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Beauty and hair

Careers in beauty and hair

There are lots of different roles within beauty and hair.

You could:

  • give advice on how to use and apply beauty products
  • talk to customers about what they want
  • order stock, take payments and make appointments

There are roles at all levels with lots of routes in. You can find out about the different entry routes you can take on the job profiles.

Decorative.

Examples of careers in beauty and hair

Within this sub-sector, you'll find a range of career opportunities.

We've selected a few examples to show the variety of roles, levels and training times. Training time is the amount of time it takes to learn and gain the experience needed to do the job well.

Click on any of the job profiles to view information on entry routes, salary and progressions opportunities, plus much more.

View all careers in this sub-sector

Hear from people working in beauty and hair

Hear from individuals working in beauty and hair to find out about the jobs they do to see if a career in this sub-sector could be for you.

Meet nail technician Alison

Alison's always learning new things to keep up with the latest trends.

1 minute 6 second watch

View transcript

So you start off doing your basics at college: your level 2, level 3.

I did both so took like two and a half years. And then went into salons.

And then you do tend to get like product training, so for different brands and things like that. So I've done a lot of that over the years and then picked up other things.

I think you need to be very open. I think you learn a lot from talking to people in the public, you kind of almost become a therapist.

So I do nails. We do gel polish, I do manicure, pedicure, waxing, facials, lash lifts, massage.

I think with our industry, as with hair and beauty, you are always learning and there's always something else to learn. You have to keep up with trends, you have to keep up with things happening, new treatments.

So there's always something you can learn to do.

I like that I meet different people all day, and I love that I don't do the same thing all day. So I can do different treatments day in day out and I'm not just sat doing one thing. I'm not just sat at a desk. Although sometimes I am just at my desk all day, but a majority of the time I like that I have a variety.

Watch other videos

Hear from others working in beauty and hair to find out more about their role.

Meet beauty therapist Amy

Amy now owns her own beauty therapy business.

1 minute 57 second watch

View transcript

Hi my name’s Amy and I’m the owner of the Nail and Beauty Studio in Dronfield.

So, I started with my level 2 beauty therapy. Turns out from there I thoroughly enjoyed it and went on to do my level 3.

Then I came here - I worked for the previous owner for 5 years.

I kind of got a little bit itchy feet… went out to Australia! And I worked in a salon there. So I learned various different techniques, it was a completely different way of working in a salon. But it was great that I could take my skill from one country to another.

I then came back home and my job was still available here, so took it back.

And then that's when I approached the previous owner and said I'd like a bit more would you be willing to sell the business. And that's when I bought the business around 8 years ago now.

So normal day at the salon involves getting here around 9/9:30 we set the salon up, open the blinds, turn everything on, make sure it's all clean and tidy.

First client normally arrives at 9:30 - can be anything from a facial, waxing, massage, nails.

And you can meet so many different people as well. Like, your first client can be someone completely different to your client just after lunch.

It's quite interesting because you almost become that person that can change your personality to suit each client to.

I have this one particular client that has probably through my career has been the highlight.

Started coming to me when she was 18. Really stressed skin, suffered with acne. Worked with her and for probably 9 or 10 years now.

We've looked into different treatments. I've actually done specific training in a certain treatment just so I can offer it to her.

To see her come in now with no makeup on whatsoever with a big smile on her face saying ‘I've not worn makeup to work for three weeks’, I feel that's the best part of my job really making someone feel comfortable in their own skin.

Meet barber Will

Will has worked as a barber for around 9 years.

1 minute 33 second watch

View transcript

I'm Will, I'm a barber and I work at a shop called Citadel in Sheffield City Centre.

My stepdad really wanted to try out this new barber shop. So he took me into this barber shop to get my haircut because I had some job interviews lined up.

And I literally got my haircut got chatting to the guy who owned the shop who cut all my hair off. And he was literally just like oh well instead of these interviews, I'll teach you how to cut hair if you want. I was just like, ‘yeah all right’.

I'm so happy I did it. I've done it nearly 9 years now, and I've made so many good friends through it.

I've managed to move cities, I've managed to do loads of stuff.

And it's the people you meet as well. It's just like… it's the coolest thing ever.

An average day for me is probably I get into the shop, I like to get in a bit early.

Set all my stuff up: oil all those clippers, clean everything down, just get ready for the day.

Then literally I just cut hair!

I get here, I chat loads of rubbish to people all day, have a really fun time and just cut hair.

Because someone can show you a picture and you've gone right… I now need to figure out like this guy's head shape and his hair density and his hair thickness and whether or not his hair could actually do this specific style or not. And you just kind of do it without even realising now.

It's your people skills and your timekeeping skills and like the haircut is probably 20%. It's a customer service. You get to know people so well that they feel so comfortable to open up to you like that.

What's a better feeling than knowing someone's so comfortable with essentially a random stranger they've just met, and they can talk to them about anything and leave feeling better and feeling that they look better as well.

Example pay ranges in beauty and hair

Below are some examples of the pay you could earn from working in different jobs in this sub-sector.

If you’d like to see more salary information for more jobs in this sub-sector, you can view all careers in beauty and hair.

We estimate our salary ranges based on different sources. Find out more about the sources we use for salary information.

We'll put a salary as variable if reliable information is difficult to find. This might happen for jobs that are often freelance or have lots of self-employed workers.

Job role Starting pay Pay with experience
Beauty consultant £21,000 £25,000
Beauty therapist £23,000 £29,000
Hairdresser £19,000 £30,000
Make-up artist Variable Variable
Nail technician £19,000 £23,000
Tattooist and body piercer Variable Variable

Find out what type of career is right for you

If you're unsure about the type of careers that are right for you, you can take a skills assessment. There are no right or wrong answers when doing a skills assessment. It’s a way to understand yourself better and help you think about your next step.

Take a skills assessment

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