Zoe Bywater - Makeup Artist Telford
COVID-19 Health & Safety in my Business

What is COVID-19

Posted by Zoe Bywater on 11/06/2020

According to the WHO website "Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus.

Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory illness and recover without requiring special treatment.  Older people, and those with underlying medical problems like cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory disease, and cancer are more likely to develop serious illness.

The best way to prevent and slow down transmission is be well informed about the COVID-19 virus, the disease it causes and how it spreads. Protect yourself and others from infection by washing your hands or using an alcohol based rub frequently and not touching your face. 

The COVID-19 virus spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes, so it’s important that you also practice respiratory etiquette (for example, by coughing into a flexed elbow).

At this time, there are no specific vaccines or treatments for COVID-19. However, there are many ongoing clinical trials evaluating potential treatments. WHO will continue to provide updated information as soon as clinical findings become available"

Main symptoms
The main symptoms of coronavirus are:

high temperature – this means you feel hot to touch on your chest or back (you do not need to measure your temperature)
new, continuous cough – this means coughing a lot for more than an hour, or 3 or more coughing episodes in 24 hours (if you usually have a cough, it may be worse than usual)
loss or change to your sense of smell or taste – this means you've noticed you cannot smell or taste anything, or things smell or taste different to normal
Most people with coronavirus have at least one of these symptoms. 
For up to date advice please visit https://www.nhs.uk

What am I doing as a makeup artist to keep my clients safe?

We are all now living in a different world due to the emergence of COVID19. Health and safety has ALWAYS been my number one priority for all my clients. However, in accordance to government guidelines these procedures are now even more strict and rigorous, Due to the fact makeup artists will not be able to do their job from a safe distance as set out by the government and in under 15 minutes the government and UNIONS are making health and safety surgically graded.
DO NOT COMPROMISE ON QUALITY OR HEALTH!
Do not book a makeup artist you cannot trust. If you are a bride getting make up and you think you are safe, think about your bridal party. Is your mother or mother in law vulnerable, does your bridesmaid have diabetes, does your maid of honor have asthma. You should never risk your health or the health of others.
To enable safe working as a mobile makeup artist these are the steps I am taking to minimise risks to all clients

- Encourage clients to ask questions so they feel safe 
- Keep uptodate with all government guidelines for my industry
- I am Barbercide COVID19 certified
- I will use a face visor at all times
- Hands will be washed before each client where available and surgical grade hand sanitiser used before during and after the application.
- All clients will have there own set of deep cleaned and sanitised brushes. Spraying brushes with anti bacterial spray is no longer acceptable. All used brushes will be put into a plastic disposable bag to be deep cleaned and sanitised before being used again.
- Make up will not be left open. COVID-19 is an airborne virus therefore can travel and land on any surfaces including makeup. Any make up not required for a client will be left packed away. 
- Inbetween each client, time must be allocated to clean and sanitise all makeup, work surfaces and chairs using surgical grade sanitiser.
- Take names and contact details of all clients having makeup applied so that can be contacted if necessary.
- Use disposables when applicable, such as mascara wands, lipstick wands and sponges.

- Only 1 person to be in the makeup area at a time. 

                      Summary

                      COVID-19 is a serious virus which has resulted in 1000s of lives lost. As a makeup artist is my duty to ensure all my clients are safe. 

                      I cannot stress enough how important it now is to you and your loved ones to book a makeup artist that has your health as priority. The days are gone where a person could venture into a makeup shop and get makeup applied on a minute budget using products and equipment that compromise a clients health.


                      You now need to look not only a makeup artists ability to do great makeup but their professionalism and hygiene practices.

                      Thanks for reading

                      x Zoe x



                      All information correct at the time of writing.