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As a makeup artist, practising good hygiene has always been important. With the growing international pandemic of Covid-19, and the skin-to-skin contact nature of makeup artistry it’s now even more important to make sure your clients are assured and feel safe in your hands. Whether you have special occasion clients, are doing makeup on set of an editorial shoot, or even bridal clients ensuring your customers know the measures you’re taking is vital. 

In this post, we will be reiterating what you should be doing to keep your artistry hygiene friendly, and how to keep your clients assured.

Wash Your Hands
You have probably seen this everywhere at this point, but we can’t express how vital it is to keep your hands clean especially when touching peoples faces. When working at a time like this where a lot of people are worried, it’s even more important to show your clients the necessary precautions you are taking. On arrival or before you start, make sure you ask them where the bathroom is so you can wash your hands.

Ensure you have antibacterial hand gel laid out with all of your other products, as well as antibacterial hand & face wipes to keep your hands clean in between applications. To protect yourself as a makeup artist, ensure your clients’ faces are clean before touching.

Photo by S O C I A L . C U T

Sanitise All Tools 
Brushes should be deep cleaned using your favourite brush cleaner at the end of the day after every use, and you should also make sure you’re sterilising them. You should ensure you’re using at least 70% Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) to sterilise any bacteria (which you should also have packed in your kit on the go).

Having IPA in your kit is a necessity, but especially if you’re working with 2 or more models directly after the other. As IPA is fast drying, and doesn’t leave any residue, it's perfect for sterilising on the go. Actively showing clients your hygiene methods will help put them at ease during this period.

Photo by Raphael Lovaski

Stock up on disposables where possible 
Not all makeup tools are disposable, such as foundation brushes or concealer brushes. However, where possible try and use disposable items. Make sure you’re always stocked up on wedge sponges, lip wands and Q-tips before going to work for a client.

Lay it out with your kit, so your clients are put at ease. With everything currently on lockdown, and bookings being postponed or cancelled – now is the time to ensure you’re fully stocked up which you can order online. Mascara spoolies are also super important, as using the wand you get with the product on multiple people can cause eye infections. Once used, throw them away.

Say no to double dipping
Once you have used one of your disposables, never use the same disposable to dip back into your products. This also accounts for any makeup brushes you may be using. Double dipping will contaminate your products, and cause more harm than good.

When going to jobs, ensure you have a palette and palette knife so you can scrape your cream products onto your palettes to avoid contamination by double dipping. To make this easier, all of your cream based products such as concealers, foundation, lipsticks, eye shadows and blushers should be de-cantered. Doing this will also make your makeup processes more hygienic. Also ensure your palette and palette knife is clean by spraying them with IPA before use.

Photo by Paola-Aguilar

Don't forget to sanitise products
Make sure you’re always sanitising your cosmetic products after using them on a client. This is to prevent any bacteria from growing. Some products such as loose powders can’t always be sanitised with regular IPA so make sure you invest in something like this Pro Hygiene Collection Antibacterial Makeup Sanitising Spray.

This works with loose powders, gels, creams, pencils, pressed powders, lipstick bullets and palettes of lip colours. Mascaras can’t really be sanitised, so it’s even more important to use disposable spoolies and never double dip.

Never blow onto brushes 
We see many MUA’s blow into brushes to remove excess powder – and for many it’s a natural instinct. However, blowing can contaminate brushes with germs and bacteria. If you was the client, would you really want bacteria on your face? I think not. If you need to remove excess powder, lightly tap the stem of the brush on the back of your hand without letting the brush touch your skin.

Clean Your Makeup Bag 
It's all well and good having clean tools and products, but what about your makeup bag? We can't stress the importance of cleaning your makeup bag when repacking your clean products back into it. When visiting clients, having a sparkling clean makeup bag not only looks good but it also shows clients you take hygiene seriously. Make sure you also sanitise this too to prevent any growth of bacteria.

Photo by @anna_brstyle

Although these tips are aimed at keeping your clients assured, they're also in place to keep you safe and healthy – especially during this time. Before visiting clients, ensure they're healthy and not showing any signs or symptoms that could mean they're unwell. We will be addressing how to manage your freelance business and clients in light of this health pandemic in our next post.