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I am writing this article because of the current news about the Corona pandemic but I want to make clear that this is how I handle my makeup kit always and not only if there is a crazy virus on the run and I can only write this article from my personal perspecive because when it comes to sanitary work practice every artist handles it differently or unfortunately most likely not at all.
This article isn't meant to slam unsanitary artists but it is written to raise your personal awareness to makeup artist sanitation because the best way to change another artist to start working sanitary is when the request comes out of their chair from YOU! Also some tips are things you can incoorporate into your personal routine to protect yourself.
So I highly recommend reading this article till the end because a proper handeling by your artist will take your fears away when it comes to the question if to hire a professional makeup artist during the Corona pandemic.
Let's start!
First I will raise your awareness about the risks or unproper sanitation and then I will explain my precautions and what you can do to lower your personal risks of virus infection. I will include graphic pictures to really make you understand how important it is to select a makeup artist who follows proper sanitation.
As people who work very closely on third partie's faces we artists are at a similar high risk of contamination with illnesses as bus drivers in Tel Aviv. So we can't take tape or toilet paper and shut down the front row of the bus to create a physical block as we've seen on facebook invented by some creative bus drivers during the Corona crisis :)
There are some precautions we are using to minimize the threat of contamination with all kinds of bacterias and viruses in general. First you have to understand the threats coming from unsanitary artistry.
Currently Corona is the topic No. 1 but every day clients who get makeup applied to their faces run into dangers of contamination.
A great number of infections we can see coming from unsanitary makeup kits are pink eye, herpes, pimple flare ups and allergic skin reactions but there are also non visible ones like Flu, Corona and co. and even more dangerous are those that can enter our blood stream such as HIV, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis MRSA body paralysis which makes you end up in a wheel chair for the rest of your life and all those nasty and dangerous things nobody talks about.
If you go to the doctor and they take a blood sample you would jump out of the chair if they'd use the needle they just used on the patient prior to you, right?
Well, if an artist uses a dirty brush on you that is basically the same threat to your personal health. Same like when a product is used directly on you. You pay for the service and you deserve to be treated with clean products and not a mascara wand that already touched 30 eye balls before you.
Speaking of eyes they are the window to our souls and they are basically a window to our blood stream. Anything we apply close to the eye and comes in contact with the mucous of your eye membrane can possibly enter your blood and spread. Our skin has a certain barrier to fight off bacterias and viruses but our eyes are an open inviation for potential disaster if the artist doesn't take care of it properly.
If you hire a pro he or she will know how to provide a service that doesn't compromise your health because a good artist makes you their priority in every aspect and not ony in the outcome of the makeup look.
So here are the two tips I do daily and especially before I apply makeup:
I wash my hands at least 20-40 seconds and you can change that too because it makes a huge difference:
Then I use 70% alc. hand sanitizer.
why 70%?
The shell of viruses and bacterias are made of lipids and 70% is the sweet spot where the outer shell melts within 10 seconds leaving the cell disabled to function in a harmful way. Under 70% the time to dissolve the lipids takes way longer and if you use 99% the cells have a protection mechanism that activates and makes them survive causing even more bacteria and viruses to grow on all sufaces.
If you avoid touching your face, especially your eyes and mouth then you are very well portected against Corona and Co.
As a professional makeup artist I ensure the safety of all my clients by the following rules:
I sanitize my tools and work station with 70 % alcohol and blue LED light.
I wash and sanitize my hands prior to the service and I wear my nails short.
I use disposable wands and sponges and I never double dip. This way I can ensure to service anybody with an obvious infection like a cold sore because I will never contaminate my kit. In such a case I carry one time use brushes, latex gloves and face masks in my kit as well.
I never blow air on my brushes to remove product or on glue to dry because the bacteria of my breath is a potential source for contamination.
I never touch my creams and powders directly. I scrape them off to use from a palette.
Any product in my kit is as clean as the day I purchsed it.
Scraping eye shadows into a paper towel to use them like loose pigments is a recent addition to my work routine but despite Corona or not I will keep this routine to give my clients the highest standart of sanitation.
I only buy my products from certified websites and shops.
No dupes and no counterfied products.
I check my kit quartely to eliminate expired products.
I carry multiple brush sets so that I have a clean set per person and my brushes are washed with soap and water, deep dipped in 70% alc. and got a 5 Minute LED shower with blue light.
I do not use the back of my hand because I can't eliminate all organisms from my skin to avoid contamination.
I follow
to keep myself updated on sanitation for makeup artists and I am flexible in order to change my practice as soon as science and education update to a better pratice method.
If you want to see how a sanitary makeup service looks like I highly recommend checking out this lovely video by two collegues from Chicago/ USA who took some minutes to show other artists and also potential clients how the service should generally look like:
Thank you Margina and Tricia <3
If your makeup artist follows the highest level of sanitation then you shouldn't be afraid to contaminate yourself with Corona or any other temporary or permanent illness through a makeup service.
You only understand the importance of health fully once you've lost it. Take care!
See 'ya!
