I got into this business when I was twenty-three. I was already very interested in doing a beautician's job. I also liked theater. I come from a family of civil servants. My mother also studied art. I was interested in nice, beautiful things. My family pressured me into becoming a civil servant, but I wasn't happy with that job. My college major was home economics. When I was a civil servant, I got involved with computers. [Laughs.] I was so unhappy during the time I spent working for the government. So after two years, I decided to get out and learn how to be a beautician. I'd been studying at the Linlu Beauty Salon in my spare time. In those days, Linlu was the best place to train. Their style is Japanese. The more I learned, the more interested I became. I thought a lot about it and put a lot of effort into learning. Eventually I quit my civil service job and became a beautician.
I worked as a beautician at Linlu and at other beauty salons for about three years. But I always felt the market was rather disoriented. Every beauty salon claimed to be the best. At that time, ten years ago, there weren't so many skin care products and cosmetics. Each beauty salon used whatever skin care products it wanted and set prices any old way. For example? Well [shrugs], there were many underground cosmetic manufacturers who claimed that their products were on the same level as "Kiss Me." [A popular Japanese brand of cosmetics.] But in fact, the quality of their products was pretty debatable. Or they'd turn out to be products you could buy in the supermarket in other countries, but when they came to Taiwan they became top quality products, through advertising. I thought this was kind of bizarre. I had all sorts of doubts about them. But I wasn't too sure of myself, either. Even the beauty salons where I worked told me the same kind of thing. Often I found I couldn't talk honestly to my customers about my services. I had doubts about my services, too! So I thought about going to Germany.
Most people go to Japan to study cosmetology, but I chose Germany, because its medical development is so advanced. And everybody knows that the Germans are very pragmatic and efficient. I believed the education offered there would be very solid and systematic. I believed it was right for me to study there. So I went. I was about twenty-five.
At that time there was no place in Taiwan I could study cosmetology. Well, there were the cosmetology cram schools. They normally offered three-month or six-month courses. You went to class a few times a week, for about two hours. Nobody cared if you understood the lessons, or if you learned anything there or not. People copied from other students, or from their teachers. After that, they tried to get apprenticed to a beauty salon. Quite a few opened up shops. I thought that wasn't right, because then consumers had no protection. Beauty cram schools haven't changed much from what they were ten years ago.
In those days, apprentices might be skillful but they found it hard to explain what they could do for their customers. They just did what they'd been taught, step by step. They didn't know how to change with the times. Now there are so many imported cosmetic products. Beauticians don't need to know much English, but they do have to know the basic English terms used in the profession. Too many consumers use too many different products. When they come to you with doubts about the products they're using, you must be able to read the labels on the products for them. If you can't do that, you can't call yourself a professional beautician. Even now, some people still don't think it's necessary to know all the terms in cosmetics. I know my customers are going to ask me. Perhaps it's because they're better educated. But that doesn't matter. Even if your customers are not well educated, as a professional beautician you still need the capability.
[Thinks for a while.] Also, I think some beauticians ... they might be doing well, but their approach to business is a bit strange. For instance, most beauticians don't think it's important to wear a proper outfit when they're working. But I think this is very important. Why? Because the job is part of a clean, hygienic service industry. It's like being a nurse. Nurses also serve people, their patients. The only difference is that they work in hospitals. I don't care how much education you have, but I think it's important to have a professional image. In other countries, beauticians must wear uniforms.
Look at dermatologists. Their job is to treat patients' skin problems, but they often stray outside their field by providing cosmetology services to patients. As a beautician, I would never prescribe medicine or give shots to my customers. But some dermatologists do it. I think that's very unethical. [Shakes her head disapprovingly.] Because what's cosmetology? It's out ward packaging. It doesn't involve writing prescriptions or giving injections. What's a hospital? It's a place where a doctor can prescribe medicine and give shots. It's different from a beautician's salon. But people mix up the two. So should consumers go to that kind of dermatologist, or to a beautician?
I've been back in Taiwan almost eight years. The only improvement in this field is licensing for beauticians. How do you get a license? Well, the Council of Labor Affairs holds an examination each year. As long as you're interested in be coming a beautician, you can take the test. You get a certificate when you pass. With that certificate, you can enter the field. The exam tests your skills and knowledge. The written exam also tests how much you know about certain chemical reactions that some products cause. I like the idea, because anybody who wants to can take the exam.
There are still problems, though. Consumers must know how to choose between practitioners. Even if a beautician has a license, how much experience does she have? Licenses are not mandatory in Taiwan. In general, when consumers come to you, they don't ask if you have a license. In addition, there should be more than one grade, or level, of license. I think most consumers don't really care about that. It isn't until they run into problems that they begin to realize that they should have been more careful in their choice of beautician.
In Taiwan, a license exists only in name. It isn't of the slightest use in protecting beauticians or their customers if problems arise. If something goes wrong, the outcome depends on whether the beautician has professional ethics and a conscience. It's all luck. [Smiles and shakes her head disapprovingly.]
I joined the beauticians' association because it helps us take care of our health insurance. You pay a monthly membership fee. Does the association protect us beauticians? No, I don't think so. [Shakes her head.] It doesn't at all. They safeguard only your right to health care insurance. Other things? Absolutely not. I think many professional associations in Taiwan are like that. Taiwan is a place full of contradictions. [Laughs.] It's so rich, its industries develop so fast and efficiently, but the [regulatory] infrastructure for many things simply doesn't exist.
I need to have a facial twice a month. I go and look for a place .... I've tried many places, some are very famous beauty salons. But they really let me down. You might say I'm too picky, because I'm in the profession myself. No, I don't deliberately set out to be picky.
My customers come to me because they've heard from other people that I'm good, or because they've read something I've written in a newspaper or a magazine. Some come to talk to me first, go away to think it over, and then decide to come back and have the treatment. My customers generally stay until their skin gets better. Customer turnover isn't great. In some beauty salons the customers come and go, or the salon caters to people in certain special occupations who need a place to relax. Their purpose is to relax the customer: they don't care about professional skills. Some customers like that kind of place.
Does the changing environment here in Taiwan mean that I can make a better living as a beautician? I think it really depends on the individual. A professional will always be professional, despite changing trends. It doesn't matter if competitors have better facilities, or come up with new ways of attracting customers. There are always going to be people who need real skin treatment from a professional.
I've always told my customers that I'm not a salesperson. I'm a technician. My job is to serve you. I may not be 100 percent correct, because I'm only a technician, but I expect my customers to respect my role. I don't want to hear the customer's complaints about other beauticians, or her suspicions of cosmetology. If I hear that kind of thing, I lose all sympathy. Also, I won't listen to criticisms of how I do my work. Of course, "the customer is always right." But money and respectability aren't the same thing: just because a person is rich, that doesn't give her the right to boss me around.
As far as respect goes, I don't have many problems. Some times I get a customer who's been conditioned by unpleasant experiences in other places in the past. She's suffered, so when she comes to me she lacks confidence and can't trust her new beautician. In cases like that, of course I try to build up her confidence and let her come to trust me as a professional. But some people are just so sensitive. If they act really obnoxiously, I don't waste too much time on them. I'll probably suggest that they consult with another beautician. Have I turned down any customers? [Thinks for a moment.] I'd like to say I have, but objectively .... [Hesitates a moment longer.] But I still believe that I'm a professional....
If I have to try to please a customer in order to keep her, I won't do that. Because I'm a technician, not a salesperson. I don't want to keep every customer at the cost of my own feelings, just because I've chosen this as my profession. I believe too many people do that, just to keep their customers.
Cosmetology involves not only skin care but also psychological care. I believe that in these very comfortable and secure surroundings, a customer will often tell me things: boyfriend problems, that kind of thing. I think at such times a beautician bears a heavy responsibility. You can just listen quietly. Or you can give an objective opinion. Because the customer's definitely going to ask, "What do you think?"
As for promotion …I could probably promote myself best through hair salons. Perhaps I'm stupid, I don't know, but I've never tried that. I worry my messages, bookings and so on, might not be passed on properly, or at all. Also, I like to give my customers a lot of space. I would never want to get business by forcing people ... because I'd feel uncomfortable myself in such a situation. [Laughs.] I think you won't find a lot of people doing business the way I do!
This job is my main interest. It's like a kind of spiritual life—something that affects my mood for the whole day, some thing that affects my whole life in fact. So I don't want to see this spiritual life of mine get too commercialized. I don't want it to become a source of pressure.
I don't feel lonely, working all by myself in this room. Because I only see customers by appointment, I don't have to stay here the whole day. My hours are flexible. I have time to run my own errands, too. I'm here probably six hours a day. Sometimes ten hours. [She rises from the stool to answer the phone. Her calm, soft tone doesn't change.] Sometimes my customers cancel their appointments at the last minute .... I think that's the way it is in the service industry, though. You have to have patience to work in this field. You must have the right attitude. So I have to accept last minute changes of schedule. Sometimes they just don't bother to show up. At the beginning I got upset, of course. Gradually it became okay. It happens in my job. I can't just quit because of some emotional reaction, or say to myself, "I never want to do this again."
I don't make big money, but I have control over my life and I live a very happy life. That's the best thing about my job. Many people make lots of money but they aren't happy.
Summer is the slow season for beauticians in Taiwan. Autumn is the high season. Summer's hot. Most women don't want to wear skin care products then, it's too uncomfortable. Taiwan is like that. Winter can be slow too, because a lot of people go abroad for a vacation, especially working women with children. So I can't tell you how much I make every month on average. [Thinks, shakes her head.] I have to look at my income on a yearly basis. I make about NT$1 million [US$37,000] a year, before deduction of costs and tax. [Frowns.] It's really difficult for me to compare my income with other people's. You know, some beauty salons have got very small premises, but they generate big revenues. Others might look like they've got a big business, but actually their revenues are comparatively small.
Many of my customers come to me to solve pimple, black head, and mole problems. They realize they've got a problem, they want to solve it as fast as possible, and they're not going to stay away because they don't have the cash. Economic recession might affect a company, and so its staff will have to work late, and in that case my customers might not come as frequently as they usually do. That's possible. Or they might stop coming simply because they're not interested in my services any more.
I charge between NT$1,000 and NT$2,000 [US$37 and US$74] a visit. The price depends on what kind of service a customer wants. It also depends on the type of skin she has. My customers include students, housewives, working ladies ... each has got her own particular requirements. Some customers just want regular skin care treatment. They're not bothered about pimples, freckles, or facial moles. For them, the price is certainly lower. I charge the regular market price. That's fair. Take the other beauty salon in this building, for instance. Their professional skills are not reliable, but they charge at least NT$1,200 [US$44] a time. Here in the Tunhua South area especially, rents are very high. You must charge at least that much.
In other beauty salons, beauticians often have to call up their customers and try to talk them into coming. I think a few of my customers were probably used to that in the past, because sometimes they'll complain, "Why don't you ever call me?" [Laughs.] If someone does that, I'll write down her name to remind myself. In general, I don't need to drum up business. Most customers come as if they're visiting a clinic: when you need a doctor you just go; money, time, they don't enter into it.
It's difficult to find someone in this field to discuss things with. Only people on a similar level can do that. People in the same line of business are apt to get jealous. Oh, I don't know why that happens. Quite disappointing. [Her head leans to one side; she's thinking.] It's really hard for us to discuss cosmetology and learn from one another. [Laughs.] It's such a shame.