Yes — and skipping it is one of the fastest ways to void your insurance. Lash lift and brow lamination solutions are perming products: thioglycolate-based creams strong enough to restructure hair, applied millimetres from the eye. A reaction there isn't a red patch on a forearm — it's swollen lids, chemical irritation, and in bad cases a trip to A&E.
The standard UK insurers and training bodies expect:
- Patch test before the first treatment, following the manufacturer's instructions — usually 24 to 48 hours ahead. The manufacturer's timing is what your insurer will check, so follow it exactly.
- Re-test after a gap or a change. If the client hasn't been in for 6+ months, you've switched product brands, or they report new allergies, medication, or a recent reaction anywhere — test again.
- Tint counts separately. If you're tinting as part of the appointment, the tint needs its own patch test. A clear lift test doesn't cover the tint.
The part that catches salons out isn't doing the test — it's proving it. If a claim lands 18 months later, "we always patch test" is worthless without a dated record: which product, which batch, where applied, when checked, and the result. That record is health data under UK GDPR, so it belongs in a secure client file, not a paper diary.
Every client, remembered — safely.
SAY-OS keeps each client's contraindications, allergies and history in one place, and flags them at booking — so the right call happens before they're in the chair.
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