Teresa Tatsch MUA HS wrote:
anyone got any links to disposal lip brushes?  I did a search but the ones I see are synthetic and very blunt looking they do not appear to be very good.  I do makeup for workshops where there are multiple models and I find that having them would save time rather than having to sanitize my brushes and wait for them to dry between models and color changes.

TREVER JAMES MCWILSON wrote:
Sanitary Kit Procedures ... Are so crucial ... I wipe down all of my Shadows, and Blushes with tissue... I have even spritzed them with Alcohol 90%.. but 70% will work too... I wash my Brushes with Shampoo, after every shoot.  Disposable lip wands for glosses are the hardest to find.. I have scraped the gloss on to a spatula if I am out of applicators.. Alcohol your lipsticks after use everytime even if you SCRAPE them .. !!!.. OMG.. I have worked in the Makeup Industry for over 7+ years, and I have seen pillbox dippers , and all sorts of things.. you can't wipe down lipstick in a pill box... MOUTHS AND EYES ARE DIRTY!!!... Makeup artists seem to forget this.

Relaxing Minds wrote:
DISPOSABLE APPLICATOR RESOURCES

Well the problem is that some of the resources for disposable applicators require you to have a License.  I purchase from Universal Companies and The Industry Source/The Beauty Book which both can be found on the web. They do sell disposable blush brushes (tiny) and lip gloss wands.  I just hate ordering and waiting on stuff plus sometimes there is that sometimes added shipping charge. Prices are reasonable. I also check the local professional beauty supply stores. 

Qosmedix also sells them but in bulk. They are a medical/salon/spa quality disposable merchant. The 2006 catalog is 300 pages.  No license needed to purchase but you do need a Federal Tax Id #.  I was a buyer for a body product company and still had their catalog.  They will send free samples.  I emailed them yesterday and when they asked for a Federal Tax Id, I explained I didn't have one but I did have an EIN which I provided.  I explained that I did not need the products for retail but for providing sanitary services.  They are sending the catalog and samples.  It may be a case where several MUA's place one order together if the order minimum is astronomical.  I'll post here when I find out cause the catalog I have has no price but minimums listed.  www.qosmedix.com

Next choices for unlicensed people are Sally's, Wal-mart, Target, Beauty supply, Kmart, etc.  Also try an Avon, Mary Kay, Beauticontrol, Jafra or any kind of cosmetics ind rep as they can buy them.  Ask can you purchase from them.  I know, I sold Avon for years and was able to purchase quality double ended (long) eyeshadow applicators, mascara wands, lip brushes, spatulas, foundation sponges, qtips and cotton rounds for CHEAPER than anywhere else on the market.

Last choice, go in Sephora and any other cosmetic counter where they have applicators out and "borrow" a few.  I went in Sephora on Sunday and was happy to see lip gloss wands, I asked did they sell them and she said know but grab as many as you want.  Well... I decided not to be greedy and got about 15 of them.   also liked their thin foundation sponges.

I received my catalog and samples from qosmedic today. The catalog now 400 pages.  They sent me a nice selection of their makeup disposables as requested in individual packages with price minimums.  There prices are not bag at all.  1,000 lip gloss wands are $53.00 meaning they are about $ .05 each and some of the spatulas are $25 per 1,000.  Cheaper than my other suppliers.  The different is that qosmedix only sells in BULK so you have to buy 1,000 at a time.  I seriously suggest to check out their website www.qosmedix.com to see everything they sell.

Spade wrote:
Did a show a while back with about 10 other models.

I swear, everyone was horny as hell and ready to pounce each other. I questioned their 'cleanliness'. Then I noticed the MUA was using the same products on everyone...lip liner, lipstick, mascara, etc. No disposables.

I did my own makeup that day.

Just found out she's doing my makeup again soon.

Uh-oh.

Meredith wrote:
I was once at a photoshoot in Texas for a formalwear catalog and the makeup artist was REUSING the false eyelashes on all the models.  She told all the models to remove the lashes so that she could use them again on the models all week.  Luckily I had my own stock of lashes - sometimes it's better to pay a little to save your health!

Bonne Nuit wrote:
Did a show a while back with about 10 other models.

I swear, everyone was horny as hell

What in the world???  LMAO

Lilium Makeup Artistry wrote:
Eyelash mite:

This is the scariest thing I have ever seen!!!!!!!!!

I always try to educate (in away) my models when I do their makeup and ask me why I am so careful with my mixing palette, disposables, and spatula. They don't even think about how dangerous it can be, not to mention gross and unsanitary.

I wash my brushes after every use with shampoo and sanitize them as well so they are fresh .

I never take back false eye lashes from the models, I rather give them away because it is a hassle to clean them and I like to give them to the model when we are working again the next day or so...but I tell them how they should clean them.

Another thing I read yesterday in a thread is to get a portable (pop-up) trash can....I hate when I have a huge pile of tissues, wands and sponges...I like to keep my area clean since I'm kinda messy when I work

SoAddicted wrote:
When I 1st began modeling I had a makup artist lick his liner brush to give me a more presice line on my eye lid. I smacked the brush right out of his hand and told him NO you will not ut that in my eye.

hahaha!.. omg that's so awesome that you did that!!

yaye!!

p.s. bad make-up artist!!.. sick!

Lilium Makeup Artistry wrote:
Eyelash mite:

great..  great.. this image is gonna haunt me for the rest of my life..

(great thing I use dispossable mascara wands and bring alcohol and brush cleaner everywhere I go)

::shudders::

Lilium Makeup Artistry wrote:
Eyelash mite:

You guys know that every human has these, right??  Even all of you saying "gross!", have them crawling around your eyelashes and eyebrows as you're reading this.  They're kinda like the "good" bacteria that is on your skin...

(and yes, I am a microbiologist)

Amanda Jeanne wrote:
I once had a few make up artists ticked off with me because I asked to use my own mascara (they were all using 1 tube of mascara, same brush, for a pretty large group of models). Apparently half of the girls ended up with an eye infection. It was a pretty big event, about 40+ models.

If a model has decent mascara I will use theirs. I don't use disposable wands. I just buy the 2 for 1 packs of Great lash and use that and then give it to the model or throw it away.

Cold Rain Arts wrote:
I'm on a friend's computer and can't be arsed to switch over to my account, but I'm a model on here...

Anywho, I just did a runway show on Thursday, and the makeup and hair was done by the Aveda school in St. Petersburg, FL.
The makeup and brushes were disgusting.
TONS of double (triple, quadruple) dipping, using the same brushes on different girls (and the brushes looked dirty to begin with), putting liquid foundation on with unwashed fingers, dirty sponges...
I watched as one MUA set down an eyeliner pencil and another immediately picked it up and used it on another girl..no alcohol, no sharpener, no nothing.
Another MUA covered her mouth with her hand as she coughed, then wiped something out of the corner of her eye with her fingers, and THEN stuck her fingers all over a tube of lipstick and started smearing it on the model's lips, saying she was sorry but she couldn't find a lip brush.
Luckily I carry my own set of brushes and some basic makeup with me to all jobs, and I insisted they use those. There were a few things I couldn't avoid using, like the liquid foundation, but I did make sure the MUA rubbed her hands with some Purell before she touched me.
A few of the MUA's were trying to maintain some level of cleanliness, but the majority were treating it like a teenage slumber party makeover session...

The Aveda school I went to didn't teach ONE course on sanitation. They scheduled a photoshoot without teaching anything on makeup (literally, nothing), and just let the girls go at it.

I'm not surprised that happened to you.

Relaxing Minds- Taj wrote:
DISPOSABLE APPLICATOR RESOURCES

Well the problem is that some of the resources for disposable applicators require you to have a License.  I purchase from Universal Companies and The Industry Source/The Beauty Book which both can be found on the web. They do sell disposable blush brushes (tiny) and lip gloss wands.  I just hate ordering and waiting on stuff plus sometimes there is that sometimes added shipping charge. Prices are reasonable. I also check the local professional beauty supply stores. 

Qosmedix also sells them but in bulk. They are a medical/salon/spa quality disposable merchant. The 2006 catalog is 300 pages.  No license needed to purchase but you do need a Federal Tax Id #.  I was a buyer for a body product company and still had their catalog.  They will send free samples.  I emailed them yesterday and when they asked for a Federal Tax Id, I explained I didn't have one but I did have an EIN which I provided.  I explained that I did not need the products for retail but for providing sanitary services.  They are sending the catalog and samples.  It may be a case where several MUA's place one order together if the order minimum is astronomical.  I'll post here when I find out cause the catalog I have has no price but minimums listed.  www.qosmedix.com

OMG Thank you so much for posting this info.  I am almost 100% sure that this is the company that Sephora uses for all of their disposables (I used to work at Sephora so I got to see how they came to the store.)

I'm definitely going to be placing an order so if anyone wants to do an order with me just let me know..

DreadDoll wrote:
Not to hijack the thread... but I'm curious about what everyone considers hygenic?
Everyone has different standards right?


Personally, I grew up with a microbiologist mother, who in turn made me into a germaphobe.
I think I'm obsessivley clean about my kit.  I

Just wondering how everyone keeps their shadow and blush palettes sanitary?

I bring 2-3 sets of brushes for a shoot, but I will clean them before any are reused. It takes up time... but it's worth it becuse I don't get the application I like with disposable sponges/wands etc. (with the exeption of mascara/eyebrow set)

but even the pencils I'll wipe off with a cleaning/alcohol wipe.

Rhonda M wrote:
I was doing makeup for a fashion show here a few years ago and one of the other MUA's had one sponge for each shade of foundation.  I mean she was reusing one disposable sponge on the models of same complexion.  I thought I was going to DIE.  Most of the models did not even say anything about it.

I had that as well, although I did say something, she just carried on.
I came out in a rash on my cheeks, lasted for over a week.

Eleanor Sabaduquia wrote:
I shall now tell my friend's tale of woe:

Back in the early 80's my friend was a makeup artist in N.Y. and I guess hygiene wasn't a huge issue then. She was working in Macy's (at the counter) and decided to use a (counter) pencil in the inside (waterline) of her eye. She told me that she never used the counter cosmetics, but she was going out that night and wanted to amp her makeup up.

-Flash forward 2 weeks- her eye was red and itchy and she thought, "Oh, must have gotten pink eye from that eye pencil".

Then her iris started to turn milky (which she thought was cool looking) and during the course of the year she started to lose vision in her eye. Turns out that the eye pencil that she used was used as a lip pencil. By a person who had a cold sore. And that she had herpes in her eyeball.

She ended up getting a cornea transplant.


Since she has told me that story, I've sharpened and alcohol-ed every lip and eye pencil before I use them on people. So it shortens the life of the pencils (not that I would ever touch anything of mine on a cold sore), but you don't know what buggies that people have, and you haven't seen her cornea.

When I work with other artists, the models will remark upon how needlessly sanitary I am-hand sanitizer, paper palette, scraping creams out, every talent has their own brush cup, disposable wands, a gazillion brushes, alcoholing tweezers and small scissors, etc. (I guess we're a bunch of slobs in Cali)-I usually recommend to models that they bring their own mascara and liner if they see that the artist isn't hygienic. They are, after all- their own product- and they need to protect it as best as they can.

I have also noticed that the huge print makeup artists are really unsanitary. And that Canadian trained makeup artists are the most sanitary.

My own tale-

I was on a game show and had to go through makeup. Makeup artist was eating a slice of greasy pizza, talking to her friend, and perfunctorily wiped her hand off on a tiny napkin and proceeded to do my makeup. I didn't want to say anything like, "Hey-uh...can you wash your hands? See...uh...I'm a makeup artist and...uh..."

Besides, I was too petrified to go on the show and nervous as all get out. Ended up winning $1000 though.

When I read this, I think I literally felt my heart drop...

Kaylene Scherb wrote:
Eyelash mite:

I literally screamed in horror when I saw this! ugh thats so gross I wanna cry, and I've never even had this!

MEK Photography wrote:

You guys know that every human has these, right??  Even all of you saying "gross!", have them crawling around your eyelashes and eyebrows as you're reading this.  They're kinda like the "good" bacteria that is on your skin...

(and yes, I am a microbiologist)

oh their normal ones? I thought it was from unsantiary reasons. Ok I'm not as scared anymore

Roshar wrote:
One time a model was being so rude to me- so I spit on her face and said "Dont worry, thats how you set the makeup"

just kidding.

Although one time I was talking and accidntly spit my mint onto the models hair. That was embarssing.

BAHAHAHAHA

Madelynn Austin wrote:
My aunt works for the What Not To Wear show, and I asked her about Carmindy's stuff. She said that every participent gets the products Carmindy used on them, meaning the double dipping is fine; the tube of mascara is theirs in the end. Same goes for the hair products used by Nick.

Sorry to bring up an older thread, but I wanted to ease some of your minds.

Ooof, thank goodness! My boyfriend's sister just got me Carmindy's book for my birthday (wouldn't have been my first choice) and after reading this thread I was all ready to go exchange the book for someone else's! I'm glad to know she's not icky. I couldn't understand how someone could have gotten so far while being so unsanitary. Phew!

Roshar wrote:
One time a model was being so rude to me- so I spit on her face and said "Dont worry, thats how you set the makeup"

just kidding.

Although one time I was talking and accidntly spit my mint onto the models hair. That was embarssing.

Bwwwuuuahahahahahahahahahaahahaaaaaa

WOW you kill me!!!

Kaylene Scherb wrote:
Eyelash mite:

In a way, I think they're kinda cute