Beauty and Wellness

Beauty and wellness covers hair and skin services, cosmetology, makeup artistry, nail and beauty therapy, spa and massage therapy, and the wellness services around them. It is a large and growing sector, and unusually for this site, it is one where the training is short, the start-up cost is low, and working for yourself is the normal outcome rather than the exception.

How you get in. Certificate and diploma courses running from a few weeks to a year, through private academies, government skill development schemes and the sector skill council. There is no degree requirement. Apprenticing in a working salon is a legitimate and often better route, because this is a craft learned on real clients — and it pays something while you learn rather than costing you.

Where the work is. Salons and spas, from local shops to chains; hotels and resorts; bridal and event makeup, which is seasonal and among the better paid; film, television and fashion; product companies as trainers and demonstrators; and home-service and freelance work, which has grown quickly and needs almost no capital. Many practitioners eventually run a chair, then a salon.

The honest part, in two directions. First, the training market is full of academies charging large fees against promises of placement and celebrity work. A short course from an unknown academy is worth what your hands can do at the end of it and nothing more — ask to speak to previous students, and prefer a cheaper course plus real salon experience over an expensive one alone. Second, income depends on clientele rather than qualification. It is slow at first, builds on trust and word of mouth, and becomes genuinely good for people who keep clients. The work is also physically demanding, standing for long hours, and the hours are when clients are free — evenings, weekends and every festival season.