This career interests me a lot because it has to do with making people feel beautiful and happy. I have learned a lot more about the esthetician career since I’ve been doing research, including the ongoing controversy about the use of lasers. I believe that it would be a lot safer to have at least a physician in the room during laser treatment, and that these weekend courses not be offered.
First off, the job duties of being an esthetician are time consuming and demanding. Estheticians generally work in spas spas and beauty salons. They are required to be on their feet for long periods of time and have to maintain high standards of cleanliness, health and safety (Careerdetailsforesthticians). Estheticians give facials, manicures, body treatment, and waxing. Once you learn all this you can choose whether to advance onto the laser treatment which requires more education. An esthetician has to be able to make good judgments on what type of procedure would best fit the client’s skin type. Also Alba from Career Cruising “Questions and Answers” says, “People skills are very important, because people want to look good and feel good about their selves.
Controversy in the esthetician career is really only focused on one main thing, which is the use of lasers in skin procedures. More and more people are becoming emotionally and physically scarred by having these skin procedures done by amateurs (Lasersugeryinthewronghands). There are a lot of laser technicians out there that are only taking a weekend course or some other kind of brief training. Due to this reoccurring problem there might be no future as to an esthetician being able to provide laser treatment without some degree in laser surgery. Only one state requires a doctor to be in the room when a skin procedure is performed, and only 4 states require a physician.(Berke)
I hope that they do not ban estheticians from performing these procedures, because laser procedures are the most important part of being an advanced esthetician. I plan on furthering my career to become an advanced esthetician, and laser procedures are what I’m most interested learning how to perform. Also the big money lies within being an advanced esthetician, but it’s surely not worth permanently damaging someone’s skin for. I think that there should be a limit as to what an esthetician can do as far as laser procedures go, leaving the bigger stuff to the dermatologist or doctors. It’s too risky of a procedure to perform on a patient when the doctor is not completely sure of their selves.
The education requirements for becoming just a basic esthetician are pretty typical. First you must graduate from a school that offers an esthetics program. Many beauty schools offer this program. They also have school specifically for esthetics. Students have to complete the required amount of hours, for most states the minimum is 600 hours (Estheticiancareerguide). The majority of these programs teach students about physiology and anatomy. To be officially licensed esthetician trainees must complete a written test given by the state board. The tuition can be kind of pricey depending on where a person chooses to attend. The cost averages somewhere between $3,000 to $5,000 for basic classes and advanced classes are between $8,000 and $10,000(Estheticiancareerguide). I want to attend Steiner Institute of Esthetics, which is in Phoenix. Luckily people that qualify can receive grants to pay for some if not all of the schooling.
Esthetics is a great career for men or women in a two income family when their just starting out. In training estheticians may make only 40% commission of what the esthetician makes. Full time estheticians that are just starting out usually make between $16,000 to $20,000 a year (CareerCruising). This isn’t very much at first, because they must first build their clientele. A clientele is made up of customers that are dedicated to the use of someones services only. If their good at what they do and have a strong clientele they are more likely to make up to $50,000 a year. Don’t plan on making this much within your first years though because it usually takes 3-5 years to build a strong clientele. “The estheticians that make the most money though are the ones who have their own business. Job security depends on how much someone puts into it, the more they put it in the longer they’ll stay in it.” (Alba). It cost a lot to start a business however, with the cost of equipment and skin care products, and the continuing cost of rent. As long as the person is successful at building their own business, the time, effort and expenses put in to it are well worth it.
I know it is going to take a lot of hard work and time to get where I want to as an esthetician, but I know it will be worth it. I’m hoping to also learn massage therapy so that I can do both the job of an esthetician and massage therapist in a day spa. I want to be able to own my own salon or spa before I start a family so that I can make my own work schedule and times when I have a family. As the saying by Ian McEwan goes, "You can tell a lot from a person's nails. When a life starts to unravel, they're among the first to go." So remember to get your monthly mani!