In the sea of compelling careers that the beauty industry offers nowadays, the job of a lash technician stands out as one of the most enjoyable and profitable businesses.
Some of the perks of becoming a lash tech include getting to be creative, working with people, being flexible and organizing your own working hours, and, maybe the most important factor, making a living by doing something interesting.
So, if you are thinking about starting your own career as a lash tech, you’re probably interested in how much do lash techs make.
What Does the Lash Tech Salary Depend On?
The average salary depends on many factors. Some of them are:
The type of your service
A lash tech does eyelash extensions, lash lift, and lash tint. There are different styles of lash extensions and they don’t cost the same: classic lashes, volume lashes, hybrid lashes, or wispy lashes. Also, infills are charged less, but the fill-in treatment doesn’t last as long as the full set treatment. Lash lift and lash tint cost less.
Number of Clients
The beginnings are hard and you cannot expect to have a lot of clients when you just start. But the more you learn and practice, the better your work will be and each set of lashes is your advertisement, so always give your best and work on your skills.
Location
The competition in the area will affect the price. If there aren’t many lash technicians in your area, your initial prices don’t have to be too low. Also, if you offer a service that is very rare in your area, it is a good way to stand out.
If the town is saturated with lash technicians, some of them compete with low prices, so setting the price of the treatment too high can drive away potential clients.
Experience, image, and popularity
Some more exclusive salons charge more for their services.
Based on all of these factors, the average lash tech salary varies, but let’s try to calculate how much do lash techs make.
Image source: Pexels
How Much Do Lash Techs Make?
As said above, the lash tech salary depends on different factors, and one of them is the type of service. Let’s see how much you can make if you offer the most popular lash extension styles.
Classic Lashes
The average price of the full set of classic lashes in the USA is $150.
The infill appointment is usually charged half of the price of the full set, so it is around $75.
The full set treatment is usually 2h long, while infills last around an hour.
To be realistic, let’s say you do 2 full sets and 2 infills per day:
5 x (2 x 150+2 x 75) = $2,250 per week
For the full year (let’s take 4 weeks off for vacation and holidays):
48 x $2,250 = $108,000
Wow, that’s a lot of money! Of course, this is calculated before taxes. Also, you need to pay the rent and the supplies, so the final income will be much lower.
This sum is calculated if you work 5 days a week, but most lash techs work 6 days a week.
Volume Lashes
If you do volume and hybrid lashes, you can earn even more.
The average price of volume lashes is $230 in the USA, and let’s say that the lash techs charge around $100 for an infill. Again, if you do 2 full sets and 2 infills, and work 5 days a week, it will go like this:
5 x (2 x 230 + 2 x 100) = $3,300 per week
3 300 x 48 = $158,400 per year
Calculate, then subtract the price of the rent, supplies, and other additional costs to calculate how much money you will approximately earn per year.
Of course, this is the ideal scenario when you are fully booked, but it is not always like that. In fact, you will probably have just a couple of clients weekly at the beginning.
If you offer other services besides lash extensions, such as lash lift and lash tint, you may seem to earn less per year, because these treatments cost less. However, you may have more clients that will fill in the vacant appointments between lash extensions, and earn more in the end.
More services, more clientele!
Image source: Pexels
The Average Salary of a Lash Tech
According to ZipRecruiter, the average lash tech salary is approximately $22.79 an hour, or $911/week or $3,950/month.
ZipRecruiter is seeing annual salaries as high as $101,000 and as low as $24,000. The majority of lash tech salaries currently range between $35,000 to $51,500 in the US.
Image source: ZipRecruiter
What Other Expenses are There?
Bear in mind that the prices calculated above don’t include the costs of running a business, like:
Rent – depends on your area and whether you have your own salon, share the space or work at home.
- Insurance
- Taxes
- Supplies
- Marketing
- Additional services (hiring an accountant, a cleaning service, waste disposal, etc.)
Image source: Pexels
How Do I Become a Lash Technician?
In order to become a lash technician in most states, it is required to complete a certification course and get an esthetician or cosmetology license (or some other type of license). Some lash techs work without a certificate but this is not advisable. If some complications happen you can get sued. Also, clients don’t trust non-certified lash techs.
So, find a reputable certification course and complete the training as well as the required amount of training hours. After that, you should get informed about the type of license you need to obtain in order to become a licensed lash technician. Contact your local Health Department to get all the information you need.
Why Is Becoming a Lash Tech a Good Idea?
Lash techs are very in demand. The popularity of lash extensions is growing and you can have a lot of returning clients. Since eyelash extensions last up to 8 weeks, lots of clients will come back for another treatment or for regular infills. So, you can easily build a clientele and have a steady income.
As said above, this is a lucrative business. In some states you are allowed to work from home, so you won’t have to pay the rent. And another benefit is that you can organize your time and work whenever you want – a perfect getaway from a dull 9-to-5 job.
Cover image source: Freepik
