Walk-in and booking app for skincare studios
A calm front desk, a signed intake form and a facial room that stays busy.
A guest scans the code by your door, picks a facial, a peel or a quick brow tidy, fills in the intake form on her phone and waits in the lounge or the coffee shop next door. Your esthetician reads her answers and her profile notes before she walks into the room. Short add-ons and long treatments share one honest wait, and booked guests sit on the calendar beside the walk-ins.
No card? Start on Free: 1 location, 50 check-ins a month.
- Intake form signed on her phone
- Patch-test and allergy flags on the calendar
- No app for your guests
Fresh Face Studio
72°H 78°L 61°3:41PM
Now Calling
Nora J.
Tayloris ready for youUp Next
- 1Sam W.
- 2Tess H.~20 min
First nameTess Last name Mobile (Optional)(555) 555-0123Who would you like?AnyFirst availableFastestTaylorAbout 20 minJoin the line
TaylorAbout 20 minJoin the lineYOU'RE IN LINE#3TessAbout 20 min. Watch the TV for your name.Follow your place liveScan the QR code with your phone to follow your place in line and leave if plans change.Done (30)
Walk to Riley
- Turn left2 ft
- Turn right29 ft
- Turn left4 ft
- Station 9, at the back
Not where you are?
You
YouYour routeStation 9
This page updates live. Feel free to step out.
In line as Tess H. Leave the lineTess H.
You're up!Taylor is ready for you.Head to the front now.Running late?Let Fresh Face Studio know when you'll be there.On my way, 2 min5 min10 minSorry, I can't make it
- $0
- Free plan: 1 location, 50 check-ins a month
- $29
- a month for your first location
- 2 min
- to set up your first location
- 15
- trades, each with its own words and screens
A Saturday at a three-room skincare studio
An example day, hour by hour, with the line on everyone's phone.
Example day
9:30
The line opens on its own. Four facials are booked, each with the intake form already signed and the deposit paid.
- 9:30: The line opens on its own. Four facials are booked, each with the intake form already signed and the deposit paid.
- 10:15: A first-timer scans the code at the door, picks an express facial and fills in the intake form on her phone while she reads a magazine.
- 10:40: The esthetician opens her profile before the room and sees the product she listed and the medication she noted.
- 11:30: A regular is up next. The calendar shows the allergy flag on her profile, and the esthetician swaps the product on the tray before she sits down.
- 12:15: A guest wants a brow wax and the rooms are full. The join page shows a short wait for the add-on, so she goes next door for coffee and keeps her place on her phone.
- 1:30: A booked guest arrives ten minutes early. Her booking and the walk-ins ahead of her are on one screen, so the desk tells her the real wait.
- 3:00: A guest finishes a facial and buys a serum and a sunscreen on the same bill, with a tip for her esthetician.
- 4:45: The line reaches the cap and the join page says it is full, so guests driving over choose another day.
- Monday: Your summary email shows your busiest hours and the clients past their usual return date.
Today
Where a skincare studio loses its afternoon
Where the time goes today, before anything changes.
- 01
A fifteen-minute add-on stuck behind a ninety-minute facial
Someone wants a dermaplane or a brow wax before dinner and the room is mid-treatment. Nobody at the front can say how long it will be, so she walks out and books with the place that answered.
- 02
The intake form on a clipboard in the treatment room
Skin type, products she uses, allergies, medications, a recent peel: you need those answers before you start. Handing a clipboard to a guest already lying back in a robe makes the first ten minutes of her facial a paperwork session.
- 03
An allergy or a reaction that lives in someone’s memory
A client reacted to an ingredient last winter. The esthetician who saw it is off today, the note is on a card somewhere, and the product is already open on the tray.
- 04
Walk-ins and bookings colliding at the front
A booked guest arrives early, two walk-ins are ahead of her and the schedule is a paper grid with eraser marks. Whoever is at the desk guesses who goes first and someone feels overlooked.
- 05
Regulars who do not come back on time
A client loves her monthly facial, then a busy season passes and she never rebooks. Nobody notices until the room has an empty slot and her name has not appeared in a quarter.
- 06
A waiting room that does the selling badly
Guests sit on a couch with their phones and nothing to tell them how long it is. They leave to run an errand, get called while they are gone, and the room sits quiet while you chase them.
- 01
One wait that adds up real minutes
Each service has its own minutes and each esthetician her own times, so a dermaplane add-on and a long facial are counted as what they are, and the guest sees an honest wait on her phone.
- 02
The intake form before she arrives
You build the form with the questions you ask. She signs it on her phone before she joins or books, and it is filed on her profile with the date and time for the esthetician to read before the room.
- 03
Flags on the calendar
Mark a patch test or an allergy on her profile and it shows on the calendar and the staff screen when she is up next, so the note travels with the guest, not with one person’s memory.
- 04
One schedule for both kinds of guest
On the Pro plan, booked guests sit on the calendar with deposits and reminders, and walk-ins join the live line beside them. The front desk sees who is next without a paper grid.
- 05
A suggested return date per service
Set a "return in N weeks" suggestion on each service. A regular who is past her usual gap shows up on your list, ready for a friendly email and an easy rebook.
- 06
Free to step out
Her place lives on her phone, with a nudge when her turn is near. She can browse the shop down the street, and you stop chasing people who wandered off.
Example: the same day for skincare studios, before and after.
What changes
How NextUp Walk-in helps
What changes once the line lives on a phone, not on paper.
1
One wait that adds up real minutes
Each service has its own minutes and each esthetician her own times, so a dermaplane add-on and a long facial are counted as what they are, and the guest sees an honest wait on her phone.
2
The intake form before she arrives
You build the form with the questions you ask. She signs it on her phone before she joins or books, and it is filed on her profile with the date and time for the esthetician to read before the room.
3
Flags on the calendar
Mark a patch test or an allergy on her profile and it shows on the calendar and the staff screen when she is up next, so the note travels with the guest, not with one person’s memory.
4
One schedule for both kinds of guest
On the Pro plan, booked guests sit on the calendar with deposits and reminders, and walk-ins join the live line beside them. The front desk sees who is next without a paper grid.
5
A suggested return date per service
Set a "return in N weeks" suggestion on each service. A regular who is past her usual gap shows up on your list, ready for a friendly email and an easy rebook.
6
Free to step out
Her place lives on her phone, with a nudge when her turn is near. She can browse the shop down the street, and you stop chasing people who wandered off.
Built for skincare studios
The parts of NextUp Walk-in skincare studios use most. Each one has its own page, with pictures.
- Calendar and online booking
- No-show protection
- Commissions and tip pools
- Memberships and packages
- Loyalty
- Reviews and feedback
How NextUp Walk-in runs your skincare studio
Every feature here is in NextUp Walk-in today. The ones marked Pro come with NextUp Walk-in Pro; the rest are on every paid plan. Compare plans.
The walk-in line
- Check in from a QR code, a link or a tablet. Put the code on your door or counter, a link in your Instagram bio or Google profile, or turn a tablet into a kiosk at the front. A guest needs a name, with no app and no account.
- Services with their own minutes. Express facial, signature facial, chemical peel, dermaplaning, brow wax, lip wax: each counts for its own time, and the wait adds up the guests ahead of her.
- Per-esthetician times. If one esthetician runs a signature facial in 50 minutes and another in 70, set it per person. The wait uses each person’s own times.
- Pick a person or "Anyone". A guest with a favorite esthetician chooses her and sees her own wait. "Anyone" goes to the first open room.
- Add-ons on the same ticket. A guest can choose a facial and a wax together, and both count toward her wait.
- A tablet at the door and a TV in the lounge. The tablet checks guests in. The TV shows who is being called, who is next and the current wait, in your colors and logo.
Intake forms and client profiles
- Forms you build yourself. Ask what you need to ask: skin concerns, products she uses at home, allergies, medications, anything recent on her skin, and photo questions where you want a picture. She signs on her phone.
- Once, once a year or every visit. Choose how often a returning client signs, so a monthly regular is not signing the same page every month.
- Filed on her profile. Her signed answers sit on her profile with the date and time, beside visit history and staff notes, found by phone number.
- Typed records you define. Keep the details your studio tracks, such as a patch-test date and result, a product she reacted to or a note to go gently, as records on her profile.
- Patch-test and allergy flags. A flag on her profile shows on the calendar and the staff screen, so whoever is in the room sees it first.
- Import your client list from your old system or contacts, with notes and birthdays mapped from your columns, so regulars are not strangers on their first visit.
- Seven languages on the join screens, following the language her phone is set to.
Keep the rooms turning
- The staff screen. Call next, seat, done, no-show and re-call from any phone or tablet.
- Station button. A private link per esthetician for a phone or tablet in the room. One big button finishes the visit and calls the next guest.
- Are you still coming? If a guest is called and has not come in, one tap asks her and she answers 2, 5 or 10 minutes.
- Hours and a cap. The line opens and closes on its own, stops walk-ins a set time before close and says the line is full when you reach your cap.
- Insights. Busiest hours by weekday, walk-ins, people who left the line and quoted versus real waits, so you can staff the Saturday rush on facts.
- Retail at checkout. Cleansers, serums and sunscreen go on the same bill as the treatment, with stock that drops as you sell and tips tracked per esthetician.
Booked treatments and keeping clients
- Online booking with deposits or a card on file, no-show protection, reminders by email and a refund cutoff you set.
- Packages with sessions left: sell a series of facials or peels and watch the sessions left on her profile as she uses them.
- Memberships for a monthly facial, with the member discount at checkout.
- Gift cards your clients can buy for a birthday or a holiday.
- Rooms and equipment. Tell a service it needs a facial room or a particular machine, and online booking only offers times when one is free.
- Email campaigns and flash sales for a slow weekday, sent to clients who agreed to hear from you.
See NextUp Walk-in set up for skincare studios
Six screens, one system, always in sync — styled the way your customers and team will actually see it.
Why skincare studios move off the paper schedule
- From a paper intake form: the questions are answered on her phone before the room and filed on her profile, not clipped to a board and read aloud.
- From an appointment-only app: those assume everyone booked. This adds a real walk-in line, a QR code at the door and a live wait on her phone, and on Pro you keep online booking, deposits and reminders.
- From a notebook of client notes: allergy and patch-test flags live on her profile and show on the calendar, so the note does not depend on who is working.
- Your history comes with you: import your client list yourself, with notes and birthdays mapped from your columns.
- Your clients stay yours: your booking page shows only your studio, with no marketplace listing a competitor beside you.
- Switching offer: your first month free on monthly billing with the code SWITCH, and you import your client list yourself in a few minutes. See the switching guides.
More for this kind of business
Also built for
Comparing waitlist apps?
See comparisonSee how NextUp Walk-in compares with other booking apps: price per location, texts included, and who each app is actually built for.
Questions
Skincare studios: common questions
What is a skincare studio walk-in app?
It is a check-in and waitlist for facial studios and esthetician rooms that take walk-ins. A guest scans a code or taps a link, picks a service and follows her place and wait on her phone. Your esthetician reads her intake form and notes before the room.
Is there a waitlist app for an esthetician or facial studio?
Yes. NextUp Walk-in runs the walk-in line on every plan, with a wait that counts each service’s own minutes and each esthetician’s own times. Online booking, deposits and no-show protection sit beside it on the Pro plan.
Can a client fill in an intake form before she arrives?
Yes. You build the form with your own questions, make it required, and she signs it on her phone before she joins or books. It is filed on her profile with the date and time, and you choose whether a returning client signs once, once a year or at every visit.
Can the form ask about allergies and what is on her skin?
You write the questions, so you can ask about allergies, medications, products she uses and anything recent on her skin, and add photo questions where you want a picture. What you ask and how you word your consent are your studio’s own choices.
How do I flag a patch test or an allergy?
Record it on her profile, such as the date, the product and a note. The flag shows on the calendar and on the staff screen when she is up next, so the person in the room sees it before the treatment starts.
Can I take walk-ins and appointments in the same studio?
Yes, on Pro. Booked clients sit on the calendar with deposits and email reminders, and walk-ins join the line beside them. The front desk sees one picture of who is next.
How does the wait work for a ten-minute add-on and a long facial?
Set each service’s minutes and each esthetician’s own times. The wait adds up the guests ahead of her using those numbers and counts how long the current visit has been going. Insights compares the waits you quoted with the real ones.
Do guests have to download an app?
No. They scan your QR code or tap your link and join in their phone’s browser with a name and no account.
Can clients wait somewhere else and come back?
Yes. Her place and wait live on her phone with a nudge when her turn is near. She can run an errand or sit in the cafe, and "Are you still coming?" lets her answer in 2, 5 or 10 minutes.
Can I sell a package of facials?
Yes, on the Pro plan. Sell a series of facials or peels as a package, and the sessions left show on her profile as she uses them. Memberships and gift cards are on Pro too.
How do I bring clients back on time?
Set a "return in N weeks" suggestion on each service. Clients past their usual gap show on your list, and you can send them a friendly email to rebook, as long as they agreed to hear from you.
Can I show the wait on a TV in the lounge?
Yes. A TV with an HDMI port and a small streaming device shows who is being called, who is next and the current wait, with a QR code for walk-ins, in your colors and logo.
Can I sell skincare products at checkout?
Yes. Cleansers, serums and sunscreen go on the same bill as the treatment, with stock that drops as you sell. You can take cash, a pay link or QR on her phone, a saved card or a Stripe card reader, with tip buttons you set.
Can I keep notes on a client’s preferences?
Yes. Every client has visit history, staff notes and the typed records you define, found by phone number, so the next esthetician sees what the last one wrote.
Can I import my existing client list?
Yes. Import from your old system or contacts, with notes, birthdays and tags mapped from your columns, so your regulars arrive with their history.
A quieter front desk and a full treatment schedule.
Set up your first location in about two minutes. Your line can be live before your next walk-in.