If you are considering a future in skin care, ASCP can help you decide. If you have questions that are not answered on this page, please feel free to contact us. You are also welcome to ask questions on our message forum for estheticians, instructors, and students at www.skincareprofessionals.com.

What does an esthetician do?
Estheticians provide facial skin care treatments, and often body treatments too, such as scrubs and wraps. The most common services performed are facials, waxing, and microdermabrasion. After gaining experience, some estheticians decide to specialize in just one type of service: for example, waxing, bridal makeup, or acne treatment. But most offer a complete range of skin care services to their clients. To learn more about the most common skin care services, and the difference between an esthetician, a dermatologist, and a cosmetologist, see our Skin Care Therapies educational page.

What training/licensing do I need?
This depends on state regulations. Please check our State Regulation Guide (PDF) to find the requirements for your state. You can also find contact information for each state's regulatory agency on our Board Information page. In most states, you're looking at around 600 hours of schooling, though it can vary from 300 to 1500 hours. Only one state, Connecticut, has no training or licensing requirement.

Where do estheticians work?
Most estheticians work in a day spa or salon. They may do this as employees, or as independent contractors to the spa/salon. Others work independently from their own home. Skin care is a job that can be done either full-time or part-time.

Career planning resources from ASCP
  • Find a skin care school. This page lists all the skin care schools in the USA and Canada.

  • Fill out the form below to receive our brochure Thinking About Career Options: Esthetics/Skin Care Therapies. It includes information on trends in the profession, ideas for employment, choosing a training program, financial aid resources, licensing boards, and more.


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