Apply cleansing or conditioning agents to client hair, scalp, or skin
Little of this can be handed to software today.
This happens in the physical world, so software agents do not touch it. Automation here means robotics and machinery, which is a different market from the one mapped on this site, on a much slower clock.
| How automatable | Barely automatable |
|---|---|
| Kind of work | Physical, manual and inspection work |
| Jobs that do it | 7 occupations |
| Tool categories that apply | None |
| O*NET activity | Handling and Moving Objects (4.A.3.a.2) |
What this looks like on the job
Not our paraphrase. These are real task statements recorded against this activity, spread across the 7 occupations that perform it.
- Wash and dry bodies, using germicidal soap and towels or hot air dryers.
- Embalm, dress, or otherwise prepare the deceased for viewing.
- Shampoo hair.
- Shampoo, rinse, condition, and dry hair and scalp or hairpieces with water, liquid soap, or other solutions.
- Cleanse and tone the skin to prepare it for makeup application.
- Massage, shampoo, and condition patron's hair and scalp to clean them and remove excess oil.
- Select and apply cosmetic products, such as creams, lotions, and tonics.
- Provide skin care and nail treatments.
- Give facials to patrons, using special compounds, such as lotions and creams.
- Cleanse clients' skin with water, creams, or lotions.
- Treat the facial skin to maintain and improve its appearance, using specialized techniques and products, such as peels and masks.
- Perform simple extractions to remove blackheads.
- Remove body and facial hair by applying wax.
- Apply chemical peels to reduce fine lines and age spots.
What we would actually use
Nothing in our landscape addresses this work. That is the honest answer rather than a padded list: this activity needs a person present, or a machine rather than a software agent.
Nothing on this site applies. Automation here is robotics and machinery, a different market on a much slower clock, and no software subscription moves it.
Chosen for the cheapest thing that does the job, not the best funded. Nothing on this site is sponsored, and the full landscape is there when you want to disagree with us.
How people actually do it
No workflow names this activity yet, but these automate the same kind of work, with the prompts to paste and what to keep for yourself.
Who does this work
7 occupations in the O*NET database perform this activity. Each one has a full breakdown of its other tasks.
Work that goes with it
O*NET groups these under “Apply hygienic or cosmetic agents to skin or hair”. In practice they tend to be done by the same person, in the same sitting.
| Activity | Jobs |
|---|---|
| Apply solutions to hair for therapeutic or cosmetic purposes | 4 |
| Apply makeup to alter or enhance appearance | 4 |
| Treat nails by shaping, decorating, or augmenting | 3 |
Method. The activity, its taxonomy placement and the occupations that perform it come straight from the public-domain O*NET 30.3 database. The automatability band is ours: we map each of O*NET’s 41 generalized work activities to how much of its output current software can produce, assuming a person still reviews and owns the result. It is a coarse three-way judgment on purpose. A precise-looking percentage here would be invented.