This is evidenced in the business of Bloemfontein-based somatologist and entrepreneur, Tiffany Pienaar, who was on the OFM Business Hour on Wednesday (25 August) to share some insights into how this evolution has taken place since she first qualified as a somatologist over a decade ago. Pienaar says beauty used to be seen as a luxury, but now it’s deemed to be a routine in light of its integration into medical aesthetics. Pienaar, who owns "Tiffany. It’s a girl thing." beauty salon, says as a result, aesthetic clinics where you will see medically trained practitioners working in close collaboration with beauticians or somatologists are now popping up and are being supported. With respect to the impact the Covid-19 pandemic has had on her industry, Pienaar says she was forced to be innovative and think outside of the box, going as far as making home care kits for her clients.

According to Intergest South Africa, the beauty and personal care market in Africa is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 6.6% during the period 2018 to 2022. Roughly 36% of the growth in the African cosmetics industry is expected to come from South Africa. In 2017, the value of this sector was estimated to have grown to R27.35 billion at retail level and R19.69 billion at manufacturing level. Whilst the Covid-19 pandemic set the industry back slightly, it remains to be seen how much damage it has done in the long run.