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.

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.

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.