Beauty Therapy Training

[Chickafish]

I'm a nail tech, but I've been thinking of expanding to beauty therapy. Only problem is, after days of googling, I'm at a lost and everything I've read has totally confused me. So here we go.

Basically, I want to train to be a full on aesthetician. I understand most training here go by levels (lvl 1,2,3 ect). However, I don't know which I should be looking at. I have no clue what these different initials I'm seeing mean. (Bear with me. I'm American.) I've seen NVQ, BTEC, CIDESCO, CIBTAC, and ITEC. What's the difference between all these and which one would be best for me? I probably left a lot of fields blank so please feel free to ask me questions as well. It's been a long day and I'm having lots of brain farts. lol. Thanks in advance. x

 

[Chickafish]

:|no one...

 

[dandelionpoppy]

Hi Chickafish....didn't want to read and run, so it may be helpful to pop into your local college and have a chat with an advisor. HTH XX

 

[lauramarie]

NVQs which are often called diplomas as well now are probably the most common training for beauty therapists in the UK and are offered at most colleges. The level 1 is an introduction to the beauty industry and can be skipped as no full treatments are covered. Level 2 will cover manicure, pedicure, facials, waxing, makeup and eyelashes and brows and maybe an optional unit. The level 3 then has 2 different routes one specialising in massage and one in electrical treatments. The options vary by different colleges. Most colleges will offer NVQ/diplomas which are similar.

BTEC can be a level 2 or 3 qualification and at each level will follow the same treatments. This is less common but is what I am studying and really enjoying it. It contains more theory although because of this we have one less practical lesson a week. Depending on your college there are also units available in business, marketing, nutrition and formulating beauty products. I chose the Level 3 BTEC because that covered the most treatments of all the courses at my college and really want to make the most of my 2 years training.

CIBTAC and CIDESCO are both more expensive as they will only be run at private colleges. I don't know much about them though.

Any of the above qualifications would mean you were qualified in all the treatments you covered in the course and would be able to start job hunting. I would recommend studying to a level 3 standard as body massage is popular and a lot of employers would be looking for you to be able to do that treatment. I'm not sure which if these qualifications would be recognised in America although I know if you go to CIBTACs website there is a list of countries its accredited in.

Contacting local colleges is useful and they should be happy to let you meet tutors and take a look around the facilities. A lot of them have salons where the students work on clients to gain experience so it may be nice to book in for a cheap treatment and see what they have learnt.

There are individual courses run for separate treatments but you may find it harder to find employment with these as you would learn treatment by treatment.

You need to look on college websites and have a look and see what you think is right for you as some courses will be full time, others will be part time and some may take 2 years whereas others may be shorter. Make sure you enquire about costs and finance as course fees vary greatly and you will also have to purchase a kit and uniform which may not be included.

I hope you find a course to suit you x