到1924年，美国英语中出现了这个词（Mencken在俄亥俄州克利夫兰的电话目录中发现了它），由 beauty 和 technician 的结尾组合而成。Beauty salon 这个词源于1912年，是对平淡无奇的 beauty shop（1898年）的替代。Beauty parlor 则可以追溯到1894年。
The sudden death of a young woman a little over a week ago in a down-town "beauty parlor" has served to direct public attention to those institutions and their methods. In this case, it seems, the operator painted on or injected into the patron's facial blemish a 4-per-cent cocaine solution and then applied an electrode, the sponge of which was saturated with carbolized water. [The Western Druggist, October 1894]
一周多前，在市中心一家“美容院”里，一名年轻女性的突然去世引起了公众对这些机构及其方法的关注。在这个案例中，操作者似乎是在顾客的面部瑕疵上涂抹或注射了一种4%的可卡因溶液，然后使用了一个电极，海绵部分浸泡在含有酚水的液体中。[《西部药剂师》，1894年10月]
Back in 1917, according to Frances Fisher Dubuc, only two persons in the beauty culture business had paid an income tax; by 1927 there were 18,000 firms and individuals in this field listed as income-tax payers. The "beautician" had arrived. [Frederick Lewis Allen, "Only Yesterday," 1931]
根据弗朗西斯·费舍尔·杜布克的说法，早在1917年，美容行业中只有两人缴纳了所得税；到1927年，这个领域已登记为纳税人的公司和个人达18,000个。“美容师”这一职业终于出现了。[弗雷德里克·路易斯·艾伦，《仅仅是昨天》，1931年]
