How to operate a legal makeup business

Pulling out my legal background for today’s post! I often get questions, on what measures and practises makeup artist’s should adopt to keep their business legal, safe and protected. If you are one of those, this blog post is for you today! (Please note, as I am UK Based, this is UK Based information, but generally these rules do apply internationally in different formats or under different names).

1) Register as Self Employed.

According to UK business rules and regulations, the 1st step is to identify the type and category of the company and get it registered with HMRC as a sole trader or LTD company. Each has its process to follow, which can be found at GOV UK. It is important to register, even if you are not making enough money to pay tax yet (and trust me, by filing your taxes, declaring your income, you won’t pay tax if you are under the threshold! Just signing up to HMRC doesn’t mean you automatically HAVE to pay tax.) In my opinion, you should never mess with the tax man, so signing up - declaring your income, it means you always have peace of mind.

2) Get Insurance.

As a makeup artist, the second thing you should be doing after registering yourself, is making sure you are protected with adequate insurance. As professional as we may be, accidents can happen. Slip accidents, makeup kit theft, accidental allergic reactions, and YOU (as in your own personal self) doesn’t want to be held liable. There are several types of insurance you can get as a makeup artist:

• Public liability insurance

• Product liability insurance

• Employers’ liability insurance

• Tools and equipment cover

But the main and most important one, is definitely public liability insurance. We as makeup artists work with the public all the time. Brides, models, general glam and go’s - yep they are all the public! And as we all know, SO many things can go wrong which sometimes, isn’t even our fault or intentional. This form of insurance can protect you against the cost of defending claims for accidental injury or property damage a client suffers as a result of your negligence or sometimes, because of accident.

For example, you’re in your client’s house doing their make-up. You put your kit on their table so it’s easier for you to access, but suddenly knock over your eye-shadow palette. It falls on your client’s new cream carpet and stains it. The carpet needs to be professionally cleaned and your client is likely to ask you to cover the cost.

Or, imagine, your customer develops an allergic reaction to a foundation you’re using, minutes before they’re due to head down the aisle on their special day. They’re furious and want to bring legal action against you. Public liability insurance can help you cover the legal costs and any compensation you’re required to pay.

You also have product liability insurance. This covers you if a product you are using is defective (again, not your fault, but the fault of let’s say MAC or Morphe) and as such the client gets hurt. This doesn’t cover you however, if say you are using a lip gloss on the lid, or a non eye safe glitter, because these products are specifically designed for ONE area and probably have a disclaimer on the packaging to only use on that one area. If you decide against that, and use on an area not fit for use, this does not cover you.

Tools insurance, of course covers the tools and kit you are using against damage or theft. This is a very VERY important insurance to have. The average kit of an MUA is around £10k+>. Let’s say you leave your kit on set overnight, and the kit is damaged via a flood. You can then claim the cost of your kit back. There is nothing more devastating than having to rebuy your kit, so I highly recommend you add this onto your insurance if you can.

3) Contracts/Terms and Conditions

Ok so you are fully registered, you have your insurances. Now its time to get your paperwork in order. No matter what area of makeup you work in, make sure you have some set terms and conditions for your clients. I always issue my glam and go clients, a copy of my terms and conditions, with refund policies, cancellation notices ect… This is a legal requirement for any business that takes money, to clearly display on their website or when booking clients in, their specified terms, conditions and policies. If you are working in bridal, it is so important you have a contract with these clients, which specifically outlines their unique cancellation policies, money owed and of course, liabilities and obligations.

4) Data Laws

Small businesses also have a legal responsibility to keep personal data safe (General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act) and provide a clear policy on how that data will be used. If you have a website, it is a legal obligation now to have a data retention policy in your footer, and it’s likely your website provider will be in touch in the next year to ensure this is up to date. Make sure you have a data protection policy on your website, instructing your clients about how you take care of and store their data.

5) Protecting your Interests.

Lastly, you want to protect your assets with trademarks. If you don’t want anyone else using your name or logo, it is a good idea to trademark this in the UK and overseas. I have trademarked By Kayleigh AND Level Up Club logo’s and names in the UK. It takes about 3 months and about £300 to do this in the UK via the Gov website. If you have an asset that you don’t want anyone else using, it is well worth protecting these.