Why is There No Oversight in Beauty Therapy Education?

Regulating from the Top Without Reviewing the Base

In the race to regulate higher-risk aesthetic procedures—lasers, IPL, microneedling—the focus has been on Levels 4–7 training. Health Education England and the JCCP were right to start there: those levels carry clear risk and needed governance.

But those reforms build on foundations that haven’t been touched.

Foundational Education Must Catch Up with Science

We now understand that the skin is not simply a surface—it’s an immune organ, a barrier, a sensory and diagnostic interface, and a mirror of whole-body health. Decades of research, from Kligman onward, have transformed how we see it. Yet Level 2–3 beauty education still reflects a world before that science existed.

New learners are taught routines from another era: five-minute steams, cleanse-tone-moisturise sequences, multiple-choice tests on hair and nail anatomy. None of these are harmful in isolation—but they don’t reflect 21st-century skin biology or client needs.

This Isn’t About Blame

Awarding bodies and tutors are doing their best within a system that lacks statutory health guidance. The issue isn’t negligence; it’s absence. Without input from public-health authorities, even well-intentioned updates risk reinforcing outdated practices.

If we want safe, informed practitioners at Level 4 and beyond, we have to ask the question that no one in policy seems to be asking:

Why is no one reviewing what’s taught at entry level?

It’s About Responsibility, Not Nursing

This isn’t about turning beauty therapists into nurses. It’s about giving them the same conceptual respect we give to every profession that touches the body. If you work with the body’s largest organ—through massage, facials, hair, nails, or make-up—you should understand how that organ functions and what compromises it.

Everyone doesn’t need a biomedical degree, but the basics—barrier repair, inflammation, microbiome balance, wound healing—should be there from day one.

Other professions that work directly with human tissue—dental nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists—operate under regulated health frameworks. Beauty therapy does not.

The Unspoken Gap

Bodies like the JCCP and HEE have done essential work at the advanced end, but the base of the pyramid—remains largely untouched. These courses shape how every future therapist sees the skin, and that perception echoes upward through the industry.

When foundational training lags behind science, the entire system wobbles. The result is an industry trying to regulate from the top while standing on sand.

So, again: Why is the foundation of the UK’s skin-care workforce still outside any national health framework?

The Skin Well®
A grassroots, evidence-aware initiative supporting public skin education.
👉 @theskinwell_

Disclaimer

This chart and its descriptions are based on publicly available research and clinical insight compiled by The Skin Well™. They are intended for educational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. They do not represent the views of the NHS or any governmental body. For individual health concerns, please speak to a qualified healthcare provider. These resources are designed to raise questions, highlight gaps, and explore opportunities for supporting healthier skin at a population level.

© 2025 Jacqui de Jager | The Skin Well® & The Happy Skin Clinic®
All rights reserved. This leaflet is for personal use and education only. It may not be reproduced, distributed, or adapted without written permission.