An inclusive approach

Spa consultant Linda Harding-Bond, president of Moontide Consulting, on why spas in regions with a predominately white population still need to cater for ethnic skin

Last year, Beyonce was named the most beautiful woman in the world by People magazine and whether or not you agree with this, what’s important is that beauty standards are expanding. However, while women from all ethnic backgrounds now go to spas to maintain their good looks, skincare is still generally taught from a European perspective.

Most spa and beauty academies do not have a module in their curriculum that addresses brown skin needs, despite the fact that 75% of the global population has skin with high melanin content. This omission not only limit therapists’ ability to provide knowledgeable skin care to a broader customer base, it also sends an inferred message that certain skin hues are not worthy of an educated service.

A question of training
The fact is that “regular” people now go to spas; it’s no longer a luxury just for the rich and famous. If you are an owner, manager or decision maker of a spa in a major metropolitan city, and your staff is not trained to address a diverse clientele, you are losing money. It’s that simple. If you want your business to have universal appeal, this means stepping up the training of your team to enable your spa to cater for a wider variety of ethnicities, including Asian, African and Latino.
Spa consultant Linda Harding-Bond, president of Moontide Consulting, on why spas in regions with a predominately white population still need to cater for ethnic skin
 

After all, how can your staff provide your clients with personalised service if they don’t have a thorough understanding of the skin they are working on? Mixed race people are the fastest growing demographic in the world and this group often has skin that is complex and not entirely easy to analyse. At some point, customers from one of the abovementioned groups are bound to walk into your spa and when they do, you want your staff to be capable of delivering a stellar service that represents your company in a positive way.

Read the full article on page 30 of the November issue of the Professional Spa and Wellness digital magazine for FREE here, or access the digital
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