Just before salons in England were allowed to reopen on 12th April 2021, BABTAC issued a statement that patch testing for relevant treatments should only be carried out 2 weeks after a vaccination. This did cause a lot of anxiety but there was a very good reason for this statement.
There had already been a lot of advice suggesting that on reopening every client should be patch tested regardless of the last date. This was due to the fact that scientific evidence was showing the many people had a change in their immune systems if they had had Covid19. Many had been left with ‘long Covid’ and, as many have been un-symptomatic they may be unaware of having caught the virus.
By patch testing every client for the relevant treatments (e.g. hair colour, lash and brow tinting, waxing etc) on returning it is safeguarding clients against the unexpected possibility of having become sensitive or allergic to the products.
The NHS and Public Health England noted that some were getting side effects after having received the vaccination and that these should go after around 7 days. This suggested that the immune system was working hard, the client may feel unwell and a patch test result may not be accurate. Again, in the interests of safeguarding the client, the suggestion was to go a bit beyond the 7-day suggestion to 10-14 days.
There were many comments that we should be following the ‘science’ rather than ‘opinion’. There is evidence that the immune system can be compromised following C19 either permanently or temporarily. BUT there is, as yet no ‘science’ around patch testing as salons have just opened so there has not been enough time to collate any results. Therefore the whole issue of ‘mitigating risks’ came into play. BABTAC were suggesting ‘best practice’ and a demonstration of ‘duty of care’ and ‘due diligence’.
É por isso que somos um setor tão seguro!
However, since reopening and 100’s of testing and treatments have been carried out, there have been MANY anomalies and unexpected results reported! Some of these have been:
- um teste de contato negativo, mas uma reação ao tratamento
- teste negativo na parte interna do cotovelo, mas positivo atrás da orelha
- teste negativo, mas uma reação ao tratamento 4 dias depois.
- muitos testam positivo e nunca o fizeram antes
There are differences of opinion of where testing should be placed: inner elbow or behind the ear. Some saying that it can be dangerous beside the ear due to the number of glands plus mask wearing disturbing the product on the tested area. There doesn’t seem to be a definite and specific answer to this so following manufacturers instructions will probably be the safest and, in the event of a claim your insurer will be able to protect you.
Após uma reunião via Zoom com a BABTAC, um representante da Balens (uma corretora de seguros especializada), fabricantes e outros especialistas (pode ser visto aqui) As recomendações não estão em uma ordem específica
- we have a ‘duty of care’ to our clients and ourselves
- as melhores práticas são fundamentais e é melhor ir além do que abaixo dos requisitos mínimos
- sempre considerar todos os riscos de cada cliente e mitigá-los na medida do possível
- read your insurance policy throughly as each one is different. If you can’t find the answer ask the insurer
Portuguese 
English 
Spanish 
Vietnamese