LEARN HOW TO RELAX THE DAY AWAY, AND GET PAID FOR IT! (Beauty Therapist)

Member Name: chrissypops

Product:	Beauty Therapist
Date:	04/10/01 (3265 review reads)
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Advantages: A career which can take you anywhere, Can set up your own business or go mobile

Disadvantages: Can be hard work, it might not be your thing once you have completed ther course

Have you ever had a massage and wondered why its so wonderful? Would you revel in making people relaxed, pampered and confident? Well sounds like this course might be for you then. Beauty Therapy is a profession that can be very rewarding and although its centered around complementary treatments, you get to communicate with people on so many levels. Training usually takes 2 years full time and is of NVQ level 2 and 3. There are part time courses/ refresher courses and combined courses with Hairdressing and Sports therapy and should be available in your local college. To enrol in such a course you need at least a GSCE in Math's, English and a Science but its not a necessity, as they will give you an interview to assess if you are suitable. The course, if you are over 18 years can range from 300 to 600 pound all depending on college fees but if you are under 18 years then you get a grant from the government as you are legally still in full time education. I managed to just get away with it as I started in September and was 18 years in the October

Once accepted you have to buy books, equipment, uniform and come very comfortable shoes. If you are fresh out of school or under 18 years of age, you can get a grant to cover the cost of most of the equipment and books, which the college will give you a form for. If you are over 18 , you can still apply for a grant but it just depends on your working status, are you still at home. Even if you travel to college you can even get a traveling grant but again you need to apply for that through the college. This course isnt open to just the ladies but to the gentlemen too, but they tend to stick to the Sports Therapy, Massage and Heat Treatments then the facials, manicures and make up.

So what's so amazing about a beauty therapy course? Well you learn an awful lot about the body, treatments, communication and you even get to try out all the treatments you are learning about. After all you can't prom
ote a treatment if you have never had it can you? That would be like selling a TV without knowing anything about the product. After two years you come out of college with frightening amounts of information, which unlike most training courses does come in useful. Things like the names of all the muscles and bones within the body. Useful for diagnosing muscle complaints in massage, posture analysis and electronic beauty treatments. How to run your own business including taxes, accounting and basic I.T. If you fancy working abroad or on a Cruise liner you will even come out with basic Spanish, French and German. You can even set up your own gym with equipment which you know that are going to benifit the most lazy of us folk.

In the first year you learn the basic theory with a little basic practical towards the end of the second term. This basic theory and practical is spilt up into sections :

Integrated science in Beauty Therapy ( Physics and Chemistry)

Practical A ( Mainly basic treatments including Manicures, Pedicures, Facials, Waxing, Heat treatments)

Practical B ( Mainly electrical treatments like Faradic electrical muscle stimulation, Galvanic, Massage and Sports Therapy)

Anatomy ( Bones and muscles of the body)

Physiology ( Systems of the body)

IT and Business Studies.

Exercise and Nutrition

Languages

Health and Safety

Reception Duties ( making appointments, handing money, retail)

Dispensary( Giving out products for treatments, stock taking, retail)

Sounds a lot eh? Good thing is they all over lap each other. For example to know what muscles to massage to relax the face in a facial, you would need the knowledge of physiology ( Muscles of face, effects on body systems), techniques for relaxation ( Practical B) and what effect it has on our mind. It can be a little hard going at first but I promise you it all comes together. Some days can be qu
ite long too all depending on your time table. Most of the time you will start around 9 am and finish around 3 /4 pm. You only wear your uniform, usually white in practical lessons but please make sure you wear conformable shoes. Believe me your feet kill by the end of the day! At the end of each term, you are placed within a salon to get a bit of hands on experience. All depending how good they are you could be either making tea all day or actually getting to do some treatments on clients. This can be very scary at first. I still remember my first proper massage with a client at college. I shook from head to foot in the first 5 minutes as I thought I was going to make a mistake. A back massage later, which is about 35 minutes, I had a client who was asleep! I thought it was the best compliment ever. What was even better was the fact that each week she came back to me for facials, manicures, massages and electrical treatments.

In the second year as well as practicing treatments on each other, you can ask family and friends to come in and have treatments. Well basically play guinea pig. Most colleges do charge for treatments but only silly prices. For example for a manicure you could pay 1.50, back massage. 2.50, sun bed 1.75 and electrolysis ( removal of hair) 2.10. There are a few reasons why the treatments are so cheap. Firstly they are not allowed to advertise as it takes trade away from the local salons around their area. They need to keep on the good side of them as its the salons who provide work experience and day releases from work so in work trainers can come to college. Secondly the students are only learning and need the experience. The college wouldn't get anyone in if they charged salon prices for treatments. Thirdly service goes on word of mouth. If the service is good , people will come back and the students have plenty of clients to practice on.

Also in the second year you can take optional treatments like Aromotherapy, Electr
olysis, False nails and Reflexology. Practice makes perfect so it the case of going over and over what you have learnt and firmly fix it within your brain.

With the NVQ you pass on practical and theory exams. So in the second year you will get several booklets in which has every treatment in with questions for your lecturer to ask while you do the treatment. You also have to provide a portfolio of written exams and they all have to be cross referenced with back up information. This is the worst bit and is what drives most people up the wall. If you feel confident at the end of the first year ask to be evaluated on the basic treatments like manicures, pedicures, facials, waxing, eye lash tinting and all the little easier treatments. This leaves you the second year to concentrate on the more complicated electrical treatments. It doesn't matter if you fail a few times, at least you can retake them time and time again. I failed applying make up 4 times before I got a pass. Mind you I wasn't, and still not any good in applying make up. The last thing you want is to rush the second year and out yourself under extra pressure because you haven't passed an evaluation on certain treatments. The same goes with your portfolio. Start on it as soon as you can by keeping theory exams in order and you can cross reference by using an index page with different colours to your back up information.


Well, its been 7 years since I took Beauty Therapy and although I am not in a salon, havent been on a Cruise liner or set up my own salon, it still comes in handy. I have my own clientele which consists of about 15 people who regularly come to me for different treatments. I do hairdressing, (which shall be under a different opinion), which again I have about six or seven clients. I don't make mega bucks. If I wanted loads of money then I would of gone on a cruise liner, but it makes me some pocket money. My husband and children also benefit from my
training as roughly we save at least 80 pound a year on hairdressing fees. My husband also has free massages, sun bed and believe it or not I have trained him in the basics of massage, waxing and Aromotherapy. I still have the knowledge somewhere in this brain of mine on muscles and bones of the body, which always comes in handy in general knowledge quiz's!

I will always carry this career with me, and it certainly hasn't been a waste of time. Career wise, I am taking a different turn in my life and heading of into Midwifery and Health visiting, but I shall also still be practicing Beauty Therapy on the poor old public. Beauty Therapy is very versatile and even if you stop to have a family and are out of it for a few years, all you need is a quick refresher course and off you go again.. If you don't fancy Beauty Therapy, but like the idea of being a client, then again phone your local college, ask if they have a Beauty Therapy Dept. and then book an appointment. So whether you want to earn 5 pound an hour plus tips on an Cruise liner, or own your own business, get your face paint on and get down to your nearest college

If you want to know more on the web, this sites might come in useful as its the governing body in Beauty Therapy

http://www.beauty-guild.co.uk

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