Protected titles don’t limit choice. They protect trust.

Right now, anyone can use the title ‘Skin Therapist’ or ‘Beauty Therapist’—regardless of what they’ve studied or who trained them.
There’s no requirement to prove qualifications, follow national guidelines, or be answerable to a statutory body. That means the public is left to guess. And that’s a problem.

Just as no one can legally call themselves a physiotherapist or dietitian without proof, The Skin Well™ believes skin-facing professionals deserve the same clarity. And the public deserves the same safeguards.

Whether someone arrives via VTCT, CIBTAC, a private academy, a pharmacy degree, or a medical route, the public has no way of knowing who to trust for safe, evidence-informed, skin-supportive care.

That’s why The Skin Well™ is calling for legal protection of the titles Skin Therapist and Beauty Therapist—grounded not in exclusion, but in national skin education standards.

This isn’t about locking the door.
It’s about building a doorframe—so the public knows exactly who’s inside.

What would protected titles do?

• Stop unqualified individuals from using trusted terms

• Clarify who the public can turn to for evidence-based advice

• Provide employers with a national reference point

• Make regulation possible across sectors—including beauty, health, and aesthetics

• Include both medics and non-medics—based on their skin-specific training, not just their job title

What wouldn’t it do?

• It wouldn’t block medically trained professionals from working in skin

• ✅ It would ask that anyone, including medics, complete recognised skin-specific training if working outside diagnostic or prescribing roles

• It wouldn’t force medics to adopt a title like “skin therapist”—but it would make clear whether or not they are skin health trained

• It wouldn’t erase experience—it would simply standardise skin understanding across professions

So who would be allowed to use the title?

Anyone—medic or non-medic—who has completed approved, skin-specific training through the National Skin Education Overlay, is practising within a defined, regulated scope, and is registered with the national council.

This includes:

• Beauty and skin therapists trained through recognised vocational or academic pathways, with the National Skin Education Overlay applied

• Aesthetic practitioners who have completed the National Skin Education Overlay at the appropriate level

• Medics (e.g. doctors, dentists, nurses) who have undertaken this overlay and choose to identify under a protected title when practising outside diagnostic or prescribing roles

The Skin Well™ recognises that:

Most medics will continue to use their existing protected professional titles (e.g. Doctor, Nurse, Dermatologist).
But if they meet the national criteria and choose to identify as a Skin Therapist or Beauty Therapist, they may do so—legally and transparently—under protection.

The key requirement is not the profession—it’s the presence of nationally recognised, accountable skin education.

Why now?

The skin sector is growing—but it’s also fragmenting.
The public is confused. Practitioners are unrecognised.
The current framework allows good people to be drowned out by light, elusive claims. You can train for years, follow evidence, build trust—and still be mistaken for someone offering so-called miracle treatments they learned from a two-hour webinar. Clients rush in without checking qualifications, and there’s no system forcing providers to be transparent. No consistent titles. No national benchmark. No guarantee that what’s being offered is safe—or even appropriate. That’s not fair on professionals. And it’s not safe for the public.

This isn’t about locking the door.
It’s about building a doorframe—so the public knows exactly who’s inside.

That’s why protected titles matter.