Find Your Career in Beauty Therapy
with Alex Hankin

A career in beauty therapy can take you places you may not have considered before. From a career in the traditional spa to a career educating future beauty therapists, there are incredible opportunities available in the beauty industry.
This week on the “A Career in Beauty Therapy” series, we catch up with Alex Hankin – a truly inspiring business owner, lash expert and founder of Battle Lashes.
Tell us about BatteLashes!
We founded Battle Lashes with one goal in mind: providing a high-quality, smart, and reliable Service.
Battle Lashes is a well-established eyelash enhancement studio in Canberra, Australia. Battle Lashes focuses strongly on the correct and safe application of your enhancements ensuring eye safety.
We focus strongly on our eyelash technique and knowledge to create a softer and lighter enhancement to suit each individual. At Battle Lashes we believe the quality of education for the consumer will define higher standards of services in the industry.
Lash extensions are the number one beauty must for instant gratification, and the trend of having false lashes is rapidly increasing. But, we have to remind people that lash extensions can cause damage if they are not applied correctly! We don’t want to put a downer on lashes or anyone but it’s not a joke when proper eye health and lash care comes into play. That’s where Battle Lashes comes in, and that’s how we got our reputation.
How incredible do lash extensions make you feel! My personal journey in lashes started early. I’ve had an obsession with lash enhancements since I was a young teen. My lash obsession has led me to over 10 years of service experience and an incredible business model!

Tell us about your career in beauty therapy.
,I always had an eye for lashes! I was always obsessed with anything I could put on my eyes to enhance them. Whilst in high school I was given the incentive to attend two days at TAFE to study hair dressing (which was the closest thing to beauty in a small country town). Once I had finished high school and my first year in hairdressing, I moved straight to Canberra to study Beauty Therapy to add yet another trade skill to my repertoire. Although I didn’t go straight into beauty once I was qualified, I did manage to land my first job in beauty less than 12 months after moving to Canberra, and this is where I got to start applying lashes. The only reason I got to apply eyelash extensions as a junior was because no one else wanted to nor did they like the service. Fast forward a few office jobs, a stint in the Army, a child, and an online kids clothing brand, I started lashing for friends and family to help support both my son and myself. Two weeks after returning home from the Army I starting lashes again. I registered the business name Battle Lashes and 4 years later here I am! A reputable salon, an incredible team, our own line of lashes and an education section to enforce the fundamentals of safe and lasting lashing!
Your tag line is “LASH SPECIALISTS “the precision of a surgeon, the vision of an architect”. Tell us more about this.
This tagline really represents how we at Battle Lashes approach styling and creating the perfect set of lashes tailored individually to each client. We are meticulous in the way we work – steady hands, focused, and committed to making your lashes and your experience in the salon the best it can possibly be. Each client, each eye and each face is completely unique. There isn’t a “one size fits all” solution when it comes to lash extensions. We look at your entire face, your face shape, and eye shape, along with your natural lashes and create the perfect look for you.

Why is beauty therapy education so important for your business?
Understanding the in’s and out’s of the human body from a beauty perspective is vital for lash technicians. Understanding the anatomy of the eye, what it does along with the natural lash cycles and contraindications are what make great technicians. Also, understanding the salon environment is important from a business perspective. A business can’t operate solely on steps of service and thus understanding Beauty Therapy as a whole enables students with the skill and mindset to become an asset to any business.
Education is important, and not just short courses. Use the internet to research, join forums and be present in the current industry trends to keep yourself relevant with techniques and/or services.
What advice would you give to someone considering a career in beauty?
Jump! There is never any certainty with anything in life, but if your service is in high demand and your books are closed to new clients, it’s time to get someone in and train them up to your standard. Be confident in your dreams and trust in yourself – business is hard and there is no handbook – it’s just yourself and your vision. Get a good accountant, make sure you cross your T’s and dot your I’s because nobody else is going to do it for you. Be strong and work on upskilling yourself and your team – furthering your education and staying up to date is vital!
And most importantly, be the best version of YOU, every day! Because you never know who is watching.
Why do you love your career in beauty therapy?
It gives me the creativity I need to express. There are endless treatments in the beauty industry that can be offered and taught. There are new products constantly being developed and new things to explore. But mostly, as a busy woman myself, I love the feeling that our services give others. Lashes create some kind of invisible confidence boost, some kind of instant gratification that anything is doable and that you just, CAN. There is something about how lashes make you feel, and being able to give that to another woman is an incredible thing to be a part of. A woman creating confidence in another woman with lashes is an addiction in itself.

Where can people find more information about you?
Our business grew to what it is today from word of mouth. Ask around and ask people in Canberra if they have heard of Battle Lashes. If not, we use Instagram (@battlelash) a lot to keep our followers up to date with what we are doing in the salon. We also have facebook and our website www.battlelashes.com
We are so incredibly grateful to Alex for sharing her experience in the beauty industry.
For more guidance about your future career in beauty therapy, chat to the expert team at ACTI at 02 6176 3411.
