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Overview
Provide skincare treatments to face and body to enhance an individual's appearance. Includes electrologists and laser hair removal specialists.
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Titles for this career often contain these words
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Responsibilities and activities
Skincare specialists typically do the following:
- Evaluate clients’ skin condition and appearance
- Discuss available treatments and determine which products will improve clients’ skin quality
- Remove unwanted hair, using wax, lasers, or other approved treatments
- Clean the skin before applying makeup
- Recommend skin care products, such as cleansers, lotions, or creams
- Teach and advise clients on how to apply makeup, and how to take care of their skin
- Refer clients to another skincare specialist, such as a dermatologist, for serious skin problems
- Disinfect equipment and clean work areas
Skincare specialists give facials, full-body treatments, and head and neck massages to improve the health and appearance of the skin. Some may provide other skin care treatments, such as peels, masks, and scrubs, to remove dead or dry skin.
In addition, skincare specialists create daily skincare routines for clients based on skin analysis and help them understand which skincare products will work best for them. A growing number of specialists actively sell skincare products, such as cleansers, lotions, and creams.
Those who operate their own salons have managerial duties that include hiring, firing, and supervising workers, as well as keeping business and inventory records, ordering supplies, and arranging for advertising.
Salary
Median salary: $36,510 annually
Half of those employed in this career earn between $27,590 and $48,710.
Context: Median Salary
How do salaries for this career compare to other jobs' salaries?
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Salary growth for skincare specialists
Is this job likely to reward you for sticking with it through pay raises and promotions? The higher a job’s “experience quotient,” the more you are likely to get as you stay there.
Experience quotient percentile
Take a minute to look at how much you might expect your salary to increase with each five years' experience, as well as how the numbers working at each age change. Does this seem to be a job for the young or the old, or could it be a career offering steady salary growth for many years?
Salary distribution
Number employed
About Skincare Specialists
How do benefits for this career compare to other jobs? The availability of health care, especially employer provided health care, and pension plans can add significantly to the value of compensation you receive in a career. These charts compare how this career compares to other careers with regard to health care and pension plans.
Employee has health insurance
Employer is providing health insurance
Employer-provided pension plan is available
Worker concerns
Some jobs are more stressful than others, and some are just plain dangerous. The following list gives the percentages of skincare specialists who report hazardous or difficult situations typically occurring at least once a week.
- Consequence of Error (39%)
- Exposed to Disease or Infections (34%)
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Personality and skills
Can you see yourself in the ranks of Skincare Specialists? Here are the skills and traits that could lead to success.
Business skills
Skincare specialists who run their own salon must understand general business principles. For example, they should be skilled at administrative tasks, such as accounting and personnel management, and be able to manage a salon efficiently and profitably.
Customer-service skills
Skincare specialists should be friendly and courteous to their clients. Repeat business is important, particularly for self-employed workers.
Initiative
Self-employed skincare specialists generate their own business opportunities and must be proactive in finding new clients.
Physical stamina
Skincare specialists must be able to spend most of their day standing and massaging clients’ faces and bodies.
Tidiness
Workers must keep a neat personal appearance and keep their work area clean and sanitary. This requirement is necessary for the health and safety of their clients and increases the likelihood that clients will return.
Time-management skills
Time-management skills are important in scheduling appointments and providing services.
Injury and Illness
About 5 skincare specialists become injured or ill for every 10,000 workers, which reflects fewer events than in 57% of other careers.
All injuries and illnesses
Education pathways to this career
Education attained by skincare specialists
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), skincare specialists typically hold a postsecondary nondegree award.
Sometimes the typical education identified by the BLS differs a bit from the reality of the how much education current workers actually have. The donut shows the education level held by people currently working as skincare specialists as reported in responses to the American Community Survey.
Details: Education and training recommended for skincare specialists
Skincare specialists typically complete a state-approved cosmetology or esthetician program. Although some high schools offer vocational training, most people receive their training from a postsecondary vocational school. The Associated Skin Care Professionals organization offers a State Regulation Guide, which includes the number of prerequisite hours required to complete a cosmetology program.
Details: Licensing and certification recommended for skincare specialists
After completing an approved cosmetology or esthetician program, skincare specialists take a written and practical exam to get a state license. Licensing requirements vary by state, so those interested should contact their state board.
The National-Interstate Council of State Boards of Cosmetology provides contact information on state examinations for licensing, with sample exam questions. The Professional Beauty Association and the American Association of Cosmetology Schools also provide information on state examinations, and offer other professional links.
Many states offer continuing education seminars and programs designed to keep skincare specialists current on new techniques and products. Post-licensing training is also available through manufacturers, associations, and at trade shows.
Education level of Skincare Specialists
Only 20% of skincare specialists have a bachelor's degree or higher.
Education attained by skincare specialists
None
High School
Some College
Associate's Degree
Bachelor's Degree
Master's Degree
Professional Degree
Doctorate
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Programs recommended by the Department of Education
The Department of Education recommends the following college degree programs as preparation for this career. You can click a program row to learn more about the program and explore a list of schools that offer the program.
Program
Where are the jobs
State-by-state employment numbers
Some careers tend to be centered in specific parts of the country. For example, most jobs in fashion are in New York or California. Let's see if your dream job is easy to find in your dream location! We have a few choices for viewing the data that can help you get a full employment picture.
Select a state to see local area details
Number of Skincare Specialists per 1,000 workers (ACS)
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Job density versus job count
Which states hire the most skincare specialists? We wonder if that's a fair question since states come in all sizes, so instead let's start with the question of which states have the highest density of people working as skincare specialists. You can choose to view the number of jobs per state if you prefer.
Salaries by state
Let's get a feel for where skincare specialists earn the highest salaries. There are several choices for which data we consider and how we view that data, and each can lead to different conclusions, so please read on...
Median salary versus state ratio
We use two methods to compare salaries across states:
- In-state comparisons: the ratio of median (middle) salaries for skincare specialists compared to the median salary for all people working in each state, or
- Median salary: the unaltered median salaries for skincare specialists.
The darkest shading corresponds to states in which skincare specialists earn the highest salary when compared to other jobs in the state. We think this figure might be a better indicator than the actual salary for your buying power as a state resident.
Select a state to see local area details
Location-adjusted median salary for Skincare Specialists (ACS)
Employment
41% of Skincare specialists are working part time.
We’ve found that some jobs have a huge number of part-time workers, and typically that is because they are unable to find full-time work or the job itself can’t provide full-time hours. With 41% part-time workers, this occupation has a higher percentage of part-time workers than 91% of careers.
Employer types
This donut shares the break-down of workers by employer type, giving us a picture of what employers most typically hire for this career.
Employers of undefined (ACS)
Private for-profit
Private not-for-profit
Local government
State government
Federal government
Self-employed incorporated
Self-employed not incorporated
Working without pay
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Distribution: Salaries of skincare specialists by type of employer
Here are the salary distributions based on employer type.
Gender
Skincare specialists and gender
With 99% women, this occupation has a higher percentage of women than 100% of careers.
Gender of Skincare specialists
Men (1%)
Women (99%)
Distribution: salaries by gender
Does gender greatly influence your salary in this career? The closer the bars are, the less discrepancy there is.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
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Context: Women in the workforce
How does this career compare to other careers with regard to the percentage of women in the career.
Race/Origin
Race and origin of Skincare specialists
This donut shows the distribution of race and origin among those employed as Skincare specialists.
Race/origin of skincare specialists
Asian (45% )
White (43% )
Black (4% )
Other (4% )
Multiracial (3% )
Hispanic (1% )
Pacific Islander (0% )
American Indian (0% )
Distribution: salaries by race/origin
Some careers might have a pay disparity based on race or origin, the closer the below bars are the less of a discrepancy is present.
We only include salary data when the survey error is less than 20%, so you may see only partial information for some categories.
