r/Estheticians

I’m a newly licensed esthetician and I’ve been having a really hard time getting my first job because most places want experience.

I’ve been applying to a lot of places through Indeed, but it honestly hasn’t been getting me very far. I’ve gotten some interviews, but experience always seems to be the biggest thing holding me back.

I currently have an opportunity to become a wax specialist, but I genuinely don’t want to specialize in waxing. I’m much more interested in facials, skincare, acne treatments, and eventually working in dermatology or a medical spa. I’m wondering if I should take whatever esthetics experience I can get or keep looking for something that’s more aligned with skincare.

For anyone who started with no professional experience, what actually helped you get your first job? Should I be emailing or DMing spas directly, walking in with my resume, looking for internships, networking, applying for front desk positions, or doing something else?

I’m willing to start entry-level and work my way up. I just feel like Indeed isn’t getting me anywhere and I’m not sure what else I should be doing.
Any advice would be really appreciated!

Hey everyone,

I recently came across this new facial procedure called PRX-T33.

It’s a non-invasive biostimulator and skin rejuvenation procedure.

It combines 33% trichloroacetic acid (TCA), hydrogen peroxide, and kojic acid to stimulate deep collagen production and cell turnover without causing the heavy surface peeling, frost, or downtime of a traditional chemical peel.

The claims are to remove hyperpigmentation, melasma, age spots, dullness, etc.

I was Googling it and the place I was interested in told me their cosmetologist does it. I am not trying to downplay cosmetologists whatsoever, but when I was doing my research I guess there is conflict regarding this facial.

Some say a dermatologist, plastic surgeons, and nurse practitioners should do it since it focuses on the deep layer of the skin and cosmetologists should be supervised.

However, the place I inquired about said only the cosmetologist does it.

What do you guys think?

Would you personally care or not think much of it? A potential red flag?

hey all, i just wanted to come on here and ask if any some advice regarding finding a job as someone who graduated and got licensed in June of this year.
i currently work at a massage envy location as a front desk associate that i’m desperately trying to get away from, and it seems like my only other options are other massage envys near me.
i’ve applied to every other beginner level job that has popped up on my Indeed, and linkedin and i keep getting rejected due to having no experience. im starting to lose hope a little 😕 whats your advice? should i print out my resume and walk into these places? should i just just ship to another massage envy ? i’m starting to feel really stressed. thanks!

I’m coming to terms with the fact that my school is not going to teach me anything except how to pass the state board and I need to educate myself. I’m looking for good book recs, online practical education, etc about:

- skin types and skin issues

- product ingredient knowledge and how to choose products

- what machines I should invest in and what they do for the skin😭

- post-wax skincare

- literally anything. I have no idea what I’m missing out on

I currently use Vagaro and clients have to reach out to change their appointments. My policy right now is they have least 24 hours to change anything before their appointment, anything less than that incurs 50% of the appointment total. However I'm lenient, sometimes reluctantly, for my established clients if they change anything less than 24 hours.

I'm fortunately getting busier and obviously, answering phone calls and text messages adds up admin time and I want to protect my time. Should I change the settings on Vagaro so clients can change things on their own and keep the 24-hour policy in place?

I’m considering training as a lash technician, but before spending money on courses and supplies, I’d love to hear from people actually working in the industry.

1. How long did it take to start earning?
2. How much did you spend to become a lash tech?
3. Is there still good demand for lash extensions in 2026, or has the market become too saturated?
4. Can you realistically make a decent living doing lashes full-time, especially as an independent lash tech renting a room/bed rather than owning a salon?
5. Would you choose this career again if you were starting today?

I work as an aesthetician at a small med spa that recently got a new owner. I’m also in nursing school, which both owners have known about.

I was originally working about 3 days a week, but after things slowed down and I asked to condense my schedule, I was reduced to 1 day a week instead.
I can make that work with school, but other things have made me uneasy.

The new owner has scheduled meetings on days she knows I’m in class, and I’ve started feeling excluded from certain things.

I also noticed I wasn’t included in new staff business cards and had to ask about it. She said she’d order mine, but it still felt odd.

There’s also a new contract being drafted that may require around 15 clients per month, which feels unrealistic on one day a week. I’ve never had any serious disciplinary issues, just normal verbal feedback.

Now I can’t tell if this is just restructuring or if I’m being slowly pushed out. I don’t necessarily want to quit, but I also don’t want to ignore signs if that’s what’s happening.

Would you stay and see how it plays out, or start planning an exit?

Went to get my first ever facial. Hydration facial with certain facial masks. I told the worker my face feels itchy, I was told it’s normal I said ok. Bought products from them & put them on. My face was burning & itchy. I messaged them and again was told it’s normal keep doing it night and day. Anyways it’s been a week since the facial & my face is super dry, never been this dry in my life. And it’s beyond itchy. I have a whole dry patch on my face. I paid $500 so I’m annoyed. Idk what to do. I messaged them again & I’ll see what they’ll say. Also before anyone asks no refunds as per policy. Not the be dramatic but I want to cry. I have a trip coming up, I can’t put makeup on or anything. Also I used my creams ( the most hydrating one I have) still feel dry after 10 minutes. I’m drinking water everything. Idk what to do next.

I am researching one of the bigger Cosm-Nail-Esth schools nearby. All seems well except their model policy where a student must get people to go to the practice salon and they pay a reduced rate to be the living practice dummy and pratical test model. That is fine for people with huge families and friend networks. It seems unworkable for someone without. Is this the norm at most schools?

This school does attract people who come for reduced rate work normally, like a dental college might. But they still say a student must bring in paying bodies. This could be a deal killer for attending school.

Is doing parlour facial, pedicure, manicure worth it? Like they 1500 and above for each is there anything like this worth trying or doing any experience from you guys? Also those acrylic nails and stuff, yk the nail arts do those artist do manicure before doing nails? Like clean up cuticles and stuff or should we do manicure before going to naail saloon? I hace fone facial once..didnt really see much diff ig it felt nice though both physically and mentally but costs are high so wanted to know what you guys think?

Would you guys suggest anyother treatment or smthg like this worth trying?

So most reviews I see are about cheeks and under eye area but I am booking a session soon and thinking about getting my jawline done too since that's where I notice the most sagging lately, planning to ask the clinic if they even do that area or if its usually skipped, my main worry is the jaw bone being close to skin and if that makes the treatment more painful or risky compared to cheeks, also want to know if healing time is longer there since we move our jaw a lot while talking and eating, I am planning to go with ross bridge medical center, if anyone got this area treated how many sessions did it take before you saw a difference and did they use the same settings as cheeks or lower it for jaw area? EDIT:Thanks for all the replies! I have a much clearer view now.

I got an eyebrow lamination today and the whole process hurt a little bit. Like my brows were burning a lot but they immediately stopped burning when she was done. Apparently eyebrows hurting during lamination is not normal so now I’m a bit worried. I will say I was wearing Korean sunscreen when I got them done today 😭 I didn’t know you aren’t suppose to wear sunscreen or anything (stupid ik, I wasn’t thinking) so I’m wondering if maybe that’s the reason it burned? My brows look great right now but I’m scared whenever I wash them in 24 hours they are going to look terrible and be damaged.

I finally replaced my regular table with an electric one and I honestly didn’t expect to notice this much of a difference.
The biggest thing for me has been being able to change the height while I’m actually working.
With my old table I’d set it lower because I had a bigger client or knew I was doing deeper work, then halfway through I’d be working on their neck/shoulders thinking… why did I set the table this low lol. I’d usually just deal with it rather than stop everything and adjust the legs.
Now I just move it up or down depending on what I’m doing. Mine has a foot control too, which I didn’t really care about when I bought it, but now it’s probably one of my favorite things about the table. Especially once my hands have oil on them.
I went with a 32” top and I was actually a little worried I’d regret that. I’m not particularly interested in reaching farther all day and messing up my own back just to give clients a few extra inches of room.
So far though, I really like the width. My bigger clients seem much less cramped around the shoulders/arms, and since I can change the height whenever I want, the extra reach hasn’t bothered me like I thought it would.
The padding is also way thicker than what I was using before. That wasn’t even one of the main reasons I upgraded, but I’ve had clients comment on how comfortable the table is without me asking.
The downside?
This thing is HEAVY.
Like… once it’s in the treatment room, that’s its home now 😂 I would absolutely not want this setup if I were still doing mobile.
I’m curious what everyone else is using. For those of you who switched to electric/hydraulic, would you ever go back?
And did anyone else go with a wider table and end up loving/hating it?

Hi y’all, I know times are tough and the economy is on fire and everything, but I’m hoping someone out there with more time in the industry than me can provide a little anecdotal experience or insight to help get me through this slow time.

I started at a waxing studio in Seattle about 6 weeks ago, coming from a chain waxing place in the suburbs. I got my license about a year ago now.
The studio I’m at now was just bought by a new owner who hired me plus two other new waxers around the same time, and while they’ve been hitting marketing/promos pretty well and bringing in lots of new clientele, bookings have been off to quite a slow start for me. It seems to alternate week to week whether I average 3-5 clients a day or 1-2 a day, sometimes none at all, and it also seems to swap between busy weeks for me and slow ones for the other newest waxer/vice versa. This week has been one of the slow ones, leaving me feeling a bit despondent.

I have gotten several 5-star reviews mentioning me by name so far and had a few clients rebook with me, but there doesn’t seem to be a big culture of rebooking at checkout here (“I’ll book online when I need it”) so it’s hard for me to gauge how/if things are growing for me. I will be training on male Brazilians at the end of this month, and there’s a lot of demand for this service here so I’m hoping this will bump my books somewhat.

I am well aware that it’s par for the course to have a slow schedule at first in a new job in this industry while you build books, but I have little solid perspective on whether my current position is “normal” or how long I should expect it to be this way given my relative lack of experience and the recent shake up in ownership, so I’m looking for more experienced folks to offer their perspective. I love this job and I’m willing to keep grinding if it’s likely going to pick up for me in the end, but it’s hard not to get discouraged about it right now.

If anyone has been in a similar spot and has advice/words of wisdom/encouragement/whatever to share, I’d love to hear it!! And while I know it’s rough for all of us right now with the state of the industry and economy, I’m not in a financial place right now to drastically pivot careers so I’d really appreciate it if we kept it real but not too doom and gloom, because I have more than enough of that to go around right now.

Thanks everyone, I love this community 💖

This question comes up more and more as home LED masks get cheaper and easier to find, a client picks one up online and starts wondering out loud whether the in-office sessions are still worth keeping on the calendar. It's a fair question honestly, the price gap between a couple hundred dollars for a device and a series of professional visits is real, and brushing it off doesn't do anyone any favors.

The framing that tends to work best is positioning the two as different tools doing different jobs rather than competitors, the at-home mask covering maintenance between visits, the professional session covering everything a facial actually includes around it (extractions, technique, product penetration from the treatment itself, actually watching how skin is responding over time).

How are you all answering this one when it comes up? Do you reframe it, offer something that bundles the two together, or just let clients make their own call on it?

When you're starting out as an esthetician, managing appointments through messages, calls and a calendar can be pretty manageable. As your client list grows, though, keeping track of availability, cancellations, rescheduling and different treatment times can become a lot more work.

I've been looking into how online booking can make that process easier without making things complicated for the esthetician or the client.

For those running their own skincare business or spa, what has worked best for keeping your client bookings and appointment schedule organized?

Do you prefer clients booking directly online, or do you like reviewing appointment requests before confirming them?

What has made the biggest difference in keeping your schedule manageable?

Hello,
I’m a customer who’s been going to my esthetician for 3 years consistently.. they’ve grown from an independent to a team. Today I reached out to schedule my next 6 months of appointments (still have some on the books) and they were all booked with new providers with no explanation or offer to continue with my current. I’ve always believed they are a straightforward person, but am I correct that this was an attempt to “let me down easy”? If not, what are other reasons.

I’ve been open 8 years now and over half my revenue is coming from waxing. Mainly Brazilians and brows. I am really good at these too as well as tinting, and lash lifts. But when I first opened I was really focused on facials and have since narrowed my menu to a signature facial at $150, dermaplane and chemical peels treatments at $125. All these treatments get booked regularly and I have some super loyal facial clients. My schedule is no longer fully booked like it used to be but im still itching to give up facials entirely. How did you do it and feel good about it?