Most estheticians assist client-brides with skin care
and make up advice before their weddings, but did you know that
a small minority of wise beauty experts offer a full scale beauty
consulting program for their client-brides to be. Providing
esthetic counseling on the necessary touches that are needed to
assist the client-bride in achieving just the right image she wants
on her wedding day, can be quite lucrative. In the following
article you will learn just how these clever estheticians do it and
what you can do too.
Preparing your bridal beauty program
So your client has just informed you she
is getting married. She probably has a single spaced list of
wedding details, and is most likely wracked with anxiety.
Being in the bridal spotlight is not easy. People are going to
gossip about her, criticize her choices and bombard her with all
their unsolicited recommendations. Practically everyone she
knows wants to give her advice about her wedding, but what she
really needs is the guidance and direction of a neutral party
especially when it comes to her appearance, makeup and skin.
Be ready, willing, and able to inspire your client with your expert
beauty advice and special services.
Qualifying potential customers
In an effort to define your client's
taste and to coordinate all the details involving your bridal-beauty
program you will need to obtain the most accurate information
possible beforehand. I suggest you conduct an initial
interviewing session using the following questionnaire as a
guide:
- When is your wedding date?
- Where will you be married?
- Will you be having an ethnic ceremony?
- Does your taste run traditional, contemporary, romantic, or eclectic?
- What does your wedding gown look like? Low-cut back, low-cut front, split
in back, split in front, sleeveless, halter top, strapless?
- What kind of headpiece are you going to wear?
Consider all the possibilities
A bridal beauty package should include
the following: special health and fitness programs to get in
shape before her big day; facial treatments; eyebrow shaping;
referrals to other wedding specialists; sunless tanning lotion
treatments; suggestions for hair coloring and hairstyles that will
accommodate the bridal head-piece; seasonal color-coding makeup
sessions; spa or skin care gift packages for bridal head piece;
seasonal color-coding makeup sessions; special photographic makeup
sessions for the bride and the entire bridal party on the day of the
wedding; and pre-ceremony aromatherapy and massage treatments to
help ease jitters.
Networking with other professionals
Don't expect to be an expert on every
aspect of the bride's appearance. Instead, consider networking
with a team of specialists with experience and technical expertise
in areas you are less informed about. For example, one
successful esthetician who offers appearance consulting to her
clients before their weddings insists that good health and energy
are basic to beauty. That's where her program begins. She has
designed a special form that she asks her client to fill out which
reveals what the bride-to-be eats, why she chooses the food she
does, and how much she exercises. From this information the
esthetician compiles a report that she sends off to a registered
dietitian, who places her client on a weight reduction or
maintenance program prior to the wedding.
To ensure that the bride not only looks
beautiful, but feels great on her big day the professional can
recommend the expertise of an exercise trainer for the bride-to-be
in order to get her in shape or counteract the stress of wedding
planning.
Today, without neglecting the importance
of tradition, brides are free to express their individuality through
a range of original wedding gown designs that can either be
purchased at specialty wedding dress shops or custom made. In
addition to having a custom made gown, a good dressmaker can also
duplicate a wedding dress for substantially less than your client
would pay for an off-the-rack compromise. Have a referral list
at your disposal in case your client asks.
Seek out assistance form other
professionals in other bridal-related fields. Supply them with
your business card as well as brochures on your bridal packages so
they can refer your services to their clients. Remember to
reciprocate by becoming a resource for them as well, in other words,
network, network, network.
One industrious esthetician I know tells
me that she gains new clients by offering to host makeup parties for
bridesmaids a month in advance of the ceremony. Using the
seasonal color coding system, she makes suggestions on the
appropriate makeup shades for the bridesmaids and custom blends each
one of their foundations. In addition to the fee she gets for
giving the event, she also generates extra revenue from the
prepackaged seasonal makeup kits she assembles for each member of the
bridal party, which can be given away as gifts from the
bride.
Working with the photographer
If you are considering becoming a bridal
beauty consultant you will need to be well-skilled in the art of
photographic makeup. A clear understanding of the differences
in doing makeup for black and white or color photography is
necessary. Careful attention must be paid to the time of day the
ceremony will take place, its location, and the light source the
bride and the members of the wedding party will be photographed
in. It is up to the bridal beauty consultant to make the bride
look romantic and cherished on her wedding day.
Guidelines for hairstylist referrals
When the client looks for the right hairstylist, she
will want a professional that she can trust and feel comfortable with.
It is also a good idea to keep a referral list
of hairstylists that will be available for group styling or styling outside
of the salon. The bride may even want to work
with more than on stylist. Recommend that the hair
coloring appointment take place at least seven to 10 days prior to the
wedding. This avoids any last minute surprises.
Travel-sized products and sun care
Ask the bride if she would like to
purchase travel size skin care products for her trip. Sunny,
tropical destinations will definitely require some sun care products
such as sunscreen or sun block. Lip balm is sometimes a
necessity as lips often get dry and chapped from sun and
traveling.
If the bride will be going to cold
destinations, sun care may still be a necessity because snow can
reflect dangerous UV rays. Dehydrated skin may also pose a
problem.
Include massage in your bridal package
A wedding is a complex event that
produces a lot of stress. No one looks their best when they
are subjected to stressful situations. The benefits of massage
are well known to help reduce stress.
Bridal beauty consultants can arrange
for a massage therapist to visit the home of their bridal clients on
the day of the wedding or the bride may visit the spa. In
addition to relieving the nervous jitters brought about by the
ceremony, massage isa great beauty aid because it relaxes tension in
the muscles, including those of the face, which can cause tight
facial expressions.
Marketing your bridal services
One of the easiest and most
cost-effective ways to market your bridal beauty consulting
services, is by advertising in local newspapers distributed to
select neighborhoods.
Listing your services on the internet
will also bring a lot of inquires. Bridal fairs are another
great way to attract potential clients.
One final note
As a newlywed I can attest to the fact
that, when it comes to weddings, you cannot possibly be
over-prepared. My wedding day, although romantic, exciting and
memorable was complicated by the expectations of many people.
In order to have the perfect afternoon garden wedding, I had to
juggle countless details. It was difficult even for me as a
professional consultant in the field.
I had to carefully plan my priorities,
and at the same time, respect the concerns and desires of the
groom-to-be, our families, and our close friends. I was
fortunate to have the background and experience as a bridal beauty
consultant to handle many of the esthetic challenges that
arose.
Thanks to many bridal fashion magazines, books and bridal fairs, you to can
easily get a multitude of ideas on how to put together your
own special bridal counseling program. By reading skin care articles
and books, you can become informed on the many different
aspects of wedding planning and how you as an esthetician can help.
No matter what your previous background, this type of research
and leg-work will provide you with the basic fundamental knowledge
required to offer your esthetic assistance to your
bridal-clients.
Remember, be prepared. Don't make
any appointments until you have all services and referral lists in
place. Study well before you try to place yourself in the
formal role of a bridal beauty consultant. Knowledge builds
confidence and inspires creativity.
Victoria L. Rayner, Dermatology Associate at
the University of California Medical School-San Francisco, is the
director of five camouflage therapy clinics, all of which are
located in teaching hospitals. She is the owner of the
Advanced Skin Care Training Center which provides advanced clinical
cosmetology programs for estheticians and nurses who wish to work in
a medical setting. Ms. Rayner devoted four years to writing
the first textbook on clinical cosmetology, entitled Clinical
Cosmetology, A Medical Approach to Esthetic Procedures.
Contact Victoria L. Rayner through her website at
www.victoriarayner.com
