CIDESCO and the changing face of education …
With a growing divide between traditional beauty treatments and medical device-led aesthetic therapies, CIDESCO will need to reevaluate its education offering to stay relevant.
CIDESCO has always held a prime position in the education of beauty therapists. The German hair care company Wella used to have a catchphrase, “You can tell a Wella woman by the way she wears her hair, you can tell a Wella woman anywhere.” Similarly, you can tell a CIDESCO therapist by their, skills, knowledge and their professional demure.
Considering the pride of place CIDESCO therapists hold within the beauty and spa therapy sector, their new qualifications would seem to be bucking where the industry is heading. As Emma, our founder wrote in Irish Beauty Magazine May/June issue. “The beauty industry today is at a curvature, with a defined split between traditional beauty salon treatments and medical device-led aesthetic therapies becoming more pronounced.” http://flk.bz/AzQ2
Two of CIDESCO’s new certificates:
- Certificate in Skin Care – Includes Facials, Facial Electrical treatments, Waxing, Make-up
- Certificate in Aesthetics – Includes Facials, Facial Electrical treatments, Make-up, Manicure and Pedicure and Waxing.
Both the certificates still include waxing, makeup, manicures and pedicures. We speak with people every day wanting to enter the rapidly growing sector. What we hear every day is; “I have no interest in traditional beauty treatments.” Only the other day I had a conversation with a lady looking to train with us, and she brought up CIDESCO, let’s call her Ms J. Ms J had been told about CIDESCO and that pride of place it holds within the beauty industry. However, the first words out of her mouth were I have no interest in nails, makeup, waxing or giving a massage, and that seems to be what CIDESCO is all about. Ms J is far from a lone voice; it is the most common conversation we have with prospective learners.
It’s not just a problem of including body treatments, neither course is in line with the advanced nature of skin aesthetics. Facial electrics? While they still play a role in a modern clinic they are greatly superceded. Radiofrequency, micro needling and complex skin peels, these are the kind of treatments you find in a course that aligns with the direction the industry has headed.
As Emma mentioned in that magazine article, the defined split between traditional beauty salon treatments and medical device-led aesthetic therapies is becoming more pronounced. In fact, that gap is becoming so pronounced that the traditional route of a Level 2 or 3 beauty specialists and then into the newer level 4 courses is not fit for purpose. We have students that are finishing their nursing degrees and then coming to us because there is no pathway into all modalities of aesthetics, in the traditional beauty sector. Australia has a 4-year degree programme, and you graduate as a Dermal Clinician with a regulatory body.
The industry is evolving so much that you will soon be seeing courses not part of Ofqual like ITEC and CIBTAC courses are but under a new ISO standard. This allows for far greater recognition of qualifications around the world while training providers operate under an audited quality control framework. There are also new courses being developed to replace the traditional Level 2, 3, beauty specialists courses.
This is all happening due to an identified need for elevated training in the aesthetics sector. That “defined split” is not just our opinion; it is why the UK now has the JCCP (Joint Council for Cosmetic Practitioners), and the CPSA (Cosmetic Standards Practice Authority.) These style of registries and bodies will be duplicated around the world.
For CIDESCO to stay relevant in the industry, it needs to elevate to where the industry has headed and is heading. Combining beauty treatments in courses targeted at delegates wanting to enter the advanced nature of the industry, is not just missing the mark, it is already outdated.
Interested in Aesthetics? Check out our new Skin Rejuvenation Course offering pathways from Level 4 through to Level 7
