Hygiene In The World of Makeup!

When I was in college hygiene was drilled into me and know I'm completely obsessed with it. In my opinion every makeup artist should be! Since starting in this business I have heard some horror stories and seen some also, it was not so long ago a fellow makeup artist commented on Facebook how she had seen another MUA cleaning their brushes with Hand Sanitizer! This sparked outrage between us all and really highlighted to me how some artists have forgotten their basics of their qualifications.

As MUA we take most people's prime possession into our hands, their face. We are committed to provide them with our best service possible in the most hygienic way. If it ever came out that you had caused an ailment to your customer because of unhygienic practices your name would be ruined in the business. So why do some MUA continue to put their career at risk. My only answer can be laziness!

So any MUA's who have lost their hygienic skills or any of my fellow normal readers who want to know what to expect from MUA's continue reading.

1. Hand Sanitizer: Before you start any makeover hands should be sanitised in front of a customer. I personally sanitise up part of my arm as my arm my accidentally rub off a customer. These can be bought in all pharmacy's, supermarkets and even pound shops now and retail for a small bottle around €3. So there's no excuse not too have one. Oh do not use this to clean your brushes it's called Hand Sanitizer for a reason!

2. For products like lipsticks eyeliners concealers etc do not double dip! Scoop the product out on place on the back on a sanitised hand or on a mixing palette. Never place your brush in the product! You can get these in all art and craft stores or from Royal and Langnickel.

3. Mascara wands!!! If you do not use them you have no right to call yourself a makeup artist! From working on counters I have seen so many girls come over and try a mascara with the mascaras own wand I have even seen fellow colleges let them do it! Once they their finished I've thrown the mascara in the bin. There's no way I would put any customer at the risk of an eye infection! Use mascara wands never double dip and if your client happens to use the wand on them selves throw out the mascara, it's cheaper to buy one then all the lost revenue you will have! You can buy these from any pro shop but the cheapest place to buy is eBay. Click here for mascara wands!

4. Clean brushes! After every job I have be it a shoot or a client I come home and deep cleanse my brushes using baby shampoo and baby oil. Check out my blog post here! I have a multitude of brushes and have never had a job where I've used all of them and need more but if I did I always have a bottle of surgical spirits in my kit and can easily disinfect any of my brushes right there and then. Baby shampoo,oil and surgical spirits are widely available and will cost you less then €10.

5.Eyelashes! Never ever use the same eyelashes again, on shoots I have witnessed MUA's removing eyelashes from models and placing them back in their box and back in their kit. My only hope is the threw them out when they got home. This is the same as mascara , putting a clients eye at risk of any ailment is a serious no no, so once eyelashes are used let the model/client keep them or throw them away and buy more. I have already done a blog post on cheap lashes here!

6. Sprays to clean your powder products. I know some makeup artist mix their own spray but if you do not how to do this buy Beauty So Clean Spray. It will disinfect all your powder shadows and blushes etc and stop any nasty bacteria building up.

So fellow MUA's remember your training and how you promised to provide customers with your best service! Hygiene should be at the top at that service.