Beauty is more than skin deep. It begins inside with a body and mind that are healthy and well nourished. As a beautician, you’ll improve clients’ appearance through hairstyling, cosmetics, and nail care. But more so, you’ll bridge the gap between beauty and wellness, helping clients feel good both inside and out.
What is Beauty and Wellness?
The definition of beauty is a set of aesthetically pleasing characteristics. However, it’s more than shiny hair, flawless nails and perfect make-up that make someone beautiful. It’s bright eyes, a warm smile, and a posture that conveys confidence.
Difficult to define, the standard of beauty has evolved throughout history. However, more people today than ever say that beauty is an external manifestation of physical, emotional, and spiritual health, three of the six dimensions of wellness. Wellness is defined in different ways, but most experts agree it’s a balanced, holistic lifestyle based on healthy habits.
What is the Importance of Beauty and Wellness?
Beauty and wellness are inseparable because wellness makes you feel good and feeling good makes you look beautiful. Beauty and wellness services:
Boost Self-Esteem
Appearance isn’t everything, but people are happiest when they look their best. Still, not everyone has the skill to cut their own hair and choose the right cosmetics. Cosmetologists are trained to help clients make the most of their natural beauty so they can feel good about themselves.
Enhance Confidence
Physical appearance affects confidence. Most people perceive that they’re judged personally and professionally by their appearance, so it’s important to meet cultural standards at work and in social situations.
Feeling like you don’t look as good as your friends and coworkers is a blow to anyone’s confidence, but regular skin and nail care helps people hold their heads high and engage more with others. For professionals, it can make or break their careers.
Relieve Stress
Working all week doesn’t leave much time for self-care. Over time, people feel stuck in a rut. However, while not everyone can quit their jobs or upend their daily routine, they can take an hour or two for themselves once a month to get a new hair color or a facial. There’s nothing like occasional pampering to relieve stress.
Following a beauty regimen is also proven to help busy women prioritize self-care. It’s a precious few minutes of “me time” that we can all claim. Following a skin care routine, for example, is oddly centering because it requires focus. Forgetting your worries for a few moments a day helps reduce stress and anxiety.
Inspire Positivity
It’s hard to be positive when you look in the mirror and don’t like what you see. The job you love feels old. Colors look dull and enthusiasm for fun wanes. However, when you look and feel as good as the people and things around you, it changes your perspective. Suddenly, you feel more positive and want to share your joy with others. Beauty is contagious and motivating.
Improve Physical Health
Cosmetologists aren’t doctors, but they learn about the medical conditions that affect the hair and nails. In fact, it’s often a beautician who first spots problems like hair loss and nail abnormalities.
Beauty is also linked to stronger immunity. In a recent study, participants who were told they had attractive faces had healthier immune responses to bacterial infection. Being complimented for your looks appears to have tangible benefits.
The relationship between beauty and health seems vague, yet the connections are hard to ignore. Ultimately, we know that beauty services complement health services, bringing aesthetics and wellness full circle.
How Do You Learn About Beauty and Wellness?
An easier to learn about beauty and wellness is through a cosmetology program. Comprehensive, they teach you how to perform the services most employers expect plus business skills that open the door to self-employment opportunities. In as little as 10 months attending full-time, you can go from being a kitchen table beautician to a professional cosmetologist.
What Do You Learn During a Cosmetology Program?
The hair, facials, makeup, and nail care services cosmetologists offer more than aesthetic value. Each has a physical, emotional, and mental health dimension that you’ll learn to address in cosmetology school. You’ll learn the finer points of:
Hair Cutting
Haircuts are the most sought-after beauty service. Quick and affordable, just a few minutes in the chair can give someone a whole new look.
First, you’ll learn about the anatomy and physiology of hair and the impact of various hair care products. Topics include scalp health, hair growth patterns and how to work with split ends and thinning hair.
Next, you’ll move to aesthetics, learning how to frame locks to enhance the client’s facial features. Before you start cutting, you’ll be well-prepared for most challenges.
Initially, you’ll work on wigs, practicing the scissors and razor techniques required for modern haircuts from pixies to bobs. However, before you graduate, you’ll have the opportunity to serve clients in either a school-run salon or during externships.
Hairstyling
Most clients ask their hairstylist for everyday styling advice. As the professional, they’ll want you to show them the products and techniques that will help them look their best. However, there’s also a market for special occasion styling, so you’ll learn everything from curling to wedding updos. Topics include drying, curling, straightening, extensions and more.
Hair Coloring
Most women and some men color their hair regularly. It’s a form of self-expression to some clients and an affordable adventure to others. Second only to haircuts, it’s among a salon’s most popular and profitable services. A form of art, it’s a creative endeavor. So, like an artist, you’ll learn to work with different shades to achieve the perfect color.
The course begins with color theory which explains how hair absorbs color based on its texture and pigment. Other topics include hair color formulations and safety concerns. You’ll learn to patch test skin for allergies.
Once you know the basics, you’ll experiment with coloring and decoloring hair until you’re confident that you can create the right shade. And since each client is unique, you’ll discover how to disguise flaws and enhance facial features with highlights and lowlights.
Manicures
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, demand for manicurists and pedicurists is projected to grow 33 percent in the coming decade. You’ll learn both of these valuable skills in a cosmetology program.
Instruction in manicures begins with basic sanitation and health precautions. Knowing how to keep your workstation clean is critical to preventing the spread of disease. Bacteria, for example, can build up on nail clippers. Topics include infection control procedures and equipment care.
You’ll learn how to soak, massage, and moisturize hands and how to deal with ragged cuticles before applying enhancements like tips, wraps, and polish. It’s both a creative and technical process.
Pedicures
Pedicures are similar to manicures but on toenails. Working with feet, however, requires even more caution. Because so many health conditions, such as diabetes, affect circulation and skin health, students are taught the same handling techniques as podiatrists. What will you learn?
Subjects include age-related changes in the feet and nails, safety strategies, and how to handle problems like ingrown nails. You’ll then learn the same finishing methods from buffing to polishing.
Facials
The skin is your largest organ. It keeps you hydrated and protects your muscles and organs from UV rays, but when damaged, it’s physically uncomfortable and challenging to live with emotionally. A beautician’s approach to skin care addresses both of these considerations.
In cosmetology school, you’ll concentrate on facials, cleansing, moisturizing, or exfoliating treatments applied to the face and neck. The goal is to improve the client’s complexion, but there’s also an education component.
Wellness habits and product use have a lot to do with how skin looks, so students learn to interview clients about their lifestyle and health history before recommending treatments. Redness, lines, and wrinkles, for example, may be caused by a medical condition or lifestyle issue from excessive sun exposure to poor nutrition.
You’ll also learn to educate clients about home treatment regimens. Most experts say people use the wrong products for their skin type. After exploring the ingredients in professional-grade and over-the-counter options, you’ll feel empowered to help clients make the best choices.
Associated with spa treatments, facials are also a stress-reducing service. A warm mud mask is just the break some people need to brighten a tough week. Course topics include interpersonal communication techniques and methods for creating a relaxing and restorative environment.
Cosmetics
Applying make-up is a skill. It takes a steady hand and an eye for color and symmetry. Cosmetology programs teach the basics of make-up application plus the latest techniques. From cat eyes to high-volume lashes, you’ll learn to give clients a Hollywood look.
Like hairstyling, there’s also a growing market for special occasion cosmetics. Some beauticians specialize exclusively in prom and wedding preparation.
Final Thoughts
Wellness and beauty walk hand in hand. Never-ending processes that evolve over the years, both are lifelong works in progress that cosmetologists and clients can tackle together. Ready to start a rewarding career in cosmetology, Meridian College can help.
Want to Learn More?
Did you enjoy learning about the importance of beauty and wellness? Meridian College offers a Cosmetology training program in Florida that prepares you to deliver high–quality beauty and hair services to both men and women. Their hands–on Cosmetology training program gives you the skills you need to start an exciting career and become a leader in the beauty industry.
Contact Meridian College today to learn more about becoming a cosmetologist.