Skincare Services

Skincare Services

Skincare continues to be one of the fastest-growing segments of the beauty market. Theories to explain what is spurring this growth are varied; however, the trend itself cannot be questioned. One of the most popular explanations is that, giving proof to their worst fears, baby boomers and yuppies are aging and the effects of years of too much stress and too little restraint finally are beginning to show.

The fact that this group of consumers makes up only one-third of the U.S. population but controls two-thirds of the country’s disposable income makes it all the more attractive as a customer group.

If you’re in the business of offering skincare services, or even planning to get into it, there are two things of which you should be aware: First, consumers who pride themselves on thinking and acting young have the funds to keep their outer appearances from contradicting their inner convictions; second, if you want to be in the business of assisting them in this pursuit, you’re going to have a lot of competition. On the other hand, skincare is potentially a huge market. Few Americans currently treat themselves to regular skincare, although most, if not all, should.

Out of this huge potential market, there are and will be many different degrees of service required to satisfy the range of their wants and needs. In fact, there are six distinct and, for the most part, non-competing levels of skincare services currently offered in the United States. Each has its function and its own consumer group and, in concert, all enhance one another by creating heightened awareness of skincare in general.

1. Drug Store/Grocery Store 
The most basic level, the drug store or grocery store cannot really be considered serious skincare, yet its importance in the overall scheme of things should not be discounted. The products available are relatively inexpensive surface treatments and rarely, if ever, go beyond mild scrubs, cleansers and moisturizers. This is just as well, since the salesperson’s level of education about the product, the skin and their functions is often little better than that of the customer. Basic as it may seem, this is the level at which many consumers first encounter the concept of regular skincare.

2. The Department Store/Multilevel 
The second level consists of the skincare/cosmetic counters in many of today’s upscale department stores sponsored by companies such as Estée Lauder, Cliniqué and Lancome, single-product skincare storefronts like Merle Norman and multilevel organizations such as Mary Kay. In these settings, the salespeople are highly trained, but primarily on the product line they represent, and not on the clinical aspects of skincare. Most of the time, the salesperson is paid a base salary by the store and commissions on product sales by the sponsoring company. A cosmetologist or esthetician’s license is not always a prerequisite.

Services performed usually are limited to superficial cleaning of the facial skin and demonstration of how to apply makeup. Descriptions of the products available and their effects are also a part of the sales pitch. The focus is more on the products themselves than on treatments or skincare as a whole.

The products in these lines usually consist of scrubs, cleansers, toners and a variety of moisturizers. Packaging and promotion are very slick, much more so than in almost any other skincare level, and often are backed by ad campaigns in national consumer beauty and fashion magazines. There is some debate whether the products deliver all that is promised in the ads, but they do usually offer more long-term benefits than their drug and grocery store relatives.

3. The Beauty Shop/ Beauty Supply Outlet 
Beauty shops and beauty supply outlets are the first level in our breakdown where skincare treatments actually enter the picture. They are performed by licensed estheticians and cosmetologists in a salon setting and typically encompass facials, cleansing and moisturizing treatments. The facials are usually not as deep-acting as in more intensive skincare salons, but they do serve to interest customers in skincare and produce short-term benefits for clients.

The products used and sold may be from a variety of manufacturers and almost always incorporate both in-salon and at-home versions of cleansers, exfoliants, toners and moisturizers, in addition to makeup.

4. The Skincare Salon 
The skincare salon may also be described as a beauty salon whose primary function is skincare. At most, massage and nail services are offered in addition to skincare, but almost never hair. All technicians in skincare salons are licensed either in esthetics or in cosmetology, with a particular emphasis on skin.

These salons may have their own extensive product line covering a wide range of skincare treatments for a variety of skin types and conditions. Typically, services such as cleansing, facials, light peels, aromatherapy, normalizing of problem skin conditions and even camouflaging makeup are performed. Clients may realize real, long-term benefits in these salons, and should usually be prepared to pay for them.

5. The Paramedical Skincare Clinic 
A primary focus of the paramedical skincare clinic is working with physicians such as dermatologists, plastic and cosmetic surgeons and, increasingly, dentists, to improve the results and minimize the side effects of medical procedures. This is not necessarily the clinics’ only focus, as most also have a customer base of fairly wealthy clients whose interests lie in receiving intensive skin services.

A growing area requiring intensive training, this level deals frequently with clearing acne, post-surgical scar reduction, restoring skin tone after liposuction, improving elasticity of facial skin following face lifts, burn therapy, electrolysis and a number of other medical subjects. Doctors in these areas are becoming increasingly sensitive to patients’ concerns about cosmetic effects of common treatments and are more willing than ever before to work with knowledgeable skincare professionals.

Paramedical skincare clinics are not tied into one brand of products, as the range of their needs usually goes beyond the abilities of any single product line. Services include cleansing and toning, peels, camouflaging makeup, permanent makeup and the treatment of chronic skin conditions.

6. Physicians 
The most drastic level of skin services are performed by those with licenses to practice medicine. Be they dermatologists, plastic and cosmetic surgeons or doctors of other specialties, their services can more dramatically affect the condition and function of the skin than those of any other skincare practitioner. Although they approach skincare from a very different direction and usually are not taught cosmetic treatments, they certainly are practicing skincare nonetheless.

The range of procedures and products open to them is far too extensive to discuss here, nor would such a discussion even be profitable. However, since they are becoming increasingly open to working with others in the skincare industry, any valid description of the field must include them.

As the recent surge in popularity attests, skincare is a diverse field with a lot to offer. Although there is some overlap between the different levels, most are not in competition with one another. Each level has its own strengths and limitations, many of which are imposed by the customers. For example, the client who is interested in a $25 facial at a beauty salon will not be easily swayed into parting with the $75 to $80 charged by many skincare and paramedical clinics. Nor will the client who has justified the expense of the latter treatment and become accustomed to its effects be satisfied with the results of the former.

Together, all six levels can cooperate to enhance the value of skincare perceived by the public as a whole, which will tend to create a better business climate for all concerned. Whether they begin in the grocery store, the department store or the beauty salon, anything people do for their skin that they weren’t doing before is an improvement.