Choose Among Many Paths in the Esthetics Trade
Careers in the skin care specialties and beauty therapy are widely varied and widely available. After earning your cosmetology license or esthetician certification, you could work in a salon, day spa, doctor’s office, a hospital or even from your own home. We will give a short list of job descriptions and career paths for the aspiring esthetician (or aesthetician, if you prefer.)

Salon or Day Spa Jobs
Work in a beauty facility is a great way to begin an esthetics career because you will work with other professionals in the field of cosmetology and will have a chance to learn from watching how they interact with clients, how they perform treatments and what it takes to keep a business on its feet. These positions are usually wage-based rather than salary-based and would not comfortably support even the smallest family, but could be great for part-time work or a little cash while finishing your university education. Expect to spend a lot of time waxing, massaging and giving chemical treatments to customers, and don’t be picky about body types and sizes. Depending on your locale, tips are common. You must learn to set aside your personal opinions and attitudes while at work because main job will be to nurture clients and give them an experience worth returning for. This career path could result in a slow climb up the management ladder or could provide opportunities for specialty cosmetic training. About 80 percent of estheticians work in these facilities.

Cruises and Getaways
Like working in a day spa or salon, work on a cruise ship or a remote tropical island will require a lot of waxing, trimming and application of facial treatments and body wraps. You will be away from home for long periods of time and may get days off only when business is slow. However, you will get to travel the world and interact closely with people of all ages and ethnicities. Tips are more common in vacation jobs than at salons but should not be relied upon, as many vacationers travel on tight budgets and expect all services to be included in the ticket price. You should also be aware of local service providers, who often have very low care and cleanliness standards to go along with their equally low prices.

Paramedical Esthetics
One of the most fulfilling jobs in the skin care specialties is serving patients whose lives have been shattered by severe burns, invasive surgery or chemotherapy. Job opportunities in this sector are growing as more and more medical professionals realize how effective a positive self-image is in healing. These careers usually require training in addition to that available from cosmetology schools, but many institutions teach both beauty and elementary medicine. Sometimes, paramedical estheticians work directly with hospitals and cancer centers to nurture and counsel the sick. Other professionals work in dermatology offices, either for routine beauty care or to teach camouflage techniques for scarring. A minority work in holistic medical settings alongside aromatherapists, acupuncturists and massage therapists.

Private Practice
Many estheticians decide to open their own practices for reasons of flexibility and improved client care, or because no large salons or spas exist in their communities. Some cities will allow you to open a skin care business in your own home but others require commercial office space. Take a careful look at the high capital costs of starting a business before you embark, but know that financial help is available from agencies such as the U.S. Small Business Administration. We recommend that you start out with a business professional or find partners to open up shop with. As a new aesthetics business owner, you will need a brand name and some kind of advertising and will not have the cachet of an established treatment center. However, if you treat your clients well you will keep them coming back for more, and maybe even bringing their friends.

Skincare Product Sales
A career in showing and selling beauty products can take less formal education than other esthetics work because it relies more on teaching clients and having a stellar personal appearance than it does on technical skills like waxing or giving facial treatments. You could start at the cosmetics counter of a department store, where you will receive training directly from product providers and will be expected to help customers choose makeup, perfume and skin care products. You can also become an independent beauty representative and sell products mostly to your friends and neighbors in your free time. No matter your path, you must learn about hundreds of different products and how best to use them. In this job, be prepared to be compensated with up to 100 percent commission.