Lesson 2 / 6

Skin safety: ask, test, stop

Most reactions can be avoided by asking two questions and doing one test.

• ✦Ask before you start: "Do you have any allergies or skin problems?" and "Have you ever reacted to makeup, hair colour or mehendi?" Write the answer down.
• ✦Patch test anything new — a new foundation, a hair colour, a lash glue. Put a little on the inner elbow or behind the ear 48 hours before the day. Redness, itching, swelling or blisters mean: don't use it.
• ✦Hair colour: always follow the patch-test instructions printed on the box — even if the client has used it before. Formulas change.
• ✦Don't work on broken skin, an active rash, or an eye infection. Reschedule kindly.
• ✦If a client reacts during your work: stop, remove the product with clean water, and tell her to see a doctor. Swelling of the lips or tongue, or trouble breathing, is an emergency — call 112.
• ✦A clear patch test lowers the risk; it doesn't make it zero. Say so honestly.