Top Esthetician Consultation Questions Preventing Claims and Building Relationships

Esthetician consultations are the cornerstone of good service. Asking the right esthetician consultation questions can elevate a client’s experience from copy-paste to personal. Moreover, they’re your risk management vanguard against gnarly side effects and complications.

• Why is the first consultation important for estheticians?
• How does understanding a client’s medical history help limit your liability?
• How can estheticians build long-term relationships through consultations?
• What questions should estheticians ask during the consultation? 

Let’s discuss. 👇

Why is it important for the esthetician to determine a client’s skin history?

Esthetician consultations are a multistep process. Though you might customize your steps to suit yours or your client’s needs, this process generally consists of:

Esthetician intake form questions. 

Completed upon arrival and before starting their first treatment, intake forms address your clients’ basic identifying info lifestyle, medical or health history, known contraindications like injuries or allergies, previous treatment experiences, skincare goals, and preferences. 

A face-to-face eval. 

They’ve answered your esthetician intake form questions. Next, you’ll run through their responses verbally. Address their concerns and contraindications, analyse their skin close-up, explain what your services entail, and discuss ideal solutions. 

For example, maybe the client has her heart set on microneedling but has been taking a blood thinner for six months. You might make a game plan for finding a temporary alternative, and then start microneedling once they’re off the blood thinner. 

Or perhaps the client recently strained his shoulders. It wasn’t a serious injury, so he didn’t mention it in his questionnaire. But as you describe the massage component of your facials, he brings it up. Now you know to avoid massaging his shoulders until he can recover or see a doctor. You’ve avoided exacerbating his pain—and you can make a note to check in the next time you see him.

You can also use this window to educate new clients about what your spa does to keep customers safe. Tell them how you prevent and control skin infections through routine sterilizing and disinfecting. Describe the annual conference you attend to learn about the latest product innovations and best practices. Share why you’re passionate about pursuing estheticians’ continuing education for more advanced techniques. All these things can set you apart during your face-to-face esthetician consultation.

Why the first consultation is important for estheticians and their new clients.

By taking the time to get to know your new client and their skincare history, you achieve five crucial wins:

1. It demonstrates how much you prioritize their safety and wellbeing.
2. You can provide tailored insights and recommend personalized solutions.
3. By matching clients to the services that best meet their needs, you can set expectations about what those services can realistically achieve (and how long it may take).
4. You can look for skin issues that are better suited for a dermatologist, like signs of skin cancer.
5. You avoid techniques, products, and tools that could cause undue harm. This protects the clients, while also protecting you and your business from complaints and claims.

Consultations are one of the top ways to make first-time clients feel more comfortable. More specifically, by listening to your clients’ needs and goals, looking out for their safety, and creating a personalized plan, your esthetician consultations help build lasting, long-term relationships. These professional relationships are what keep them coming back for years to come.

But what questions should estheticians ask during the consultation?

Key Questions to Ask During Esthetician Consultations

Here are some valuable esthetician consultation questions to ask clients before their first service.

What are your main skin concerns or goals?

It’s imperative that you and your clients start off on the same page from day one. After all, some clients can’t quite articulate what they want until they hear it from the pro.

To set clear expectations, esthetician and content creator Tess Zolly prompts new clients to identify their goals and concerns. 

“You can’t make somebody happy if you don’t understand their goals and you don’t set a clear expectation for how you’re going to get them their end result, or even if that’s possible,” Zolly said. “The way you can do this is to simply ask…‘So, what brought you into the spa today? Is there anything in particular you want to focus on?’”

“It’s humanizing. It shows them that you want to address their concerns. But you need to know what that is so that you can best do your job,” she said. “That helps you understand what they want and helps them know what you are going to be doing in the treatment.”

Can you tell me about your daily skincare routine? 

What skincare products are they using right now? Do they use any specific skin treatments or devices at home? How often do they exfoliate?

Ask skincare consultation questions about the products they’re using and how their routine can improve. For example, maybe their “routine” is just a bar of soap on their face every night. (Try not to cringe.) You could gently explain the effects of bar soap and introduce a simple regiment that gets their skin on track without too many steps.

How does your skin react to weather or seasonal changes?

Alternatively, perhaps during their first esthetician-client consultation they complain about dry skin. However, they also admit they don’t switch up their routine in the winter. 

You could describe the benefits of a heavier moisturizer during dryer months, and potentially add a creamy, non-drying cleanser to their facial routine moving forward.

How often do you apply sunscreen, and what SPF do you use?

Are they neglecting sunscreen because they’re worried about breaking out? Or are they a student athlete who wears a low-SPF sunscreen, even while running track for miles every day?

Use your esthetician consultation to teach them how sunscreen can help acne-prone skin and combat skin cancers. You might also recommend your favorite non-comedogenic sunscreen products.

Are there any known skin sensitivities or allergies I should know about?

Clients could be allergic to the ingredients in your skincare products. They may also be sensitive to certain fragrances, either on their skin or just through smell. (Who knows, maybe lavender reminds them of their ex-boyfriend’s toxic mom?) 

Either way, asking the right questions during an esthetician consultation and learning such details adds value. For example, it  can help you remove products or switch up your aromatherapy for maximum comfort, Sarah Kinsler-Holloway writes for Kin Aesthetics.

Have you seen an esthetician for treatments before?

Imagine if your client has only been to an esthetician once in her life. But she had such an awful experience, it deterred her from seeing any esthetician for years after. You would want to know about that terrible experience so you can avoid repeats and make them feel comfortable.

On the other hand, maybe they spent 10 years getting bimonthly facials from an esthetician who changed their life and their skin forever. But a new job required them to move across the country, and they’re on the hunt for a new esthi bestie. What made that experience so amazing? What did they love? Will they feel at home in your spa? What will be different about your services?

Your esthetician consultation questions can help you tailor their services to improve their experience and set expectations.

What does your day-to-day look like?

Esthetician consultations provide an excellent opportunity to encourage your clients to open up about their lifestyles. 

What do they do for work? Have they experienced any big life changes, like pregnancy or a cross-country move? What is their diet like? Do they have young children? Are they getting quality sleep? How much water are they drinking? Are they currently taking any supplements, prescriptions, or over-the-counter medicines? Do they have a history of eczema or rosacea? Have they suffered any recent injuries or undergone any surgeries? Do they smoke or drink alcohol often?

Hormonal, stress, or environmental factors can do a number on someone’s skin, Kinsler-Holloway writes. The better a picture they can paint of their day-to-day life, the better you can understand them and their skincare needs. It also informs you about which procedures to avoid, like retinoids before waxing.

What are your plans for the rest of the day?

Say your client is coming in for a treatment that will leave their skin sensitive for the rest of the day. You warn them to stay out of the sun and wear a wide-brimmed hat if they need to go outside. They seem to understand. They fail to mention, however, that they’re going to the sauna with their friend later that night. The client emerges from the sauna with the most irritated skin of their life.

People don’t always connect the dots, Kinsler-Holloway writes—especially if they’re new to skincare. The best way to rule out accidents is by plainly asking what their plans are after their appointment. If you’d known about their sauna plans, you could’ve warned them more directly that heat and laser hair removal don’t mix.

Where do esthetician consultations often go wrong?

If you’ve been in the biz for a minute, then you know a successful esthetician consultation isn’t just about the questions you ask. It’s about how you ask them, too.

There are a few ways where new estheticians often go wrong. First, they ask close-ended questions. Open-ended lifestyle and skin analysis questions encourage your clients to do most of the talking. If they aren’t talking, you aren’t getting much out of it.

Second, they aren’t listening. Their responses come off as judgmental, inattentive, or uncaring.

To avoid this, practice active and empathetic listening. While your client is talking, take notes and make eye contact, Zolly suggests. Don’t interrupt, argue, or act pushy. Repeat information here or there so they know you’re paying attention. 

These verbal and nonverbal cues are key to preventing and de-escalating conflicts. They help clients feel more comfortable opening up to you. Alternatively, if they feel judged for their love of fried chicken sandwiches, they may not be honest about other lifestyle choices that affect their acne. What’s worse, they may not feel comfortable coming back to you at all.

Third, they think esthetician consultations are one and done. They may ask questions before the first appointment and forget to check if those answers have changed. In doing so, they miss out on important updates—like a longtime customer forgetting to mention she got a new tretinoin prescription. She comes in for an upper lip wax the night before prom and leaves with a mustache-like wound where the top layer of skin was removed.

And finally, they assume thorough esthetician consultations and communication are enough to replace the most important risk management tool in your tool box: insurance.

From Consult to Covered: Thinking One Step Ahead With WellnessPro

You could have the most impeccable lineup of esthetician consultation questions. You could have the happiest clients who trust you like a good friend. You could even have decades of claims-free experience and training backing you up. The reality is, all of those standout qualities combined are not enough to completely protect you from client claims.

For the ultimate confidence, back up your great communication with great insurance for estheticians.

At WellnessPro, we offer the liability insurance a salon or spa needs. We protect against accusations of errors, negligence, third-party injury or property damages, and even problems from the products you use or sell. Apply online for affordable, convenient coverage in minutes.