What does a beauty therapist do & how AI can help them?

If you want to build your career in the beauty industry as a therapist, you need to develop skills and qualifications in this exciting field. Beauty therapies facilitate self-expression. As a beauty therapist, your responsibility is to look after and pamper your clients. As a result, they will feel gorgeous from the inside and outside. With comprehensive knowledge and skill, beauty therapists offer a wide range of beauty and wellness treatments. 

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Let’s imagine you are improving someone’s skin health or elevating their beauty with various salon treatments. In this process, you are not just enhancing their skin health. Rather, you are connecting with your clients emotionally. Ultimately, beauty therapists help brands build customer loyalty since they provide their clients with sincere guidance and tailored treatments. 

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A strong passion and dedication can help you find your career path as a beauty therapist. Achieving certifications and experience in this sector will guide you through the ways to build a beauty salon business. Otherwise, you can specialize in any area of beauty therapies and work as a professional in an organization. 

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Nowadays, beauty therapists take assistance from AI to earn the trust of their customers and deliver them a unique experience. Also, AI-driven software and apps will make their job easy and fast. The spa and salon software market size is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.9% by 2030. Here, I am going to discuss the role and responsibilities of a beauty therapist, and how they can boost their practice with the help of AI. 

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What is beauty therapy?

‘Beauty therapy’ is a term that refers to a range of procedures and treatments for enhancing or preserving an individual’s physical appearance. It includes skin care, cosmetic application, and body treatments. Beauty therapists get professional instructions on the latest procedures and materials. Most importantly, they provide personalized treatments to their clients and give complete beauty therapy advice.  

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Combining old beauty secrets with new technology, expert beauty therapists elevate the self-image and well-being of your clients. If you want to explore this field as your career option, you need to prioritize the unique needs of your clients. Beauty therapy brings higher confidence, lower stress, and improved skin conditions among customers. It includes training for the professionals so that they can gain deep product knowledge and practical skills. 

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Benefits of beauty therapy

Self-care is an important aspect when it comes to finding your best version. Beauty routine is associated with mental and emotional well-being. When your customers look good, they will feel good too. To ensure this, beauty therapists design their solutions to serve each client with unique methods and treatments. 

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“Beauty comes in many different forms, methods, and flavors…a sublime merging from the inner to outer.”- Courtney Spaulding.

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• If a woman client is dealing with stress, beauty therapists will help her with mind-body relaxation. Spa treatments (facials, massages, skincare) help them relax their physical and mental state. 

• Beauty therapies, such as facials, massages, etc., will relax the body and mind. Your clients will reduce muscle tension and temporary discomfort. Beauty therapists can enhance the appearance of skin conditions (acne, dryness, dullness) through cosmetic treatments.

• An ideal beauty therapy can ‘break the negative cycle and thought patterns’. When your clients are facing depression and anxiety issues, recommend self-care beauty routines that will offer calming effects. 

• For your clients who are struggling with self-esteem and finding self-worth, as a beauty therapist, you can empower them with self-reflective beauty routines. It is an effective way to express themselves. 

• You can boost productivity in your customers with the help of tailored beauty routines and treatments. It will allow them to reboot and recharge themselves. They will regain energy to flourish in different realms of their life. 

• When an individual experiences burnout, it will affect their relationships with family, friends, or co-workers. Practising self-care through beauty therapies can improve mood, reduce irritability, and support social well-being.

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Who is a beauty therapist? 

A beauty therapist is a skilled and experienced professional who offers a multitude of beauty services and treatments to enhance the look and wellness of your clients. According to the requirements and concerns of the clients, beauty therapists suggest to them the most appropriate therapies or treatments. Their beauty services include facial massage, body care, nail care, hair removal, spa, and relaxation therapies. 

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What skills & qualifications do you need to be a beauty therapist?

To become an expert beauty therapist, you need to earn certifications and the required qualifications. A nationally recognised certification will make you reliable in the eyes of clients, employers, and peers. Apart from this, supplementary or high-quality training will help you possess the necessary knowledge and skills. 

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Also, you can get into diploma courses to be a beauty therapist within a short period. Choosing the right beauty training academy and taking up your suitable courses can turn you from an entry-level practitioner into a professional beauty therapist. A passion for beauty and skincare can support you in achieving successful career opportunities in this industry. 

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But training and certifications are not enough to build a prosperous future in beauty therapy. You should develop communication and time management skills to aim for the expert-level therapist. Also, you need to grow your fine motor skills, flexibility, and creativity to provide professional standard beauty services. 

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Role & responsibilities of a beauty therapist

Based on their qualifications, skills, work atmosphere, and employer, a beauty therapist focuses on friendly care and professional services. They can deliver specialized treatments following their clients’ evolving needs. Here, I am breaking down what a beauty therapist does:

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1. Comprehensive consultation & evaluation

Beauty therapists conduct a thorough consultation to build a strong relationship with their clients. They discuss a client’s needs, preferences, and particular skin issues. Then, professionals will recommend tailored treatments to them. With this initial assessment, they can help their customers achieve the desired outcome. 

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2. Specialized skincare therapies

Professional therapists provide their clients with unique beauty solutions following their skin concerns. They do facials and face or body massages. Also, they offer product recommendations after analyzing the skin conditions of every client. As a beauty therapist, you should provide ongoing support in between appointments. Thus, you can help your clients maintain healthy skin. 

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3. Diverse makeup application

Some beauty therapists specialize in doing makeup for occasions, daily wear, or photoshoots. They can also provide their clients with self-makeup lessons. It will help them develop makeup application skills.

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4. Nail care therapies

It includes manicure, pedicure, nail art, and other related services. Therapists offer aesthetic enhancements to the nails of their customers that will complement their style and preferences. 

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5. Hair care & removal 

Beauty therapists are skilled to perform hair removal processes, such as waxing, threading, etc. Apart from these, some beauty experts offer hair spa and other hair care techniques. 

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6. Product recommendations & sales

Expert therapists should be well-versed in product innovations and ingredients. They need to stay competitive by having a proper knowledge of product usage and its advantages. So, they are capable of promoting and selling your brand’s products to clients. 

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What does an AI skin advisor do? 

AI skin advisor provides AI solutions tailored for your business. It is designed for the beauty and skincare industries. The latest LLMs, NLP, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), enable AI-powered skin advisors to deliver professional-level responses and personalized recommendations in real-time. Now, I am going to discuss its functions:

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AI-driven skin analysis

The skin analysis tool detects the skin type and texture of a consumer and recognises its issues with accuracy. Then it recommends customized skincare routines and products. You can integrate the skin analysis software into apps or handheld devices. The image recognition technology analyzes the present conditions of your client’s skin.

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Some AI tools, such as SkinVision (EU-certified) and DermaSensor (FDA-cleared), analyze skin lesions. Most importantly, AI-powered dermatology tools help with early detection of conditions like melanoma, enabling earlier doctor consultation. Also, they can provide progress reports and suggest adjustments.

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Makeup recommendations & try-on solutions

AI skin advisors function as an AI-driven pro makeup artist. According to your client’s facial shape and features, it will suggest the right cosmetics. Consumers can try on the makeup products to check how they suit them. Thus, AI helps promote brand-specific products by showing realistic previews.

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Makeup tutorials

With AR technology, AI skin advisors provide step-by-step makeup application guidance. It will help you guide your clients to learn self-makeup. AI tutorials reduce repetitive explanations for basic tasks.

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Brand-savvy GPT

Choose your brand’s voice, no matter if it is engaging, funny, professional, or high-end. The AI skin advisor adapts with the tone, style, and product knowledge of your brand. Thus, it will reflect your brand’s voice and product catalog. 

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Best beauty AI solution providers

I have assembled some platforms that provide SDKs for beauty AI solutions. So, on this list, you will find some software that can overhaul your beauty therapies with the help of AI. Let’s discover where to draw the AI line in your journey as a beauty therapist: 

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1. GlamAR

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As a leading provider of beauty AI solutions, GlamAR offers AI-powered facial skin analysis. Beauty therapists can utilize this facial skincare solution to assess and refine their clients’ skin conditions. It can analyze 14+ skin conditions, including spots, wrinkles, and pores. Using this tool, your clients will receive a personalized skin report. Based on their skin age and score, they will also receive accurate product recommendations. 

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The software can map products from a catalog to skin issues. In this manner, it will help enhance your customer satisfaction and increase sales. If I were a beauty therapist running my beauty brand, I would use these advanced AI solutions for skincare, makeup, and hair color.

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Features: 

• In-depth analysis: To ensure accurate analysis, the technology is trained on extensive data points. It evaluates 150+ unique multidimensional facial biomarkers. Also, it uses 94 algorithms to recommend skincare products. 

• Live diagnosis: I tested and tried GlamAR’s live skin analysis by scanning my facial image. It analyzed my skin issues and suggested a personalized skincare routine. 

• Makeup try-on: Your clients can try on different shades and finishes of makeup products before final commitment. They can compare their before-and-after look and do multiproduct comparisons. It will help beauty therapists give their customers a desirable and custom makeup look with no scope for disappointment. 

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2. Perfect Corp

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It offers a dermatologist-verified AI skin analysis tool. The tool provides skin assessment and a customized skincare routine, with a diagnostic tool and full face mapping technology. You can integrate this software into websites, apps, and other platforms. It can scan and measure skin type and conditions. Also, it reveals the skin age of your clients. 

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As a beauty therapist, you can help your clients achieve their preferred makeup look with the AI makeup transfer technology. They need to upload their selfie and reference makeup look. In this way, they can check if the look will suit them or not. The best part is that the AI engine recommends brand-specific products for the virtual makeup filter. 

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Features: 

• AI foundation shade finder: It detects the skin tones of your customers and suggests the perfect foundation for them. Makeup artists can take help from this tool while applying foundation to their clients’ faces. They will find it an accurate and reliable tool to discover the right shade of foundation for consumers. 

• Nail polish try-on: Your customers can experiment with nail colors, shapes, and styles, using this virtual nail try-on technology. They can also try on press-on nails or acrylic nails. The instant live preview of the nail products will make your clients confident while choosing the right nail product for themselves. 

• Hair color try-on: The virtual hair color simulator supports multi-color try-ons. It can detect curl types and recommend hair products. Hair styling experts can get help from this tool. They can suggest the right hair dye color patterns to their clients. 

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3. Orbo AI

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OrboAI has BeautyGPT that transforms product discovery for consumers. Intuitive prompts allow your customers to find their necessary products in one click. Beauty therapists use BeautyGPT since it integrates with a brand’s digital product catalog to deliver personalized recommendations. It considers intent, face, skin, weather, and context to recommend products to improve your clients’ skin health and beauty appeal.

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BeautyGPT can work on websites, apps, digital kiosks, or smart mirrors. It allows you to track your customers’ skin health. Apart from personalized product suggestions, it enables your clients to try on the products before final application. BeautyGPT acts as a personal assistant for beauty therapists. 

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Features: 

• Smart skin analysis: The AI skin analysis technology will help you answer your clients every skin-related query by decoding their facial images. It can detect 6 different skin types and ethnicities with the accurate measurement of 209 unique facial points and 16+ skin parameters. Thus, it will deliver you a detailed skin assessment model. Beauty therapists can use these insights to recommend personalized cosmetic routines.

• Virtual makeup try-on: The tool allows your customers to try on makeup products or preset makeup looks in real time. It offers personalized recommendations for makeup products. So, makeup artists will get confidence in makeup application after visualizing their clients’ desired look. The calibration tool will help them select the right products for their customers. 

• Virtual hairstyle & hair color: If I had a hair salon, I would definitely use the virtual hairstyle and hair color technology. Based on the skin tone and face shape of my customers, these technologies could recommend an ideal haircut and suitable hair color for each client. It will assist salon professionals in making the right choice for their customers. 

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4. Haut.AI

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Haut.AI takes the crown of providing science-backed AI solutions. It enables beauty brands to deliver personalized skincare experiences. It is a SaaS platform that analyzes 15+ skin health and measurable beauty metrics (e.g., wrinkles, pigmentation, redness, hydration). Haut.AI delivers high accuracy in visual skin analysis. Your clients will get interactive skin assessments along with recommended products.

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The generative AI empowers skin simulations. The SkinGPT of Haut.AI supports every skin tone, type, and condition. You and your clients can see the effects of skincare treatments or products over time on this platform. It will also allow your customers to try on skincare products and experience the long-term impact of those products on their skin. 

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Features: 

• SkinGPT application: It demonstrates long-term impacts, ingredient effects, and simulates the combined effects of skincare products. So, beauty therapists can showcase to their clients how the skincare solutions would affect their skin. 

• AI-powered skin analysis: It evaluates the skin of your customers and recommends the best skincare products based on their skin metrics. It will help beauty therapists apply treatments with confidence.

• Customized solutions: The skin analysis technology uses 94 algorithms to recommend personalized skincare products. Consumers, regardless of skin tone and type, can get skincare products to improve skin health.

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Can AI replace professional beauty therapists?

Nowadays, AI facilitates beauty, spa, and aesthetic sectors. From identifying skin issues to enhancing client experiences, AI is assisting health and wellness professionals, such as beauty therapists, to elevate their services with the necessary human touch. The AI skin analysis reduces guesswork by providing objective data. It enables beauty therapists to recommend personalized products for their clients.

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AI reduces consultation time by pre-collecting and analyzing data. It can collect your client’s data before an appointment. In this manner, you can focus on tailored solutions rather than time-consuming discussions. Human therapists confirm results, assess lifestyle factors, and provide the emotional connection that AI cannot replace.

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Apart from this, AI will help you in tracking your client’s skin progress, which can enhance customer engagement and retention. The automated follow-ups remind your clients of their next appointments at the salon, spa, or therapeutic centre. Most importantly, they can see their actual skin age on AI-driven skin analysis platforms, which encourages them to continue skincare treatments and routines. 

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But “AI can never replace the salon professional,” says Candace Mitchell Haris, one of the famous beauty tech innovators. Instead, it empowers them to boost their service. Professionals can take support from AI to make their journey smooth and fast. Human expertise, skills, understanding, and intuition are irreplaceable in this beauty industry. Therefore, AI is an added benefit, and it cannot replace the combination of head, hands, and heart of human beings. 

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The latest beauty therapy trends

AI-powered skincare solutions have been influencing the beauty industry. If you are an expert beauty therapist or a newbie in the field of beauty therapy, you should follow contemporary beauty therapy trends. It will increase your knowledge and scope in the world of beauty therapy. Let's learn more about the latest trends in beauty therapy: 

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1. AI skin analysis

AI-driven diagnostic tools and skin analysis techniques have enhanced the quality and accuracy of skincare solutions. Beauty therapists can detect the skin concerns of their clients with these technologies. According to their unique skin issues, the tools will recommend personalized skincare routines and product formulations. 

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2. Rise of probiotic skincare

There are 10,000 to 1 million bacteria per square centimeter on a human face. The skin microbiome (bacteria, fungi, viruses) contributes to skin barrier function, immunity, and overall health. Probiotic skincare solutions help in reducing inflammation, enhancing the hydration level of skin, and soothing sensitive skin. 

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3. Use of smart beauty devices 

Now, consumers can use smart beauty devices at home to resolve their skin concerns. Most consumer beauty devices are designed for user-friendliness, but ease of use depends on the device. For example: Sonic facial cleansing brushes for deeper pore cleansing, LED masks for targeted skin concerns like acne and wrinkles, and microcurrent devices to stimulate collagen production. 

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Apart from this, beauty therapists can use LED light therapy at their salon for different skin issues, like acne, hyperpigmentation, sensitive skin, etc. Consumers can also use this solution at home. 

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4. Popularity of non-invasive aesthetic skincare

Non-invasive treatments, such as laser therapy and radiofrequency, stimulate skin tightening factors and reduce fine lines, wrinkles, pigmentation, etc. People, mostly celebrities, are fond of these procedures as they want to avoid painful surgeries. On the other hand, Cryotherapy (localized cold treatments or whole-body cryo) can reduce inflammation, puffiness, boost circulation, and may improve temporary skin tone. 

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5. Holistic beauty solutions 

Consumers are prioritizing their physical health as well as mental health. So, they are tending to follow holistic beauty and wellness solutions. For instance: facial yoga, skin workouts, aromatherapy, etc. Sometimes, beauty therapists offer wellness-based skincare treatments, such as stress-relief facials and massages. 

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6. Sustainable beauty & skincare products

According to the survey of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), the majority of Indian consumers choose natural and eco-friendly beauty products over synthetic ones.

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Eco-conscious people like to opt for sustainable products and services, such as biodegradable packaging, vegan products, waterless beauty formulations, etc. The global vegan cosmetics market size is growing at a CAGR of 6.1% from 2022 to 2030. It shows the rising demand for eco-friendly beauty solutions. 

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How are popular brands using AI in beauty therapies?

A study shows that the market for AI in beauty and cosmetics is growing at a CAGR of 20.1%. Famous skincare brand Sephora uses AI virtual consultations or assistants. It is an important part of the skincare journey. It analyzes skin tone and recommends the best product shades for your customers.

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According to their skin issues, AI assistants can provide personalized guidance (e.g., skincare routines, product suggestions). For busy therapists: AI-powered tools give convenience and time-saving solutions. So, popular beauty and skincare brands are using AI for beauty therapies. 

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Conclusion

The future of beauty therapies is aligning with the combination of technology, personalization, sustainability, and wellness. So, beauty therapists are ready with their rich palette of services and profound wellness advantages. If you want to develop your career as a beauty therapist, you need to embrace the latest trends to stay competitive in the contemporary market. 

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AI enhances personalization, accuracy, and convenience. Integrating AI into your business website, app, or in-store smart mirrors, you can offer endless benefits to your customers. To kickstart your career as a beauty therapist, GlamAR will help you with its AI solutions. Talk to them directly.