Can You Survive On An Esthetician's Salary?

I read a lot of esthetician forums where students thinking about going to esthetician school are worried that this career path might not generate enough money to live on. It is a a great question, and many estheticians debate this on the forums. Can you survive on an esthetician's salary?

Everyone lives a different lifestyle so to say one can or cannot survive on an esthetician's salary is lumping every esthetician in the same group. We all live very differently depending on our circumstances. No one can say with a 100% accuracy how much YOU will make as an esthetician, and if they do they are misleading you because it can't be done. There are too many factors affecting your salary as an esthetician.

Are you going to work per hour for a doctor? Will you work on a 50/50 or 60/40 split? Is it possible for you to earn commission on your product sales at your place of employment? Do you think you might run your own esthetics business? Is it possible you might teach esthetics for a community college? The list goes on and on, and it could be one full-time job or a couple of part-time jobs, it all depends on your personal situation.

I don't think anyone goes into esthetics to become RICH, most people go into this for the love of it. If you become rich from it, it is probably from a lot of hard work and a little bit of luck. Like any profession, there is an average salary and then there are people who achieve financial results that most never accomplish in that profession.

I think it is prudent for anyone going into any career path to look at salaries; to listen to what other people in the field have experienced both financially and professionally; and analyze the information and see how it fits into their career path. There is no one cookie cutter method for determining the correct career path.

In our uncertain economic times, I think many people are seeking careers that offer stability but the fact is careers that used to be recession proof no longer are, and people need to look at all their options before making a final choice. If you love esthetics and this is absolutely something you want to do, but you are worried about finances then you could also pick a less expensive school and try it out. Don't invest $10,000 grand into an expensive school, allow yourself to try out two careers at once. That is the beauty of esthetics, it is always something you can do on a part-time basis while maintaining another career.

Remember, with esthetics you don't need to spend top dollar for your education because they all are licensing facilities, so whether you go to a $1,000 a year or a $10,000 year a school, at the end you will still get a state esthetics license. The education following your basic licensing course is where you will obtain much of your knowledge, so if you have a choice between a super expensive school and less expensive school (think community college) I would recommend the less expensive school because you will learn so much more after your licensing course, and then you don't have to make a ton of money to pay off those student loans.

I am not going to tell you that you are going to become rich from esthetics, I can't tell you whether you will make enough money to survive in esthetics, but I will tell you that you can be in control of your career path by doing your research and figuring out the best course of action. Don't sign up with the first esthetician school with all the bells and whistles, take your time and think about it, and remember you have to pay back that hefty school loan whether you make a lot in esthetics or not!

I don't want to steer anyone away from this career because it is something I absolutely love, but I think it is important to encourage you to research it before you decide. Do you really love esthetics? When I was in school, I was amazed at the number of people who only mildly liked esthetics and they were going to continue on and graduate. Why would they spend the money? Their passion for the field was little to none, and yet they continued on the path. For me, it is something that I think about all the time, I am constantly reading about the field-constantly trying out new products--always learning about new cosmetic procedures etc. And I think that is how I know this is meant for me because I wouldn't be me without esthetics.

Author of Jump Start Your Esthetics Career: A Guide For Newly Licensed Estheticians