Tracy Ejuetami's lifelong love of dressing up made choosing a career relatively simple.

She said: "I've always been into make-up and dressing up and I still am."

Tracy, an experienced beauty therapist and lecturer, runs the Jagwa salon on Dyke Road, Brighton.

She cofounded it five years ago with former partner Michelle Sawyer.

Beauty therapy is about making people look and feel good and includes a range of treatments to improve all aspects of someone's appearance.

It also requires patience and a sympathetic attitude to help put people at ease.

Tracy said: "You're face-to-face with your customers - not behind them like a hairdresser would be - so you get lots of eye contact. You get to know customers very intimately."

It was this social aspect that brought many customers back, although passing trade was just as important.

She said: "About 35 per cent of my clients are men."

She said the industry was booming and showed no signs of slowing down as people became more interested in how they looked.