5 SANITATION PRACTICES TO LOOK FOR IN YOUR BEAUTY TEAM

First off, let me start off by saying that most beauty professionals - and by professionals, we mean the ones that truly do this for a living (no offense to all of you beauty bloggers or anything like that). We practice safety and sanitation for every makeup application and every hairstyle. This is second nature to us just like blending your crease color. We know there are many artists out there that does not have good sanitation practices (trust us, we’ve seen it and we’ve gagged about it). While sanitation and disinfection is always a top priority, with the rising concern of COVID-19, sanitation and disinfection is more important now than ever!

So we decided to write up 5 things you need to look for in terms of sanitation practices with your makeup artist and hairstylist. This is also a great guide if you’re new to the industry and are learning about how to not spread communicable diseases!

1. Make sure your artist starts off your service by sanitizing their hands. Whether that’s washing their hands with soap and warm water or using hand sanitizer. You don’t know where their hands have been! Also, if you’re at a fashion show or a part of the wedding party, are they also sanitizing their hands in-between services? It doesn’t serve anyone any good if they’re only sanitizing their hands before the first person only!

2. Did you know that using 70% alcohol is better to kill bacteria than 99% alcohol? The reason behind this is that 99% alcohol evaporates too fast before it hits the actual product, so using it does nothing since it doesn’t actually stay on the product long enough to be effective. Using 70% allows it to sit and kill the bacteria before it evaporates and before its wiped with a tissue. Here’s another fun fact: there’s a major difference between sanitizing and disinfecting. Sanitizing kills bacteria while disinfection kills viruses. There is only ONE EPA registered disinfectant that is safe to clean makeup and that’s Bactrokill. Ask your artists what they do to clean their tools and products and check if they’re using proper products to do so!

3. Anything that can be scraped out like a product that comes in jar should be scraped out. Watch out for people that double dip, you don’t know who else’s DNA is also in that product! Anything that can’t be scraped out should be sanitized/disinfected and wiped down before touching your face like eyeliner. Another thing to look for is if they’re using a palette to put products on, or if they’re using their hand. Now I definitely know certain products just work better on the back of the hand because of the warmth (I’m personally a fan of using the back of my hand as my palette). Check to see if your artist is sanitizing their hands before doing this, or if they’re using a clear hand patch made specifically for this purpose.

4. This is a clear and obvious practice, but please for the love of God, make sure your makeup artist is using a clean brush on you. Clean brushes for each new person. I know some bristles on some brushes can get stained but please just ask to clarify. Professional makeup artists will usually have multiple sets -I personally have 8 sets made for 8 different people. Hairstylists may not have multiple sets for each person, but are able to disinfect each tool before using it on the next person.

5. Lastly, at the end of each job, I will take out my entire kit and wipe down every crevice. I then will spray with alcohol and disinfectant on products like powders and let everything air dry while I go wash my brushes. For my hair kit, I will let my brushes soak in disinfectant and clean out hair from my bag. When you sit down and before you start your session with your artist, what does their kit look like? Is it clean and organized/a bit messy -not dirty or does it straight up look like it’s been collecting dust for months (note its not actually dust -its makeup products, or hair all over their kit). An artist’s kit will tell you a lot about how they care about sanitation.

Now like I’ve mentioned, these practices are usually very second nature to professional artists. If you are worried or concerned -just ask! I know I wouldn’t have any issues explaining our sanitation practices to anyone! These practices are standards that I hold for myself and for my team, so you can always feel safe when you’re working with a LHNBEAUTY artist.

But please know that all professional artists care about you and your health. We would never put any of our clients, friends or family in any danger!