Whether you’re a spa owner, esthetician, dermatologist, or beauty school student (or something in-between!), a professional cosmetology or beauty association is one of the best ways to grow your business and connect with other professionals in your industry.

Here are the professional beauty associations we’re most excited about for this year.

Join them to get access to fantastic perks, including in-person conferences, online networking events and webinars, discounts, and even liability insurance.

PS. If you’re looking for even more ways to connect to people in the industry, we also have a roundup of the best hair and beauty associations and a list of the best conferences of the year.

In this blog:

The Best Professional Beauty, Cosmetology, and Skincare Associations to Join

Best Beauty and Cosmetology Association (General): Professional Beauty Association (PBA)

PBA tops almost everyone’s list because it’s just that good.

(It even made it onto our list for salon and hair professional associations!)

Known for throwing killer events like its conference, ISSE, PBA boasts a diverse mix of members that include licensed service professionals, manufacturers, salons, schools, cosmetology students, and distributors.

Membership levels vary, but depending on the one you choose, you’ll get access to perks like scholarship programs, a liability insurance program, and even a health, dental, and vision program.

PBA also recently launched Business of 1, an association membership for beauty solopreneurs looking to connect with others going it alone.

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Best Associations for Cosmetology Students: Beacon

Technically, Beacon is part of PBA, but we’re giving it a separate nod here because it’s such a brilliant opportunity for beauty school students.

If you’re just getting started in the beauty industry, we can’t stress this enough: Networking is everything.

Beacon gives you direct access to beauty experts and influencers as well as renowned spa owners. The program currently hosts weekly webinars with some of the biggest names in the business.

And if you decide to attend (which you should), you’ll find special events, workshops, and activities just for Beacon members, so you can connect with people who are starting out just like you.

Whoever said networking wasn’t fun has never been to a beauty industry meet-up.

Best Spa and Med Spa Associations: International SalonSpa Business Management (ISBN)

If you own your spa, and especially if you own multiple spas, ISBN is likely the beauty association you’ll want to join.

ISBN connects owners and their management teams to other multi-location businesses across the world. This is a crew with clout — collectively, members generate more than $10 billion in revenue per year.

There’s also an annual conference, plus added perks like discounts on insurance programs, credit card transactions, and even overnight package delivery.

Best Estheticians and Skincare Associations: Associated Skin Care Professionals (ASCP)

ASCP bills itself as the association “for estheticians at every stage of the journey who are passionate about skin care”.

And it’s true, its combination of benefits and programming offers something for everyone regardless of where they are in their careers.

Beyond the networking perks, you’ll get bimonthly issues of ASCP’s magazine, Skin Deep, on-demand webinars, liability insurance coverage, and marketing resources.

Best Online Beauty Association with a Personal Touch: Beauty Biz Club

Lori Crete is one of the best business minds we ever encountered.

Beauty Biz Club is her own personal beauty association and program, which is designed with a specific focus on increasing revenue and profits.

And it works.

One licensed esthetician says that she went from making $10,000 to $400,000 a year with Lori’s program.

Think of this as both a training program for your business and your mindset with plenty of digital marketing built-in.

The best part? It’s all online.

Best Associations for Dermatologists: American Acne and Rosacea Society

If you’re a dermatologist or health professional working in the field of dermatology, AARS is a great association to join.

With a particular emphasis on mentoring and networking, this is a great way to stay connected with professionals across the US.

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