Educational Requirements for a cosmetologist

• To become a cosmetologist, he or she should at least be 16 years old and must attend a cosmetology school.
• In few of the states, one must have done diploma in cosmetology.
• There are many programs for a Cosmetologist to get trained.
• Training on cosmetology lasts up to one year and you can earn a related degree.
• Pedicurists and manicurists trainings are not very long.
• Pedicurists and manicurists are those experts that care for their customers nails.
• All the cosmetologist professionals like the hairstylists, manicurists and pedicurists must be licensed.
• Once done with the training programs conducted by the state, the next step is to take a certification exam conducted administered by the state.
• In general, one needs to take certification exams for skin care experts, manicurists and pedicurists separately.
• One can get trained from a public or a private vocational school to become a cosmetologist.
• There is a fulltime course and an evening course as well. A full time course in cosmetology takes about 7 to 11 months to complete.
• Full time courses include psychology, cleanliness and the techniques to sell the product to the customer.
• There are also evening courses but it takes much time to complete the entire course.
• In addition to the training in cosmetology, few schools train on the subjects that are needed for a diploma.
• This type of training takes at least 2 or 3 years to complete.
• Many of the states prefer licensed cosmetologists.
• Yet, the educational requirements vary from state to state.
• The license exam includes written test and also the demonstration part.
• They even conduct oral exams in which the candidates are asked to explain the techniques and methods used in cosmetology.
• The license the cosmetologist gets must be renewed for every 2 years.
• Normal courses include techniques to cut hair, hair colouring, and advantages of massages, treating of scalp, practicals and cosmetology law.
• Many of the courses also include guidelines and instructions on salon management.

How is a cosmetologist certified?

• Cosmetologists are those experts that work to improve the beauty of the individuals.
• They apply makeup, cut hair, and shape the nails and cares for the skin.
• Few of the cosmetologists are specialized in any of the work where as few of them do a little of all the work.
• Some of them work in salons or in the barber shops, while few of them run business on their own.
• Each and every state has different requirements for an individual to become a cosmetologist; but the thing in common is that all the candidates interested in cosmetology must gain license before they start their practice.

Here are few instructions that help you to become a licensed practitioner:

• Go online and search for a good cosmetology school that offers the courses you are interested to learn and then apply for it.
• Many of these cosmetology schools need a high school degree or a degree equivalent to it.
• There are also many colleges, institutes and schools that offer courses in cosmetology.
• Check for the requirements in your state to obtain license in cosmetology.
• Register in the selected school; most of these schools offer both the part time and the full time courses.
• Majority of the students takes at least 1,300 to 1,500 hours to complete the course.
• The next step after completing the course is to take the licensing exam when you are ready to take the certification.
• There are also students who do apprenticeship just to gain experience in the work they do.
• License is a must in every state to practice cosmetology.
• License exam is taken when the individual is done with his or her training programs.
• The exam on the whole consists of two parts; written and practical. There are few states that require additional licensing exams for skin care and nail experts. You need to pay fees to obtain the license. The written exam consist questions from topics like chemical and physical services, hair designing; whereas the practical exam includes topics like chemical relaxing, hairstyling, curling, hair dying and chemical waving.

Salary of a Cosmetologist:

The average annual salary of a cosmetologist was $11.13 in the year 2008; the salary earned by them also includes tips and the incentives.

The salary of a cosmetologist depends on few factors like experience that one possesses, type of industry he is working in, the location and also the employer type.

Salary on experience:

The annual salary of a cosmetologist with less than one experience gains the salary between $7.52 and $10.50 in an hour. As the experience increases he or she gets more pay. The average salary of a cosmetologist with one to four years experience is $11,714 to $49,956 in a year, if she has experience more than 20 years, she can earn $12,325 to $59,654 on an average in a year. The below table shows the salary of cosmetologists based on the years of experience.

Salary based on industry:

The top-paying industry for a cosmetologist is the hair and beauty salons with an average salary in the range of $12,000 to $61,042. The other top paying industries are Day Spa with an average salary of $28,348; Cosmetology school with an average salary of $30, 500. The table below lists out the salary based on industries.

Salary based on State:

The top paying state for a cosmetologist was Texas as in the year 2008. The other states include California, Ohio, Florida, Illinois, Michigan and Georgia. The table below lists out the salary ranges of a cosmetologist based on the states they work in.

Skills to become a Cosmetologist:

• Cosmetologists should be creative and should have zeal to make their customers look attractive.
• As their work involves communication with different clients, they should have good communication skills, good personality and also must have fluency in majority of the languages.
• They should be able to stand for a longer period.
• Sales skills are also very important for a cosmetologist to have.
• This way they can retain their customers and can add some value to the beauty salon.
• This field of cosmetologist is very competitive and challenging as their main goal is to retain the existing customers and to attract new customers.
• A cosmetologist, who is interested to run their own business, must and should possess business skills as well.
• The hair dressers and the hair stylists who cut the hair, shampoos and conditions should be an expert in cosmetic chemistry and should also know the exact measurements of the chemical solutions they mix such as hair dyes and bleaches.
• They should even be an expert in using clippers, scissors, and curlers to give the stylish look to the customers.
• The experts who are specialists in dealing with skin are called estheticians.
• These professionals perform body and scalp massages, facials with a variety of creams and lotions.
• They need to be skilled in this work as they come in contact with the customers face when removing unwanted hair and when shaping eyebrows.
• They are also skilled in using color cosmetics and also advice people the best products that are suitable for their skin.
• They should also be skilled in maintaining a neat and clean work environment.
• They must understand the concept of bacteriology and also should know how to clean the equipment that they use on the customers.
• Manicurists and Pedicurists must be skilled in correct shaping of nails.
• Like the aestheticians, manicurists and pedicurists should also keep their work environment neat and tidy.

What does a Cosmetologist do?

Cosmetologists are those who take care of people’s skin, nails and hair. These experts are also called hairdressers or beauticians. Majority of the cosmetologists work in beauty salons and few set up their own businesses; few work in barber shops, hospitals, unisex shops and in hotels. Cosmetologists use many beauty products on the customers and they even sell these products to the customers at their saloons.

Most of them primarily work on hair. They cut the hair as required, shampoo it, style it, colour it and also straighten it based on the customer needs. They even use dyes and bleaches. To give a stylish touch to the customer’s hair, they use clippers, dryers, scissors and curlers to curl the hair. There are also cosmetologists you sell wigs and hair clips.

Apart from hair, they even care for nails and skin. These beauticians provide scalp treatments, do facials and massage the scalp. To massage the scalp, they use several lotions and creams. They do facials, shape the eyebrows and also remove the unwanted hair from the face. They even provide guidelines to their customers on the use of makeup.  They provide advices and suggest them the products to be used based on the skin type. Those experts who care for nails are called manicurists. These manicurists often apply cream or lotion to the nails and trim them. Once trimming of nails is done, they file the nails into good shape and then apply the nail polish.

Cosmetologists should ensure that the equipments they use and the work environment should always be kept clean and tidy. They even answer telephone calls and fix the appointments. They make sales on the cosmetic products they use. They sell cosmetics, hairbrushes, products for skin and hair, etc. They help their co-workers, order for the products and manage the reports of the products.

In general, a cosmetologist working in a small shop will do everything starting from manicure, shampooing to answering the calls and ordering the products; whereas the cosmetologists working in large shops are specialized in few areas like hair cutting, coloring or manicuring. Cosmetologists should be creative while working on the customers. They should be able to suggest the hair styles that suit them the best. There are also situations where a cosmetologist needs to use more chemicals. They can protect their hands by wearing rubber gloves. They should interact with all type of customers.

Duties and Responsibilities of a Cosmetologist:

The duties and responsibilities of a Cosmetologist vary depending on the specialization and the place they are working in. Specializations that are covered under this job are:

1.    Hairdressers: These experts are those that have done their graduation from reputed cosmetology schools. Hairdressers and hairstylists provide many services to their customers that include cutting hair, shampooing, colouring, dying and styling. Few of these hairdressers or hairstylists are given training to take care of the skin and the nails.

2.    Makeup artists: Few of the cosmetologists are experts in the application of makeup. They provide services and training to the customers. They even provide guidelines on request of the customers.

3.    Barbers: The duties of the barber are to cut the hair, shampoo and give a stylish look to the customer’s hair. They even do facials and massages.

4.    Nail experts: These experts are known as pedicurists and manicurists. Nail technician’s does manicure, pedicure, massage and nail coloring. Additionally, these experts also guide people on maintaining their hands and feet.

5.    Skin care professionals: These are the professionals who take care of the skin; they try to improve the skin tone by doing facials, massages and also provide treatments for skin. These specialists have many techniques; they even remove unwanted hair through waxing and electrolysis.

6.    Shampooers: There are many spas that hire shampooers; Shampooers are those that are specialized in shampooing and conditioning the hair. There are also shampooers who provide wigs and hair pieces.

General duties that all these cosmetologists take care of are: scheduling appointments, answering the phone calls, ordering the products needed, selling the products, noting down the contacts of the client for future purpose and keeping their work place clean and tidy.

Few of the big salons employ receptionists to take care of all the above said duties. Mostly, the cosmetologist should be able to do any of these duties on a regular basis.