Video: tips for boosting clients' skin heath and confidence post-lockdown

With life settling back into a more familiar pattern post-coronavirus lockdown, many of you will have clients coming through your door who you’ve not seen in months and whose skin health may be in a different place to what it was before. 

While many clients have experienced everything from maskne to increased sensitivity during this time, some have reported feeling more confident in their own skin due to weeks of refocusing their skincare routine at-home – an unexpected but welcome benefit of lockdown.

As a professional skin therapist, how can you help all clients achieve their healthiest skin and instil skin confidence? Well, at Dermalogica, we believe that achieving skin confidence requires letting go of skin shame and being unapologetic about skin problems. It is about responding to what an individual skin needs and how it changes day by day.

The problem with unrealistic beauty ideals and terms such as “normal”

We often see images in the media of “perfect” skin – flawless, all one tone and one texture, and with a smooth, pore-free surface, which sets up a visual expectation of skin. Couple that with the language used to describe these images, such as “normal skin”, and it’s easy to see how skin ideals are formed. 

The expectation of “normal” has become an uncomfortable place – is the inference that if your skin does not look or behave a certain way mean that you are not normal? This makes it difficult for clients to become more confident in themselves as they can feel excluded and that a skin goal is unattainable. The reality is that everyone’s ideal skin is different, just as everyone’s fingerprints, personality and lifestyle are unique. 

Healthy skin vs beauty ideals

Skincare brand Dermalogica has been on a mission to dispel the notion of perfect skin and focus instead on helping clients have their healthiest skin. Your skin is one of the first things other people notice about you, and it is probably one of the first things you notice about yourself when you look in the mirror every morning. Your skin health has a powerful impact on your emotional and mental wellbeing. 

Skin confidence is about teaching clients how their skin looks and feels, because it reflects who they are. For professional skin therapists, we can shift the viewpoint of beauty to healthy skin by adapting the language we use. Dermalogica, along with a wide number of brands, have now removed the word “normal” from messaging. 

Also, social media is now a virtual store front for your business, so consider how healthy skin is portrayed in your salon. As professional skin therapists, are you showing real skin images that are representative of the variety of clients you see? Seeing images of skin with breakouts, redness or mottled hyperpigmentation allows clients to connect with the skin conditions and ensures they don’t feel like an outsider. If a client feels they do not fit or relate to a public perception on skin, then they don’t feel included. 

You can help clients understand how and why skin behaves in a certain way. This knowledge gives them confidence to make informed choices and a sense of empowerment on a skin positivity journey. The skincare industry must ensure that each and every client feels seen, heard and valued.

Why the client and skin professional relationship is so important

You can be a listening ear when customers are expressing their anxieties, frustrations and concerns about their skin. Since big life moments can have a profound effect on us and our confidence, being in the hands of someone we trust and who can support us through the skin journey can make all the difference. Establishing a meaningful relationship built on mutual respect and trust sets up the skin health journey. 

While we need to manage expectations – skin health is not achieved overnight – boosting the “feel-good factor” with a professional skin treatment will certainly give some instant benefit for the client, but skin confidence runs deeper than that. Skin confidence is emotional and deep rooted. 

To ensure you’re equipped to support clients through their skin journey Dermalogica has developed a self-led course on Meaningful Connections. Boost your own emotional intelligence and empathy to understand clients better; discover strategies that can boost self-esteem and confidence, which can also be shared with clients; and learn how to signpost when it is needed. 

Enrolment is free and open to all personal care professionals. Sign up for the Meaningful Connections course now. 

Sponsored story

Janine Da Costa is education training executive at skincare brand Dermalogica. She strategically oversees the delivery of relevant brand content to high profile Dermalogica businesses and chain accounts across the UK. 

Through the medium of education, Da Costa strives to build commercial success while empowering and building confidence in the professional skin therapist represented in each of those businesses. She develops programmes and systems, which ensures the education delivered is relevant to the needs of each unique business.  

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