ACE Make Up: Health and Hygiene for Make-Up Artists

Health and Hygiene

Make-up artists should:

-Maintain a high quality, well organised, clean kit

-Sterilise all equipment

-Make sure towels and capes are clean and mirrors are polished

-Know skin diseases and disorders

-Know contra-indications

-Have clean hands and nails, nails should be short and smooth

-Wear comfortable shoes and clean clothes

-Have hair tied back

-Have good personal hygiene

-Wear flat, comfortable shoes

-Have knowledge of any substances you are using that are hazardous

-Don’t wear strong perfume

-Don’t wear lots of jewellery on your hands and wrists

-Cover cuts with waterproof plasters

Before applying make up to anyone you should ask:

Do you have any allergies?

Are you wearing contact lenses?

When applying make-up don’t “double dip” make-up always use spatulas to decant make-up onto a palette or the back of your hand- make sure both are clean.

If the client has a condition that may be contagious use disposable equipment such as cotton buds to

apply the make-up, dispose of these straight away afterwards and sterilise your hands.

Between clients always clean your hands, palettes and brushes or use different brushes.

Isopropyl Alcohol IPA can be used to clean brushes as it kills bacteria.

Always check you have everything in your kit the night before a job and check any electrical equipment is working properly.

Make sure lids are on products straight away after using them to avoid spillage and the products will last longer as they are in contact with air for shorter amounts of time.

Throw products away if they are passed their sell by date or if they have gone off, liquids normally go off faster than powders and some items such as mascara only last for about two months.

Before a job make sure you know the exact requirements of the job, practice the make-up and if possible find out the clients skin type and any skin conditions they may have.

Make-up artists should:

-Have good communication skills

-Have good listening skills

-Show professional behaviour

-Talk clients through what they are doing in the different stages of the make-up

-Make sure the client is comfortable

Make-up Artists

Make-up artists are usually freelance, work for a brand or work for an agency. There are many different jobs and areas of the industry that make-up artists can work in including:

Television, film, special effects, creature design fashion, fashion shows, photo shoots, theatre, editorial, artistic director, trend forecasting, product development, public relations, fashion styling, beauty journalism, beautician, concept designer, education.

Product knowledge is very important as a make-up artist because you need to know what products can be mixed together and which cannot, what is in the products and how to treat someone if they have a contra-action to the products and also exactly how potentially harmful products should be used. This is especially important in special effects make-up and prosthetics as it is easy to seriously harm someone if products such as chemicals are used incorrectly.

Make-up is used for many different reasons including: To enhance natural features, to give someone confidence, to change how someone looks, to show personality and individuality, to make a statement and to create a character.

Contra-indications for Make-up

A contra- indication is something that prevents the application of make-up or results in the make-up application being adapted.

Eczema- The skin will be red and flaky, working on the skin can cause irritation and make the skin more red, erythema may also occur.

Recent scar tissue- The skin may be painful, sensitive and fragile meaning extra care must be taken to prevent more skin damage and pain.

Allergies- You may not be able to use certain products as they will cause the skin too suffer from redness, erythema and it will be painful for the client.

Cuts or abrasions- Care must be taken as the skin can be easily further damaged which may cause bleeding and it would be painful for the client.

Eye Infections- The eyes may be watery, red and sore so as few products as possible should be used around the eye area.