By SpaSho Media
Is beauty only skin deep?
Is beauty only skin deep?
Maybe not, according to these stats from the McKinsey Quarterly; Black Americans spent $6.6 billion on beauty last year which is 11.1 percent of the total US beauty market. The report also noted that most Blacks had a frustrating experience with products and services not geared toward them; however, the inequity in Black-owned based businesses with products specifically for Black skin is a real problem when it comes to getting these products into the mainstream beauty market. These business owners only make up 2.5 percent of the beauty industry by default because of the discriminatory practices in the industry.
“Black consumers show an affinity and preference for Black beauty brands and are 2.2 times as likely to conclude that products from those brands will work for them. However, only 4 to 7 percent of beauty brands carried by specialty beauty stores, drugstores, grocery stores, and department stores are Black brands,” stated the McKinsey Quarterly.
It is because of these discrepancies and frustrations in her own experiences regarding health and care for Black skin, founder and CEO of SpaSho, Tiffany Medois who is also a licensed esthetician, found it imperative to provide a website directory of skincare professionals who are specifically focused on helping people with melanated skin; thus she came up with the SpaSho website to provide a platform for such entrepreneurs and business owners.
“Owning our voice and our space is paramount because our skin care needs are fundamentally important to our confidence and how we represent our beauty, so when you find a professional who really gets your skin, you feel relaxed and at ease which is empowering for both client and esthetician. And, because so many people didn’t know where or how to find the right esthetician, if there is a need that does not exist in our communities, then we should seek to fulfill it on our own,” explained Medois.
SpaSho was launched in 2019 as a free, online directory to suffice the need for consumers looking for Black estheticians in their area. The directory is also for licensed estheticians who specialize in Black skincare.
Estheticians are listed in the free directory and are often featured in video on the SpaSho social media platforms.
This past February, SpaSho hosted the National Black Estheticians’ Week (NBEW) along with media company AMPTV; NBEW this year was a seven-day, live-stream, celebration featuring skin care experts and industry renowned speakers discussing treatment protocols for skin of color, business guidance, publicity tips and industry trends for estheticians. (The general public is still welcome to access these free, informative videos by subscribing to the SpaSho website, which is also free.) During the seven-day event, the focus was on helping estheticians starting in the business or veterans learn the best practices for servicing skin of color.
Now Medois has taken the Black skincare industry focus to the next level by catering to Black consumers looking to stay consistently informed by esthetic experts so that they can be well-versed on the needs of their skin with the new show, Très Beau, a 30-minute, weekly vodcast and podcast which will broadcast online and on PEG access TV channels nationwide. Très Beau features experts in skin of color and wellness, where licensed esthetician and show host, Medois talks with these leading industry professionals who provide sound advice to consumers as well as estheticians specializing in this niche market.
The show is executive produced by SpaSho Media and AMPTV and will broadcast online via the SpaSho Wellness TV channel, the Black Headline News Channel, the Black Trade Circle app, for mobile devices, and other affiliate AMPTV channels starting Wednesday, Sept. 21. Thereafter the show will broadcast new episodes weekly on Wednesdays at 1p PST/4p EST & 1a PST/4a EST, with rebroadcast 7-days per week online thereafter at those same times.
Experts featured during the first four episodes include: Darnisha Monson, who will discuss, “Finding the Right Esthetician”; Terrance Bonner who will discuss, “Skin & Body Wellness: A Discussion on Skin Care, Massage and Wellness”; Stacy Best-Nervis, who will discuss “Customized Skin Treatments and the Benefits to Your Skin”; and Brandice Webb-Pondexter who will discuss, “Simple Skincare Routines.”
About the experts featured on Très Beau:
Darnisha Monson is an educator with a BA in English Education and an MA in Reading. She became a licensed Esthetician in March 2019 and opened her suite in May 2019.
She is a full-time, licensed esthetician who has a passion, not only for the work she does in skin care, but for customer service and professionalism.
Darnisha was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and still resides there, however, she works as an esthetician in Highland, Indiana.
In this conversation, she discusses what clients should look for when it comes to customer service skills given by estheticians, their professionalism and how they present themselves on social media.
She also guides us on how to find the best esthetician for your skin care and beauty needs.
Darnisha Monson is listed on SpaSho under: DAM Skin: https://spasho.com/estheticians/listing/dam-skin/
Terrance Bonner is an Esthetician and Massage Therapist, as well as an award-winning spa owner. Additionally, he is the best-selling author of the book: “Determination+Core Values=SUCCESS”.
Terrance has been featured in:
Massage Magazine
Skin Deep Magazine
Massage and Bodywork Magazine
New York Weekly
Kivo Daily
And he’s appeared on: ABC, NBC, FOX, The Quintessential Gentleman, and Hero Cosmetics.
Terrance can be found on SpaSho under The Glam Station and Spa. https://spasho.com/estheticians/listing/the-glam-station-and-spa/
Stacy Best-Nervis is the owner and esthetician at Brownstone Spa. Stacy’s love of skincare blossomed in her youth during her school breaks where she fell in love with D.I.Y spa treatments. After discovering an esthetician and experiencing her first facial in 2011, she knew her dream of having her own spa was within reach.
Stacy is a graduate of Southwest Institute of Natural Aesthetics in Tempe, Arizona and opened her spa in November of 2018. As one of only a handful of students and instructors of color in her program, she experienced first-hand the lack of knowledge new estheticians received regarding melanin-rich skin tones.
Stacy created Brownstone Spa to be a place where people of color could feel comfortable getting a skin or spa treatment in which the esthetician was knowledgeable.
Brandice Webb-Pondexter has been a licensed esthetician for 4 years. She is the owner of 28 Skincare which is a mini med spa and digital spa. She specializes in corrective skincare for multicultural individuals and is an advocate for simplifying skincare and self-care. Additionally, she teaches masterclasses for clients to learn facial techniques at home and business tips for other estheticians.
Brandice left her career in dental in 2018 to pursue her passion in skincare.
