Are therapists taking things seriously?

[Matthew Taylor]

Hey guys.
Its been a while since I posted a thread, but I've been thinking about some things that make me wonder which way our industry is really heading.

Ive read so many posts on here from (new?) therapists that are wanting skincare products, but want something that will cover all skin types, i.e. just the 1 cleanser/toner/moisturiser or just for dry skin as they recon that their (yet to materialise) client base will be mature therefore only have dry skin.
I take calls when I'm in the office from therapists wanting to buy our products and buy our smallest kit, but then grumble that they were only looking at spending around £50 and so they don't bother.

I'm just intrigued to know why people come into our industry and feel that they can do everything on the cheap, yet charge their clients top dollar.

I understand that starting up can be hard, but really...? I think that people need to realise that to be a credible therapist you have to have products to cater for at least dry/combination/oily and that you cannot do treatments with just 1 cleanser for all, and that there is a element of cost setting up a business.

What are everyone else thoughts on this? Where do you see our industry in 5/10/15 years from now?

 

[dandelionpoppy]

I absolutely agree that each client is an individual. We may think in terms of a "typical" teenage or mature skin, and as a base for kits that is a start, but not everybody is typical, and everyone has unique skin.

I understand, though, that budgets can be limited and it can be daunting to stock everything in a range unless you are doing a lot of facials per week, as lesser used products will run out-of-date.

Where will the industry be in 10 years time?

If the economy is still stagnant then I think that facials will be mainly taken up by the higher income bracket, and therefore,actually, the higher-end treatments will be the most popular. If we have a boom, and confidence is rising then a healthy market will be there for all.

 

[virtues2011]

I believe it is down to the lack of ability for a lot of people to retain information that they are taught, and of course the competence of the trainer or college to teach, how 'easy' people think it is to start a business and a lack of understanding towards basic accounting procedures, staffing and business acumen. It shows on here daily.

It would be prudent in my opinion that you have to train for a certain period of time, take exams for competency in all aspects of business and have a certain amount of funding in place before you can start any business within this industry. That would leave only half of the geeks on this site in that case!

I can't see it getting any better - I agree with DP that the most advanced treatments will be the earners and will limit the number of therapists being able to offer them due to the costs involved and location, so hopefully will reduce the silly pricing competition. I am witnessing this now.



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[Martin Duffy]

It is quite depressing when you come on here to see endless topics asking for 'cheap products' or the one 'with the lowest outlay', not to mention the 'professional' recommendation that people use x,y or z because it's cheap or smells nice, or even worse, threads where 'professionals' are advising OTC products.

I suspects it's mostly due to a poor quality of education, probably combined with a lack of business understanding - they don't seem to realise that you (mostly) have to spend money to make money!

 

[Ella's Tresses]

Recalling my college days, my facial kit was heavily scented cleanser, toner and moisturiser for combination skin, harsh scrub exfoliant and DIY powder and liquid masques. As far as I was concerned when I left college this was really all you needed, along with a bit of steam, to provide a facial service.

I was lucky that my first job was in a dermalogica salon and I spent the next two years on courses at the IDI learning what I really think I should have learnt at college.

Why, I ask myself, can Dermalogica and other skin care companies like them offer a two week course giving you the skills and knowledge to provide an excellent facial but colleges can't manage it in a year?

I really believe that with newly qualified therapists they just don't understand how much of a knowledge gap they have. The cheap, substandard products used in many colleges is why they think they only need a few products for combination skin (one size fits all) and that they can pop down the wholesalers with £50 and get it all!

I am very much of the opinion that work experience at level 2 should be compulsory. I also think students should be steered away from going straight into business when they finish college.

Perhaps there needs to be a run along course for business skills for those determined to go straight into it.

 

[squidgernetball]

I think it takes a lot to be seen as a credible therapist. I don't know about charging clients top dollar - there doesn't seem to be any clients, or everyone is undercutting each other.

I certainly came out of college with a fairly good comprehension of the need for good skincare - it was never a one size fits all, but I had a love of the beauty industry already, so I had read about it, looked, listened and learned. I left college and took on a high end skincare brand for my home salon - the outlay back then ran into several thousand! I had a card machine as I wanted to be seen as making my clients lives easier. I had a full make up range and kept learning. The business has grown and I spent more on training last year - 13 years after qualifying - than in any preceding years!

I'm sure we all have different markets and different visions for our businesses - but ultimately that's what it is - business, and if people have no comprehension of business and how it works, maybe they should learn about that first!

I had a client in the other day who was given a voucher for another salon. She had a major allergic reaction so went back to the salon with a swollen face covered in tiny pimples. The owner initially denied responsibility, but when the client showed her that the allergy stopped where the towel had been, she backed down. She offered the client a facial that would sort it out - a paraffin wax facial! The client refused, but asked for the name of the products used. When she told me what they were, I think my face said it all!!!

Everything we use, spend, invest in, says something about our business - from the products to our decor to the quality of our towels and couch covers. You just have to make sure it says what you want it to say!!!

Vicki x

 

[serenity2012]

When I was at college studying we had an in depth course where we learnt all the different skin types and which products to use for which skin type. How to make 'homemade' mask using certain products for different skin types etc so that when we went into industry we knew what to do to diagnose and then treat

 

[Martin Duffy]

Why, I ask myself, can Dermalogica and other skin care companies like them offer a two week course giving you the skills and knowledge to provide an excellent facial but colleges can't manage it in a year?

I often wonder this! I had a very good grounding in facials on my HND at Chichester, but when I went to work in my first salon I was sent on my Decleor training course, and learnt so much more - mainly that a college facial is nothing like an industry standard facial!

In various jobs I have trained in various product lines, and every time I have been astounded at how well the training is delivered in such a short time compared to what is being taught in many colleges. Maybe some college tutors should go and see how it's being done by professional product houses, and try and replicate it in college, rather than teaching facials like we're still in the 70's!!

 

[virtues2011]

Could it be that colleges are not brand specific so teach 'generally', they also teach a lot more than skincare with quite large classes with pupils learning at different speeds which probably doesn't help.

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[hellishbellish]

Could it be that colleges are not brand specific so teach 'generally', they also teach a lot more than skincare with quite large classes with pupils learning at different speeds which probably doesn't help.

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I also think to a certain extent the syllabus dictates what should be taught - any more than this in depth and there isn't enough time for them to cover all that needs to be. Not to say I don't think it should be taught in colleges, though I think it is a look at the exam boards as well as the teachers.

 

[facelashbrow]

I am new to the industry and I dont think people ARE charging top dollar, thats the problem. They think they should charge £10 or £15 and therefore need cheap products... I think not enough colleges are teaching beauty therapists about quality and being reputable and theres such a facebook culture. Luckily my college was not one of them.

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[facelashbrow]

Salongeek has helped me identify my usp though, quality and credibility and beig a "geek" about beauty, not just going through the motions on the cheap. Shouldn't really be a usp but industey standard, but hey!

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[smallandcute]

This is why i really feel that the whole beauty education system should be changed. For starters at the mimute it would appear colleges are more then happy to let anyone and everyone on the course. Sadly many of those see it as an easy life and really cant be bothered so colleges/awarding bodies dumb down the syllabus. I think the entry requirements need to substantially higher. This should then (hopefully) weed out those who see it as an easy get out course and those who want to be in the industry will have a much better chance of doing well and learning lots.

The exam bodies should be toughening the syllabus up and be going into more depth then they currently are. Think more a level biology and a and p standards then a basic overview. The business modules should be far more in depth and i really think that two and a half days a college is just not enough. It should be at least four days if not the whole five days.

I think soon its going to be a case of those who really want to be in this industry will get on all the training they can, and be undertaking higher education. I think fe is just not going to cover it anymore and will be seen as a very basic entry to the industry and without further training and education therapists will not be employable or be able to open their own business. Those who want a devoted and knowledgable therapist will be ensuring that they are well trained and educated to a very high standard and those offering cheap and nasty will find it very difficult to do anything. But this can only happen when the public get educated and stop seeing this work as a silly thing and the awarding bodies start pulling their socks up and stop letting their students down.

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[dandelionpoppy]

I think that, compared with school, colleges are not as rigorously challenged by inspections. I feel quite strongly about this.
The standard of teaching in colleges is very variable. I was lucky; I was taught by a good tutor who taught part-time and also had her own salon. I was in a very small class - ever shrinking actually - and we trained in Dermalogica, including their signature moves. We also were able to sign on for extra courses.
I have to say that, as an ex-teacher and headteacher, I could be critical of the delivery of curriculum practice. There was a limited range of teaching styles, and little or no regard to individual learning styles.

I have to say that I don't believe that entry to courses should be based mainly on academic attainment. I had high achievement on that score, but there were students, who had just scraped in, who were far more able and quick to assimilate the skills and knowledge. I got there but had to work hard; it didn't come easily to me.

 

[jmd1980]

Sadly it all comes down to money. When I was doing my NVQs, in those days full time meant full time. We were in college four days a week, and one day in a placement salon. Now NVQ and VRQ are taught over three days a week, with no placement, and the main reason for this is the reduction in cost for delivering in less time. The best teacher, or best student in the world, can only work with the time they are given. I am unable to teach half of what I would like to, as the time allows for only the most basic delivery. So whose fault is it? The colleges need to allocate more time. The awarding bodies need to be stricter about their allocated delivery hours. Teachers need to push out the classroom walls and encourage more independent learning. Learners need to realise that practice, study and directed reading at home are essential to develop competency. Just my tuppence worth !

 

[Julie-Liz]

Recalling my college days, my facial kit was heavily scented cleanser, toner and moisturiser for combination skin, harsh scrub exfoliant and DIY powder and liquid masques. As far as I was concerned when I left college this was really all you needed, along with a bit of steam, to provide a facial service.

I was lucky that my first job was in a dermalogica salon and I spent the next two years on courses at the IDI learning what I really think I should have learnt at college.

Why, I ask myself, can Dermalogica and other skin care companies like them offer a two week course giving you the skills and knowledge to provide an excellent facial but colleges can't manage it in a year?

I really believe that with newly qualified therapists they just don't understand how much of a knowledge gap they have. The cheap, substandard products used in many colleges is why they think they only need a few products for combination skin (one size fits all) and that they can pop down the wholesalers with £50 and get it all!

I am very much of the opinion that work experience at level 2 should be compulsory. I also think students should be steered away from going straight into business when they finish college.

Perhaps there needs to be a run along course for business skills for those determined to go straight into it.

And this is why i am sooooo glad my college stocks Dermalogica and we have training with reps from the company and we are sent out on placement. I think some places offer better training than others. Depends on area i suppose and funding for the course. It does worry me if therapists are looking for the cheapest products or one size fits all approaches to skin care. My favourite part is analysing the skin, talking to clients and helping them improve problems with thier skin. I couldnt just cleanse tone massage throw on a mask with any old products and send a client on thier way n hope for the best. Tailoring any treatment is the best part!

I hope i am being trained to a high standard, we invest a lot of time and effort into our course and it would be awful if we left as an ok therapist, i want to be a great one! Perhaps those who are looking for things on the cheap will be weeded out over time and wont see returning clients? That would be sad for them especially if they havent been taught any different.

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[facelashbrow]

This thread stands out amongst so many at the moment which are "well I do it and its fine" rather than best practise and setting a high standard.

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[Paige@TheClinik]

I am so glad someone has said this, why are therapists drawn in by cheap versions of a good product? I have always said you pay cheap, you pay twice and that has never been more true since working with 2 very good companies who charge what I would class as reasonable for the quality, education and treatment itself, I have seen so many therapists come to our courses after being on the cheap ones or inquiring after going on a low quality course and not being able to afford ours. it's sad but I do believe some companies can have no compassion for this industry and therapists to be offering low cost low quality training/products

Xx

 

[squidgernetball]

I am so glad someone has said this, why are therapists drawn in by cheap versions of a good product? I have always said you pay cheap, you pay twice and that has never been more true since working with 2 very good companies who charge what I would class as reasonable for the quality, education and treatment itself, I have seen so many therapists come to our courses after being on the cheap ones or inquiring after going on a low quality course and not being able to afford ours. it's sad but I do believe some companies can have no compassion for this industry and therapists to be offering low cost low quality training/products

Xx

The others thing that makes me mad is 'does anyone know a good cheap nail course/wax teacher/lash course within five minutes walk of my house?' rather than finding the best there is and traveling to it. Training can be expensive and good training can be really expensive - I know, I paid for a weeks course in London for me and my daughter with hotel - but is there really much to be learnt, gained or achieved by doing the closest and/or the cheapest rather than the most highly recommended? People come on here asking for recommendations then say they can't travel or afford it. The recommendations come from people who have done it. If it's that good, chances are it won't be cheap and it won't be on your doorstep...........Although some may get lucky!
Money will always be an issue but I wish people would stop looking for cheap shortcuts and start investing in their futures!

Vic x

 

[B-Beauty]

I believe its lack of good product knowledge and how good your college is also your own interest as a therapist in product research and of course results . My hnd was very in depth in product knowledge and skincare if you didnt know you simply would not pass !
We were trained from hnc level to use and work with dermalogica i believe there is plenty of good skincare options out there and no you do not have to invest thousands into its all about learning knowing your stuff and research !
Not just going with a brand because they are cheap x