Technical File: Prepping

Prepping the Skin

For our first practical session for make-up, we focused on prepping the skin. This involves cleansing, toning and moisturising the skin. We got into pairs within the group and worked on each other and started by putting a cape on our partner to protect their clothes and clearly see the area we were working on. We were also told how important it is to make sure someone is not allergic to anything you may be using on them by asking them if they have any allergies that they’re aware of and to make sure that they know we have washed our hands.

First, I used cotton pads and cleanser to clean the skin first and remove any traces of make-up. We were told to use tissue paper when working on med instead of cotton pads due to the type of skin they have and the hairs that they can have on their face. I also had to use cotton swabs to make sure all eye make-up was removed from under and around the eye and around the nose (my partner has a nose piercing) and around the nose stud. I was careful around these areas to be sure not to cause any pain or discomfort and did check with my partner first if they would rather do it themselves. We were also told how important it was to use upward strokes when prepping someone’s skin so that the skin doesn’t get dragged down so I made sure to do this. I find this quite easy to do but it took a bit of practice to make sure I was being gentle with the skin while also getting rid of any make-up or dirt on the skin.

We then moved onto toning using cotton pads and toner and again used cotton swabs around the eyes and the piercing.  The reason toning is so useful is because it can help get rid of anything that the cleanser has missed. 

For the moisturising I used my hands and applied the moisturiser directly to the skin and made sure to massage it in to the skin well to get rid of any dry skin. This was part of the reason that it’s so important to always wash our hands before we work on people as we will be touching the skin directly.