Choosing a skin care line

As an esthetician one of the most exciting aspects of our career is the creativity we can bring to the treatment room. The challenge is marrying our creativity with proven treatments… which is where the enormous job of picking out a skincare line comes in.

How many of you are using the product line you started with in school? How many of you are using four plus product lines? How many of you are overwhelmed when you go to a skin show and don’t know which product line you should partner with? We are going to talk about a few things that might help us navigate through the many choices.

The first thing we need to assess is who are you as an esthetician or spa? Do you lean more medical, holistic, or a happy medium? These are all great niches to fit into but, your product line needs to fit into the type of treatments and clients your marketing too. For instance if you're a holistic based spa and you don’t offer a clean product and the packaging looks super clinical the type of client you're attracting might not be attracted to your retail products. The next step which honestly is so important it might be called 1B is what is the price point?. Have a very honest look at your finances. Opening orders are a BIG investment. Say the product line you choose has a 22.50 cleanser your cost…can you afford to keep enough inventory on your shelf at that price? Can your ideal client afford a $45 cleanser, do you live in a demographic that can afford that? You want your client to be able to afford not only your service but at least one product per appointment. You should also look into after the opening order what’s the order minimum and how much do you need to spend to get free shipping? These might seem like little things but over the years they add up!

Education… what is the brand you're looking into offer to you? I have worked with several brands over the years and one always stands out above the rest because of their commitment to making sure I feel confident using their product. Ideally there will be a product knowledge class that helps you understand how all the products are used and best combinations, as well as a chemical peel or advanced treatment education. Remember this is different from a protocol manual… yes we all want the manual but, we want whatever company you work with to invest some of their time into making you super comfortable in the treatment room with hands on training or webinar training.

I know I want to enjoy who I work with, so after meeting company reps at a trade show , shopping on social media or phone calls, see who you think you’ll work well with. I am so lucky almost all of my brand partnerships have thriving relationships and we work super well together. Communicate with your reps what you need, what you want, and what’s not working. Especially if you're solo and need someone to talk shop with, these are great people to bounce ideas off of, and have some super productive conversations on what could be working better for you in your market.

What are your favorite brands to work with? Need help talking out what would be the best option for your spa? Want to give a shout-out to your favorite skin care brand? Leave us a comment, we can’t wait to hear back from ya!

Caroline-SBG sister