Any UK beauty therapists out there?

[RUSSandRACHEL 3]

I know this is a long shot but Im looking for anyone who has been or currently is in a similar situation to me. My fiance and I are still waiting on our NOA2 but I'm starting to think about what Im going to do for a job for once I get over to the USA next year.

Im a trained Beauty Therapist with NVQ Level 2 & 3 Beauty Therapy Qualifications. As I've done this job in the UK for about 6 years and have good experience, I'd really like to contuinue this career in the US. But it just seems near impossible.

However, I've done a little research and been in contact with NCBTMB - The National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork and it turns out that massage and beauty in the US are two totally separate things. Many therapists don't do both, either one or the other. So, this is very different to the UK. Also, for most states you are required to carry either an aestheticians or massage licence in order to carry out work.

To get this licence, you have to have completed 500 hours of education. This is not how UK education is really graded at all. So anyway, the short of it is basically if I want to keep doing this job and avoid having to re-do my education all over again I have to get proof of the hours I studied at college (6 years ago!) and retake an extremely difficult exam to obtain the licence. The massage licence requires you to be completely familiar with knowledge of the body that a doctor would know, definitely not the way its learnt at home. I think all of this jumping through hoops is because in the US, Massage Therapists only go through minimal training compared to the UK (which is 2 years minimum) in order to control the quality of therapists out there.

This process is also extremely expensive and to be honest I don't know if its worth it. Where I currently work in the UK, its a high end spa in a prestigious hotel and where I'll be moving to in New Jersey there is nothing in comparison, apart from in New York City (whereby you have to qualify in first aid AS WELL!)

Anyway sorry its long, but basically, I just wanted to find out if anyone has moved over to the US and continued to carry out this profession (or something related) and generally how they found it.

Thanks in advance!! Good luck to you all!