I want to become a Beautician - Help

debie_2

Hi Everyone

Don't know if I am in the right place, but I am interested in training as a Beautician.

Little bit about me, I currently work in IT but am taking voluntary redundancy at end of June when I will relocate to Newbury area.

Can anyone recommend the best course or courses and where to do these. I was thinking of doing the NVQ2, I have the study book which I have started reading through. My plan is to do an intensive course and get the qualification, Is this the best way to do it.

I would then like to get a job in a Salon to gain experience with long term plan of becomming mobile.

The areas of beauty I would be interested in are

Nails - Manicure, Acrylics etc etc.
Facials
Head Massage
Makeup

Not sure about the Waxing and Eyebrow stuff.

I am 43 so will age be a problem. Is it better to do short course in each area and become expert in one field rather than trying to be an master in all. NVQ v Short courses. What is best way to get a job without experience.

Sorry for all the questions and hope you can give me some advice.

Thanks

nikki2804

Ok, i'm in Scotland so it may be slightly different than England.

I'm currently studying for my HNC in beauty but to be perfectly honest I wish I had just of done a few short courses. I would look carefully at what aspects of beauty you actually want to do and weigh up the pro's and con's.

Again, unsure of the bursaries in England but in Scotland I know that the NVQ's are given one. So dependant on income the course may be completely free where as you would have to pay for short courses (i.e Fake Bake, Shellac that kind of thing)

Albeit, if you do the NVQ then normally companies liek Fake Bake run courses within the college at a discounted rate.

What I will say however, getting started in the beauty industry isn't cheap. An acrylic course in my area is £600, shellac is £220 and so on.

If you do work within a salon you will have the opportunity to build a client base before going mobile. Oh and eyebrow waxing is very, very popular. Once you get the hang of it, its a doddle and easy money. Most salons would also expect you to be able to do this.

Hope that helps a bit.

lessonlearned

Hi Debie

I am a qualified beautician, qualifying in 2002 when I was just 51 years young. Age was no problem.

I have an ITEC (International Therapy Examination Council) qualification, which I took at a private college. It was a very intensive short term course - about six months if I recall. Å lot of home study and practical case studies done in my own time. That suited me very well.

The head office for ITEC is 4 Heathfield Terrace, London W4 4JE.

Don't know what your long term plans are - but the big advantage of my qualification is that it allows you to work abroad, and on cruise ships etc. Not sure if NVQ's are internationally recognised.

My course did not cover acrylic nails etc. Nail therapies are usually taken as extra courses. It did cover massage, aromatherapy and electrical therapies such as CACI etc. Obviously that was a while ago and things change.

I'm afraid I know very little about NVQ's, however, I know a couple of therapists who did their training that way and they were very frustrated at cancelled lectures etc. Could just have been a poor college.

My course was very full on and the lecturers were all very professional and dedicated. At the time it cost me about £800 plus course materials, uniform, basic products (all at cost price) - perhaps about £1000 all in. I've no idea what it would cost today.

Since then I've developed a very keen interested in complementary therapies and natural products, making most of my own skincare products. One day I intend taking my interests a bit further and doing a Complimentary Therapy course.

At the moment I don't practise in any professional capacity - too busy as a carer for my disabled OH. I have a couch and "do" friends and family from time to time.

Once you've got your qualification you will find all sorts of ways of using it. Mobile is good - but lugging a couch around is not easy. I found it best if you can devote a room in your own home as a treatment room.

Good luck.

debie_2

Thanks for all you input.

My long term plan is to be mobile and also make my conservatory into a therapy room, as I have parking for 2-3 cars and my house is in a good location.

How did you build up your experience did you start with friends and family special offeres etc.

I think I will also look a short courses and maybe aproach it by becoming a master in one area before venturing to another specialisation. For example start with nails, then eyebrows, then facials and then makeup.

I have also thought of Sheltered Housing, because I imagine if you got in one of those you would have regualr steam of business, or am I completely mad.

I will have my redundancy money to put towards courses and setting myself up.

Thanks again

D

nikki2804

To run a business from your conservatory you will need to check with your mortgage provider as some of them will not allow it. You will also need to look into public liability insurance and upgrading your home insurance.

In regards to sheltered housing, I've never seen it done. Not sure if it would be viable however it may be worth a try. I would imagine that you need to be CRB/disclosure Scotland checked though.

glowgirl_2

I can't offer you any advice I'm afraid but as someone who has various treatments on a regular basis, age would make no difference to how I felt about my therapist, what would make a difference is how professionally they presented themselves and the quality of their work and lets be honest the prices that they charge, however, unless I had a very strong recommendation from someone who I really trusted I wouldn't go to someones house for a treatment, you can hire rooms at established beauty salons and they take the bookings for you and promote you too for a charge, you can hire the rooms as and when so you can tailor your working days to suit your other commitments - best of luck:)

debie_2

glowgirl wrote: »

I can't offer you any advice I'm afraid but as someone who has various treatments on a regular basis, age would make no difference to how I felt about my therapist, what would make a difference is how professionally they presented themselves and the quality of their work and lets be honest the prices that they charge, however, unless I had a very strong recommendation from someone who I really trusted I wouldn't go to someones house for a treatment, you can hire rooms at established beauty salons and they take the bookings for you and promote you too for a charge, you can hire the rooms as and when so you can tailor your working days to suit your other commitments - best of luck:)

Thanks for your advise, I have a lot to learn and investigate. I didn't even think about the option of hiring a salon room etc that is an excellent idea.

I have registered on salongeek and there are really good recommendation on type of courses and which ones are recommended.

Thre are a lot of business park and vodafone head office 5 mins away so they might be a good source of marketing.

I am now thinking of doing a Foundation course with the Creative Nail Acadamey or Beauty Academy on mani and pedi and then follow on with the Gel Nails. The courses are quite expensive so lots of homework to do on this

Thanks again

debie_2

nikki2804 wrote: »

To run a business from your conservatory you will need to check with your mortgage provider as some of them will not allow it. You will also need to look into public liability insurance and upgrading your home insurance.

In regards to sheltered housing, I've never seen it done. Not sure if it would be viable however it may be worth a try. I would imagine that you need to be CRB/disclosure Scotland checked though.

Thanks, we don't have a mortgage but will defo need to look into the insurance side.

lessonlearned

Yes, the other posters are absolutely correct, you need to be completely professional about this - whether mobile, in your home or in a salon - you will have to take out Public Liability Insurance at the very least.

My course included a business element to it which went into plenty of detail into how to set up, maintain good professional standards, health and safety regulations, hygiene etc.

Your sheltered housing idea whilst good as a means of getting practice may not pay you very much. Also you may find the type of treatments your clients are interested in is quite narrow. You would definitely need a CRB check.

Our local one has a hairdressers and the prices are really far too low (I'm sure the residents don't think that though). I suppose it depends on how much rent you have to pay - but be sure to factor in all your costs and don't go too low with your prices. You want to make a decent living.

PS Don't forget to keep accurate financial records - your course fees and materials are tax deductible.;)

debie_2

Thanks again for all the advice.

It really is a minefield so I have lots of thinking to do on the whole subject.

I'm not sure what way to tackle the training. I can enroll at the local college for course that starts in Sept which would be 1 day a week.

Should I do this and also complete short course on nails so I could start on that in May/June time when I finish my full time IT job.

I think not having done anything but office work, mostly IT this will be something very different.

cheers
D

roshydoshy

Perhaps do the nail course first as it seems that is what you are interested in and then decide if you prefer to do the courses individually or whether you would prefer a bit of variety and do a whole course altogether?

If you do the nails first, you can also do 'mates rates' (my friends have charged £10/£15 for a set of acrylics, £5/£10 for a full manicure and arm massage etc) to friends and family to enable you to practice whilst learning and so when you get your certificates you will have some experience outside of the classroom?

If you have a local beauty college, or get hold of one in Newbury, call them up and ask for advice - I'm sure they will be willing to talk it through with you