Why is There No Oversight in Beauty Therapy Education?

A therapist’s view

Regulating from the top without reviewing the base.

In recent years, there has been a strong push, rightly so, to regulate higher-risk aesthetic procedures such as Lasers, IPL, LED, and microneedling. The Health Education England (HEE), report and the JCCP’s frameworks focus on training at Levels 4 to 7, where client risk is higher and clearer regulation is long overdue.

But these efforts build on foundations that haven’t been touched.

Foundational Education Must Catch Up with Science.

We now know that the skin is not simply a surface - it’s an immune organ, a barrier, a diagnostic tool, and a reflection of whole-body health. This scientific understanding has developed significantly over the past decades, thanks to researchers like Kligman and others. And yet, foundational beauty therapy education, Levels 1 to 3, has not kept pace.

New learners continue to be trained using routines that belong to a different era—five-minute steams, the classic cleanse-tone-moisturise sequence, and basic multiple-choice assessments about hair, nails, and skin layers. These elements aren’t inherently wrong, but they no longer reflect the complexity of modern skin science or the realities of client needs in the 21st century.

This is not a critique of individual awarding bodies or educators.

Most are doing their best within a system that lacks statutory health guidance.

Without input from public health authorities, even the best-intentioned updates risk reinforcing outdated approaches. The issue isn’t that the current structure is careless, it’s that it is unguided.

If we want safe, informed therapists at Level 4 and beyond, we must ask:

Why is no one reviewing what’s taught at Level 1?

This Isn’t about nurse training, It’s about responsibility. Some may assume that health oversight means turning beauty therapists into nurses. That’s not the point. What’s being asked is simpler, and more realistic.

If you’re working with the body’s largest organ, through massage, hair, nails, facials, makeup, or aesthetics, you should understand how that organ functions - and how it is affected by lifestyle, environment, and even, in part, genetics. The level of understanding should scale with the level of contact and responsibility. Not everyone needs to study biology in depth, but the core principles of skin health - barrier repair, inflammation, microbiome, healing, should be present from the very beginning.

Other professions working with the body, like dental nurses, or physiotherapists, are supported by regulated health frameworks. Beauty therapists are not.

 

The Unspoken Gap

Despite their important work, bodies like the JCCP and HEE have not meaningfully addressed the state of Level 1–3 education. These are the courses that shape the mindset and habits of every new therapist entering the field, and they ultimately shape the service delivery of level 4 therapists and beyond.

It’s also worth noting:

While many aesthetic clinics are led by doctors, dentists, or nurses, the professionals delivering treatments - especially skincare and non-prescriptive services, are often beauty therapists. They may go on to complete Level 4 or 5 qualifications and rebrand themselves as skin or aesthetic therapists, but the foundation remains the same.

If the starting point is outdated, it compromises the consistency, safety, and integrity of services across the industry, regardless of how advanced the procedures become.

The question is: Why is Level 1 to 3 beauty therapy not being reviewed by a health body - when it is forms the foundation for so many of today’s skin therapists and aesthetics practitioners?

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.