A Career in Esthetics — with Ms Kelumetse Ramonate
Educational background
Primary School — preschool and primary Tiny Tots
High School — NULIS. Towards the end of grade 12, in 2018, she started learning how to do makeup and nails, mostly from watching YouTube videos.
2019 — In 2019 I did a short course and then took a gap year (Question: what short course did you take and name of institution).
I used to watch makeup tutorials. Towards the end of my grade 12 I started learning how to do makeup and nails and then I was able to start buying makeup by myself. I knew that I wanted to do beauty but I wanted to really figure out what I wanted. I felt torn between culinary school and beauty because much as I love beauty, I also love to cook. I ended up choosing the one that was relatively more affordable — beauty. My parents are academics didn’t feel that a career in beauty was a real career. and so my dad struggled a bit to accept it but my mom was very supportive. But eventually he came around and ended up taking me to beauty school which did not come cheaply. It was very expensive. I felt bad towards the end because it started to get hard at school, especially during lockdown. It had to be because my career requires human contact and then suddenly everything needed to be done online. The first year was a breeze, I was top of my class. And then everything just went downhill and then I started really struggling at school. I think this was solely because for one I lost my motivation and just found it really hard to learn online vs learning in person. At some point I left school and told my parents that I didn’t wish to continue with the program. This was now 2022. I then went full throttle into my exciting beauty business but then it started getting hard too. I loved it but I was beginning to get a longing for something solid to fall back on. So I went back to school and rewrote all my exams and I passed and acquired my certification.
I applied for a job at Cosmoderm and received a call two weeks after I’d sent in my application for an interview. At this time I’d planned on packing up and going back home because I was feeling so stagnant and so lost, not knowing what the next steps were going to be. I felt that my parents were right and that I really should’ve gone with a much safer career choice. This was January 2023 and one Friday, January 23rd 2023, I got a call from my now manager, to say that I got the job and would be starting that coming Monday. A whole new world of esthetics opened up. I had nothing to do with beauty. It’s a lot of science, a lot of reading and studying the material and I enjoyed every moment of it. It felt like a puzzle. I feel that I learned everything very quickly beause I really enjoyed the studying and learning all about skincare and not only beauty. There were challenges here and there which is normal but I commend my manager for the encouragement that she gave me. This really gave me confidence in my work, for the the very first time. It’s been almost two years now, working at Cosmoderm and it’s going really well. And I really enjoy it.
I didn’t even know that such opportunities existed in Bloemfontein. When I applied for a job at Cosmoderm I didn’t even think they’d consider me, especially since I was fresh out of school and had only recently written my exams. I experienced major imposter syndrome. As time went on, I realised that this was exactly where I wanted to be, doing what I loved and felt I was really made to do this. I enjoy it.
I need the exact name of teh course / courses she did and perhaps teh modules as well.
I wanted to go to culinary school. I studied the International Certification (DISCO) at Camelot International in South Africa. It was a 3 year course. During / after the Covid-19 pandemic, I started a small business doing nails, eyelashes, waxes, massages. I don’t think that I’d ever go back to it again. It was too stressful. Everything was on me, the services, the sales, the marketing on socials.
Speaking of food, do you feel that being a skincare expert influences the way that you eat?
No. I find that most fad diets aren’t sustainable. I try to eat homecooked meals with lots of veggies, healthy carbs, protein. I eat clean and take supplements.
“Nothing looks better in your 50s than sunscreen in your 20s.”
An interesting client / case you’ve had that motivated you
A gentleman from Lesotho who struggled with cystic acne. He specifically said that he didn’t want to see a dermatologist, that he wanted to be treated by an aesthetician. I put him on a ………. treatment and 5 months later his skin was cleared. It has been a real confidence booster for me. The only thing we’re working on at the moment is treating the scaring using …….. treatment.
How do you take care of a zit?
I like the Lamelle Zinc Pills to treat inflammation. Recommend pharmacy brand.Taking pre and probiotics (are these topical?). Spot treatments. (do you have prefferences/recommendations?) I also switch up my cleanser whenever I get breakouts.
What would you say is the number 1 cause of aging?
Sun damage. Sunscreen is important, never late than never. Contrary to popular belief, black definitely cracks but the biggest sign of aging for black people is hyperpigmentation. And that’s why it’s slower to spot. The sun and air pollution are free radicals (meaning that?). People aren’t aware that it isn’t only UV light form the sun that speeds up aging but blue light from our devices as well. I like the Heliocare sunscreen because it protects not only from sun damage but also from blue light. Antioxidants.
The other one is stress. For women it shows in the form of breakouts on the forehead and along the jawline. I highly advice that you match your skincare to your level of stress. At the moment I’m using …. to manage my stress related breakouts and ….
The recommended dose of sunscreen is that you wear it every two hours. But if you can’t sustain this, two fingerfulls on the face and neck should be okay. If you’re someone who wears makeup, there are new forms of sunscreen now in the market that come in powders and sprays. So that’s something to consider. (recommend brand)
Typical day in the life…
Sometimes I go into work from 8 to 5, sometimes from 9 to 6. My day starts at the gym and then to work. There’s a lot of training videos to watch and so I do a lot of that. I help out with inventory tasks. If I’m not busy with a client you’ll find me working on my admin work or helping my manager with hers (do you have a system, a free software that you recommend for getting organized?). But on a busy day it’s seeing clients back to back, taking a lunch break and repeating the morning cycle and eventually it’s time to go home. It’s exactly what happened today actually.
Best parts of your career
I have really good relationships with my clients. I try to keep them only at work and try not to take the relationships outside of work. I have the best clients. When I’m having a bad day, my clients are a reminder that this is exactly what I should be doing. Besides helping someone with their skin, I listen to their stories and whenever they come in they just know that it’s a safe space to crumble and still leave feeling beautiful and also with a little weight lifted off their shoulders. But the one thing that’s the most heartwarming every time is when they show gratitude. Sometimes they walk in with gifts, send flowers to work. These small, heartfelt gestures really keep me going as a therapist. It feels good to realize the difference that I make in people’s lives and that is all that matters and really keeps me going.
Challenges you normally come across
The future of your role + the future of Ms Kelumetse
I’m hoping to try something new and go into the hospitality industry, maybe in the next 5 years.
The future of skincare and beauty
It’s unpredictable, there’s so much creativity in our industry. It’s very easy to get lost in the new technologies. Things like vampire facials which is typically a …… But new isn’t always better. I myself prefer the traditional, tried and tested ways of doing things.
Do you have any advice for a reader who’d like to have a career like yours?
Honestly, just go for it. It won’t be easy but it will be worth it.
Quick Fire round
Your top 3 recommended skincare products for black women
The Lamelle Luminesce Gel Cleanser
A Correctives Brighter Serum. It has Niacinamide, pycnogenol and kojic acid.
A Heliocare Sunscreen that also protects from blue light.
How much water should we drink?
Two litres per day.
Book you’re reading at the moment
Are you Afraid of the Dark? by Sidney Sheldon
What would like people to know about you?
Although I have a very tough exterior, I am very soft.
Your greatest value in life is…
A strong sense of self and not being too tied up to things or people.
Do you have any regrets?
I really wish I’d studied harder in beauty school.
Ms Kelumetse works I cannot even begin to tell you what a joy it was talikng to Ms Kelumetse. I epsecilally admired her sebse of freedom in her life, something that most of us (myself included) struggle with in our careers. I hope that this i
Should you require her services, Ms Kelumetse works at Cosmoderm, a skincare clinic in Bloemfontein. It is an incredible place that boosted my confidence during a really hard time with my skin.
Read: ________(article on skincare)
