Scrolling through Instagram, you’ll see a vast amount of beautifully-produced smokey eyes, bold lips and flawlessly-highlighted features – it’s a makeup lovers’ heaven. However, whilst their skills might be on point, many of these self-proclaimed makeup artists do not hold any formal qualifications. No matter how skilled they are, without a full qualification, makeup artists won’t be equipped for dealing with your individual skin type, and they may not adhere to health and safety standards – putting you at risk. So before you choose a makeup artist for your next event, you might want to evaluate the dangers of using an unqualified makeup artist.
They’re Not Trained in Health & Safety Practices
A big part of a makeup artist’s training is learning about health and safety practices. Not only does this help them to identify any contraindications, but it also teaches them how to disinfect their tools, avoid spreading infections and maintain their own personal hygiene too.
In addition to this, fully-qualified makeup artists will know what to do in the event of an allergic reaction, helping to minimise the effects. However, a makeup artist with no formal health and safety training may not even be able to identify the symptoms of an allergic reaction, let alone know how to deal with it.
No matter how skilled they are as a makeup artist, being health and safety trained is one of the most vital parts of their career. There’s very little point in being able to create a perfectly-blended smokey eye if they give their clients conjunctivitis at the same time.
Next time you’re looking at hiring a makeup artist, don’t be afraid to ask them where they trained and what qualifications they hold – any fully-qualified makeup artist will be happy to tell you. The last thing you want is to hire a makeup artist who has directly applied a lipstick to hundreds of clients before using it on you, unaware of the germs they’re spreading. Additionally, if your makeup artist doesn’t ask you about any allergies or conditions before starting work on your face, then you should walk away from your treatment.
An internationally-recognised VTCT certificate is one of the most prestigious makeup qualifications around. However, many makeup courses offer ‘certificates of completion’ after a short one-week course, and many people believe that this means they’re a qualified makeup artist – they’re not.
Short one-week – or even one day courses – cannot possibly teach students everything they need to know about health and safety. Instead, these courses teach students the techniques behind popular makeup looks that they should only be recreating on themselves. The ‘certificate of completion’ students receive at the end of their course is simply a certificate of attendance – it’s not been regulated by a governing body, isn’t recognised within industry, and more often than not, indicates that no formal health and safety training has taken place.
Not only does a qualification indicate a high level of training, but it also means that they are fully health and safety trained, reducing the risks involved. After all, you can’t put a price on the health of your face.
They’re Not Insured
It’s difficult for self-taught makeup artists to obtain insurance, which can be risky business. Most people will advise you to avoid using any makeup artist with no insurance – no matter how skilled they are.
Not only does the insurance give you peace of mind that you’ve got a fallback should anything go wrong, but it also indicates that your makeup artist cares about the welfare of their clients, and would you really want to work with a makeup artist who doesn’t?
So whether you’re thinking of training as a makeup artist, or just looking to hire one for your next big event – make sure you take qualifications into consideration to avoid disaster further down the line.
