If you’re comparing summer programs for high school students right now, the options probably start to look pretty similar after a while: a week of coding, a week of leadership seminars, a week of something that looks good on an application but doesn’t tell you much about what a day in that career actually feels like. A cosmetology summer camp works differently. Instead of sitting through lectures about the beauty industry, you’re standing at a station with a blow dryer or a makeup palette in hand, doing the real work.
That’s the idea behind NextGen Beauty Camp at Tricoci University of Beauty Culture.
What Happens at a Cosmetology Summer Camp
NextGen is a multi-day, in-person camp built around hands-on training rather than observation. Over the course of the program, students rotate through four core pillars of the beauty industry: hair, skin, makeup, and nails, handling tools and products directly, under the supportive guidance of licensed instructors. The camp closes with a student showcase, where participants demonstrate what they built at camp in front of instructors, family, and other campers.
Themes and specific project briefs shift from session to session and campus to campus, but the format stays consistent: instructors teaching, students working directly with real tools and materials. This isn’t one of those beauty camps for high schoolers built around watching demonstrations from the back of a room.
What a Day at Camp Actually Looks Like
Most teen summer programs alternate between activity blocks and downtime. NextGen runs closer to a real training schedule. Students arrive, check in, and move into a station, whether that’s a mannequin head for a cutting or coloring exercise, a skincare station for facial techniques, a makeup mirror for application practice, or a manicure table for nail art. Instructors circulate throughout, correcting technique in real time, the same way they would with an enrolled student in the full program.
By the final day, the pace shifts toward pulling everything together for the showcase: finishing touches, run-throughs, and the kinds of last-minute adjustments you’d see on an actual salon floor before a big appointment. It’s a noticeably different rhythm than a typical camp day, and that’s very much by design. The goal of NextGen is to give teens an accurate preview of what training and working in the field actually feels like, not just to keep them busy.
Who a Teen Beauty Camp Is Actually For
You don’t need any prior experience to apply. Some students walk in already doing their friends’ hair before school dances, while others have never picked up a curling iron and are just curious whether a beauty career might be a good fit. Both are exactly who this program is designed for.
Parents researching high school summer programs on their teen’s behalf should know this isn’t a passive activity camp. Students are on their feet, hands-on with real equipment, and expected to show up and engage across every session, working with real equipment, and expected to show up and engage across every session. For a teen who lights up around hair, makeup, or skincare content but has never had a hands-on outlet for it, that structure tends to be the appeal rather than a drawback.
Why This Beats a Typical Summer Camp for Teens
Most summer camps for teens are built to fill time; NextGen is built to test-drive a career path. Beauty is a field where you can start earning a license and working within about a year of enrolling in a full cosmetology, esthetics, or nail technology program, and NextGen gives students a preview of that path before they commit to it. A few days at camp obviously won’t teach the full scope of a licensed program, but it will answer a question a lot of teens are probably asking themselves: does this feel like something I’d actually want to do every day, not just watch on my phone?
For students who’ve been searching “beauty classes for teens” hoping for something more substantial than a one-off tutorial, this is that upgrade: structured, multi-day, and taught by people who do this professionally.
How to Apply
NextGen sessions run periodically throughout the year at Tricoci University of Beauty Culture campuses across Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, with each session posted individually as dates and themes are finalized. Spots are limited and applications close ahead of each session, so the strongest move for anyone serious about attending is to check current camp listings early rather than waiting until the week before.
Camp typically runs as a multi-day, in-person commitment with attendance expected across every session, since the showcase on the final day builds directly on the skills covered earlier in the program.
Is This the Right Fit?
Not every student walks out of a cosmetology camp certain beauty is their future, and that’s useful information too. Testing out a career path in a few days is a lot cheaper than testing it out through an entire program. For students who do walk out excited about a career in the beauty industry, NextGen is designed to be a direct on-ramp: Tricoci University offers full programs in cosmetology, esthetics, nail technology, and barber for students ready to take the next step after high school.
Last Words
If your search for summer camps for teens keeps circling back to beauty content, NextGen Beauty Camp deserves a closer look. Apply for the next NextGen Beauty Camp session or explore Tricoci Forward to see the full range of resources available to high school students exploring a future in beauty.