The UK is the world’s seventh-largest market for beauty and personal care, worth around £28.4bn in 2018, and the market is expanding each year.
You can become part of this growing industry by becoming a beauty therapist. There are two ways to do that, and I will explain both of them in this post. In the end, I will share my career path to beauty industry.
Beauty school is a great place to start. In the beauty school, you would cover all essential beauty treatments. Ones you finish, there is an option to go further and specialize in a particular part of the beauty, for example, facial specialist, massage specialist, nail technician, and so on.
Pros: When you finish school, you will have a basic knowledge of every basic beauty treatments and widely excepted diploma.
Cons: You are no expert in one specific field, and you will need additional courses/training to be able to work with clients. School is a minimum of three years long.
If you are on the path to a career change, then beauty school might not be the option for you. Nowadays, there are so many short courses that you can complete and become a therapist in less than a year.
When it comes to independent course providers, they are suitable for all who want to become experts in specific fields and in a short time.
Pros: You will learn from experts in that particular field who have years of experience working with clients. Certified courses are anywhere between one day to one year long, depending on your background and beauty field of choice.
Cons: One thing to bear in mind is that you have to do your research to make sure they are following all needed requirements and that your diploma will be accredited and recognized in the beauty industry.
My story
At the age of 18, I became a personal trainer and fitness instructor. At the same time, I completed a nutrition course and, at age 19, became a student at the University of Sport Sciences. During my studies, being fascinated with anatomy and physical therapy classes, I have decided to complete Massage Therapy School.
When I received a Bachelor’s degree (4 year-long studies), I wanted to travel the world, but I didn’t have enough money. 🙂 After spending many hours researching, I found a solution to my problem – find a job on the cruise ship. I applied and got a job at a luxury ship as a Fitness Director. During my time on the ship, I completed additional courses for facial and specialized massages and transitioned to the Beauty department as a Massage Therapist. This gave me a broad knowledge base and experience to become an expert for luxury treatments and customer service.
During the seven years of working on luxury cruise ships, I finished multiple courses in Maderotherapy.
Once I finished my cruise ship career, I continued working in the beauty industry as part of land spas and also became the first maderotherapy accredited coach in the UK.
I still constantly learn new skills and treatments, attending new courses and beauty shows. However, my biggest passion is teaching. So if you have any questions, feel free to contact me. I will be happy to give you advice on anything you need.
