r/Esthetics

I have been working at a spa for about 6 months and they exclusively use Aveda products. Before working there I did not have any prior knowledge about Aveda. Using it for the past 6 months has made me realize it's not results driven at all and can even be irritating for some of my clients. There are a few products I have grown to like, but overall as a brand, I am not impressed. I have brought up a few different brands to my boss. (Skin script and image), to which she has not taken into consideration, even though she hired me to "revamp" her spa. I saw something saying that if a spa uses Aveda products, they have to only use and carry them. Is that true? What are your experiences and impressions on Aveda?

Hi everyone.

I graduated school at the end of April and got my license almost immediately after. I had a practical interview today at the spa I currently work at. I wasnt entirely confident in my skills yet, but I knew I could handle it and, if anything, learn from this experience. It went much worse than expected. I feel like the facial was fine, and I followed the movements for a cleanse and massage that I know from school, but they basically told me they had higher expectations from me since I have been working there for about 6 months. They mostly told me my bedside manner needed work (specifically consultation, not personality wise) and that my facial steps felt scripted. It didn't entirely have me feel defeated, but I'm also just overwhelmed with what I'm supposed to do fresh out of school. I don't have money to invest in supplies to practice on friends at home right now. I was mostly nervous going into this knowing they would have higher expectations for me versus someone else they don't know, and that got to me a lot during the facial. We did this interview with the hopes that I would begin training in June. It had already been scheduled to start then; it's not happening anymore.

The feedback I received was to focus on learning about products and ingredients, and working to find my own flow in a facial. Thankfully, they're giving me the chance to try again in 2-3 months.

I felt confident that I would do better and be able to at least get into training with them to improve my skills, and now I don't have that. How am I supposed to learn more real life experience? My school did not prepare me well for consultations and the clients we did get in school made it so difficult to talk to them as if they were my client. None of them ever wanted to answer questions regarding products at home or specific concerns, etc.

Like I said, I don't feel entirely defeated, but I was hopeful this would be my chance to learn more real life experience by being trained by professionals.

With all of that, what are your tips for pre and post consultations, learning products, and finding new techniques and ways of cleansing/massaging?

I’m starting to look for Jobs within the field now that i’m graduated. I think I do fairly well in interviews but I know that I really struggle when they ask if I have any questions. I don’t really know what to ask, that’s one thing I’m not prepared for. I would ask about pay but they tend to already explain that. I also try to consider everything they tell me and try to come up with questions based on that but everything they say is fairly self explanatory and easy to understand.

Hey guys! I'm a licensed esthetician, I want to do a Q&A video soon. Do you guys have any questions that I can answer in my video ?(:

Hello! I’m a licensed esthetician and my mother is as well. We have a family esthetics/spa business that has been open for over 20 years. I took over as the manager about 2 years ago, and it’s only the two of us running things.

I’ve grown our Instagram organically from about 400 to 900 followers, but it feels like it has taken forever. We don’t currently have the budget for marketing help, so I’m trying to learn how to use Instagram more strategically to increase local visibility and bring in new clients.

I know the obvious basics: have a clear bio, post Reels, keep the page visually clean, show your work, etc.

What I’m looking for are the bigger “must-knows” that business owners often miss-the things that actually help with visibility, engagement, local reach, and converting followers into clients.

For those of you who have grown your esthetics/spa business through Instagram, what made the biggest difference? What do you wish you understood sooner?

Thank you!

I am planning to get bush balm hard wax for all body/face waxing and i was planning to use it on brows because when i used satin smooth ultra sensitive zinc soft wax a few months ago on my boyfriend, skin lifted. i used muslin strips which i never used before. so that just scared me away from using soft wax on clients but i feel like i have to. bc using hard wax is such a pain for eyebrows (when ive done it on myself) and its not as crisp.

is the muslin strip the main culprit of the lifting because it adhears too much compared to non-woven?

do you guys like bush balm for body? and what soft wax would you recommend for brows?

I have a practical interview tomorrow at massage envy for the esthetician position. I have no prior spa experience, only experience with makeup and beauty retail using my esthetician license . Any advice would be helpful! I am so nervous. I recently did an interview and practical at a hotel spa. The interviewer loved me , loved my answers to the questions. and loved my facial. Her only feed back was I could’ve added more pressure to the neck massage. At the end of the day, they chose someone with more experience than me. So I just feel a little down. What are tips /tricks I should know!! Thanks in advance.

So I’m on the side of TikTok where door to door sales is coming big again and I was jw everyone’s thoughts on door to door sales of products?

And I’m trying to understand what is the difference between med spa and regular? Like as being a med spa esti vs not?

Like unless ur an rn or dr u can’t do injectables in my state or most states anyway? So what does it entail?

Where does doing hydrafacials fall? Is that more med spa side or no?

Its constant anxiety. Will I make my rent and bills. Its a constant hustle and physically draining. When I first started there was none of these cheap franchise places and I worked at spas where you were paid well. Now its so draining to go to a job where you may have 2 appointments and you only get paid 25 to 27 an appointment 🙄 the owners are not therapist and want you to do a 50 minute facial and sell products when you only have 2 minutes to flip the room. Rebook but yet they end up giving the people that rebooked with you to other Estheticians. Then they expect you to get a bunch of new client memberships and do it all over again. These franchise places have to go. The owners are not massage therapists or Estheticians but they try to tell you how to sell, how to prebook and how to upgrade services. They don't pay you anything hourly expect you to just sit around, they over hire and everybody sits just waiting for appointments without any compensation. If I do go out and market myself they still try to give the clients to others therapists. The clients act entitled and its only a cheap franchise. Maybe I'm just done. I have worked at high end spas, hotels and franchises and it seems spa therapists are treated poorly.

Hi guys I’ve had my license for about a year and I am just now able to rent my own room. Given that I will be providing everything for myself, what are your tried and true credit card(s)? Ive been doing some research and looking between chase, and capital one, maybe Amex down the line. Any input helps, thanks a bunch!

I have a repeat client coming in later today for a brow lamination. She has coarse, curly brow hairs that resist lamination, and I’m wondering if anyone has any tips? We use Yumi, I’ve processed her up to the max time in the past, and she will still have some hairs that don’t respond at all. One time it seemed like it worked and then as I was finishing the service, some of her hair started reverting back to their original curl pattern.

I usually cleanse the brow area with a micellar cleanser (per our protocol), saturate the brow with step one and cover with plastic wrap, checking every 3 minutes and adding more if needed. Step 2 is applied for the same time under plastic. Then I shape the brows and apply the step 3 serum and set with brow gel (again, per our protocol).

TLDR: is it worth reapplying to a job, and any advice for me?

So I saw a great job opportunity for me that was in the med spa field. I did a website application with a small video clip, and they seemed really excited to interview me. However when I got to the interview it was not with the person who screened applications, rather it was with a brand new hiring manager who had been there for one week and couldn’t answer a question about the job. Our interview lasted 5 minutes, where she just reasked me my availability (which was fully flexible) that I already wrote on my application she didn’t have in front of her? and sent me on my way.

I’m worried maybe I didn’t seem interested enough, but that was entirely because she told me she couldn’t answer any questions for me before she asked if I had any questions for her.

I guess I’m hung up on the job because I see they reposted it, and I don’t feel like I actually got a real interview that at least someone in the company wanted me to have.

That said, I’m wondering if it’s worth reaching back out about? Is there anything I can say politely that shows my interest and that I’d like a fair shot at a real interview. I don’t know how to do that without seeming like I’m throwing her under the bus, however I’m not sure if others in the company even know I didn’t really get interviewed.

Thanks in advance for any advice, especially if you are in the hiring field!

I honestly just need advice from other estheticians because I’m feeling extremely discouraged with this industry right now.

I left my previous job because I was dealing with a very toxic coworker situation and thought moving to a new medspa would be a better opportunity for me mentally, professionally, and financially. The environment itself is definitely less toxic, but the problem now is that it is SO slow. Barely any clients. Thankfully I’m currently getting hourly pay for my first 90 days, but after that it transitions more heavily into commission and honestly it’s stressing me out badly because the books are just not where they need to be.

I also recently had another uncomfortable situation happen at work involving boundaries with a coworker, and it just made me realize how emotionally draining this industry can sometimes be on top of the financial instability.

I’ve been applying and interviewing for other jobs as well, including executive assistant, operations, patient coordinator, and admin roles, but I’m finding that a lot of places either want people working until 9–10 PM consistently or the roles are completely commission based, which I just cannot do anymore financially.

The frustrating part is I actually love aesthetics. I’m a Licensed Master Esthetician, I have experience in medspa and plastic surgery environments, I’ve helped with marketing, training new hires, operations, client retention, social media, and building businesses. But I’m tired of constantly feeling unstable financially or relying on inconsistent books.

I’m also currently in school because I do plan on eventually transitioning careers long term, but while I’m in school I still obviously have bills and responsibilities, so I need stability and consistent income right now.

I’m not really in the financial position to open my own suite or full business at the moment, but one of my clients does own a space and I’ve considered maybe renting a room a few days a week eventually just to slowly build my own clientele independently while still working another stable job. I just don’t know if that’s smarter than trying to stay in the medspa world long term.

For those who stayed in aesthetics, pivoted out, opened their own place, rented rooms, went solo, or switched into coordinator/management/admin roles within the industry, what did you do? Did things get better? I honestly just feel very lost career wise right now.

I’m feeling very conflicted at the moment with my new esthetician job.

I shadowed a long time esthetician today at this 5 star fancy spa I landed a position at through talking with the owner on Facebook, we did an interview and are entering a training period. I’m being paid 19 an hour in California for this period and was promised a raise after training. They do things like hydrafacials and infrared.

This place has steady clientele, a professional environment, nice management so far, and I felt pretty good about everything. However, some things I noticed were that the girl I shadowed did not sanitize her equipment/devices in between treatments. She wiped them off with a wet wipe and that was it. For her last client, she even reused the bed liner. That was a bit of a shock, but I guessed that I would want to do things differently when I get my own room.

Secondly, I noticed that the products and packages are expensive, upsold, and clients are paying more for the luxury experience or high end feeling rather than good products for a reasonable price point. We sell devices for 5-10k and a basic cleanser can go up to $300. That doesn’t really sit well with me, but if they’re paying for it, they’re paying for it, I guess. It’s brands like Nefertiti and Formidabless and the like.

The clients seemed relaxed and the esthi was friendly with them and everything, but these things just made me a bit uneasy. There’s a lot of returning clients and people buying the packages and it’s an extremely highly rated salon. I just don’t know if this is a common thing that is seen in the spa world.

I prefer doing hair removal and not being able to do that here is kind of a bummer, but if said pay raise is given and I start earning tips and commission while being able to rise above because of my hygiene standards, that will be OK with me. Also if the management doesn’t turn out to be insufferable and if the hygiene standards aren’t a systemic issue, that’ll be fine with me as well.

Advice would be appreciated. Thank you!

Hi! Im a student esthetician, and I am attending school in a city that I am not from. This has made it very hard for me to fill my books..

I try posting social media and giving out my business card but I never hear from people. Im averaging 1-2 clients a week💀

Im not sure how to get myself out there and get people into my school to get the practice I need.

Does anyone have any advice on what I should do different or add anything to promote myself? Thank you💕

I had a full face of botox including masseters on Saturday and I forgot about my wisdom tooth removal surgery scheduled for Tuesday. I can’t reschedule it right now because it has passed the window and it will cost me money. Will this surgery mess up anything for me? What do I do?

I've accepted an ongoing position doing esthetics for a family — mom, dad, and two teen daughters. Some services are covered through the mom's disability insurance (skincare, hair removal, etc.), and they pay the rest out of pocket. I'm in my second year of school, no license is required where I live, and my teacher has no issues with it.

The setup feels professional and comfortable — they have a dedicated room, and there's always other people around (kids, a housekeeper). The wife was upfront about only asking for services I'm comfortable with. So far I've done manis/pedis for the family, facials for the parents, a back facial, and scalp massages for the daughters.

Pay is $47/hr minimum, roughly one 7–8 hour day every two weeks (possibly weekly). They supply everything and I'd be paid as a personal household employee with deductions, vacation pay, workers comp, etc. The first cheque was VERY generous — (worked out to $125 an hour!!) because I think they wanted to show good faith.

It all seems legitimate and positive, but I'm curious if there's anything I should watch out for. (Not in the US, for reference.)

Hiii everyone! I just started my first esthetician job about a month or two ago. It has honestly not been the easiest thing in the world. I am looking to my boss as a mentor of sorts, but she is a complicated person, so I don't always feel the support I wish I had. I know that is normal for this industry, so it is what it is.

Sometimes I will have a client ask me a question about laser hair removal that I'm not quite sure about, and I have humility, so I am completely fine saying, "I'm not quite sure, let me ask my boss so I can make sure I am giving you accurate information." Well, yesterday when I was asking her about a question I got (the question was, "Is it normal to get ingrowns after laser hair removal"), she told me that if I am ever in a treatment room and don't know a question to surreptitiously ask ChatGPT. I feel like this isn't appropriate?? In general, I don't love AI, but using it as a resource without being transparent with your client seems wrong?

After she said this, we had a client come in who had a unique medical history. I think she went on ChatGPT to ask if she could still do a laser on her because she seemed unsure. Suddenly, she went on her phone and seemed confident that it was okay. Of course, it was my client, so I felt awkward because I am now doing this client, unsure if it's 100% okay or not, because we are taking AI's word on it. Is this normal?? Let me know what you guys think and if I am being dramatic.