Estheticians (Skin Care)

I. JOB SUMMARY

Main Topic: Human Geography
Secondary Topic: Environment and Society

Overview: Skincare specialists, also known as estheticians, provide cleansing and other face and body treatments to enhance a person’s appearance. They usually work in salons and beauty and health spas, and some are self-employed. Part-time work is common, and work schedules may vary and include evenings and weekends. Specifically they are responsible for evaluating clients’ skin condition and appearance, analyze the reasons for the issues, discuss available treatments for their skin, determine suitable products to specific clients’ skin quality, follow procedures while performing approved treatments, teach and advice clients on how to take care of their skin and refer clients to another skin care specialist, such as dermatologist for serious skin problems.

Skincare specialists give facials, full-body treatments, and head and neck massages to improve the health and appearance of the skin. Some provide other skincare treatments to remove dead or dry skin, such as masks, peels, and scrubs. They also may provide eyelash services, makeup application, and hair removal. In addition, these specialists create daily skincare routines for clients based on skin analysis and help them understand which products will work best for them. 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. Skincare specialists usually work in salons and beauty and health spas. Some work in medical offices.

Skincare specialists need geographic skills for different reasons. To begin with, hair and skin type and quality largely depends on which geographic region a person is coming from or what kind of climate the person has been exposed to. Likewise, different skin problems may arise because of the atmospheric qualities or level of pollution and even the availability of a certain kind of virus or bacteria present in the air of a specific place. The geographic characteristics of a place significantly influences these issues. Hence, having geographic and ecological knowledge would serve the skin care specialists the best in identifying these issues and administering the proper solutions. They can also identify and record geographic patters and geographic causes for incidences of skin problems based on different sources of data using GIS.

Geographers at work:  Health geographers, human geographers, environmental geographers

Recommended College Courses:  Health geography, human geography, social geography, environmental geography, geographic information science, physical geography

Skills:  Cultural analysis and research, geographic information systems, spatial analysis.

Occupation Group: Personal Care and Service

Learn more about Skin Care from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and U.S. Department of Labor: https://www.bls.gov/ooh/personal-care-and-service/skincare-specialists.htm#tab-1