During the months of January, February, and March 2018 Georgia experienced the worst flu epidemic to ever hit the state. With over 50 flu-related deaths and over 700 hospitalizations, the epidemic heightened the importance of implementing proper infection control and sanitation procedures in day spas, making both more paramount than ever no matter what state you live in within the United States or countries outside of it.
So, what should you look for when visiting a Day spa as a new or repeat client that ensures that infection control is being practiced?
Here is a list of ten things, that should be practiced by your Esthetician.
1/ The obvious should be a clean spa environment, that doesn’t smell like mold, trash, or dirty laundry. Hampers that contain used towels, gowns, and sheets should be covered and when possible out of sight. The towels, sheets, and gowns that will be used during your service should always be clean.
TIP: A red flag to look out for would be, If you are bought into a treatment room within 5 minutes of the previous client leaving, that would be something that should be questionable, as the treatment room should be wiped down between each and every client with an EPA (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency) registered disinfectant. And a 5-minute window for the room turnover isn’t sufficient cleaning time between clients.
2/ The glass container that contains blue liquid, which is called Barbicide, should be clear blue in color and in no way cloudy. The Barbicide isn’t a decorative piece, it should actually serve a purpose and your Esthetician should be able to tell you what purpose it serves and how often it is changed should you decide to ask. Please note that (bleach is not an EPA-registered disinfectant)
3/ Your Esthetician should always wash his or her hands before every service, more times than not the Esthetician will make the announcement that its what he or she intends to do, as communicating that fact to you as the client, will reassure you that the Esthetician practices the basic mandatory sanitation guidelines before touching skin. He or she should also have hand sanitizer readily available on her station and make good use of it after touching product containers, the magnifying lamp, and towel cabinets, etc. If the Esthetician uses gloves during treatments, hand sanitizer should still be used and gloves should be changed frequently.
4/ The client’s bathroom/shower area should be clean and trash baskets emptied regularly. If cloth towels are provided they should be for the individual user and never shared with other clients. Paper towels are more sanitary and should be readily available if using paper towels is the client’s preference. Hand air dryers should also be provided when possible.
Note: Pump soap should always be available, as bar soap can become contaminated with bacteria that can be spread among clients.
Note: If the Day Spa provides open bowls of complimentary scented hand scrubs for you to use, when washing hands, they should also provide a scoop that will allow the product to be dispensed to avoid contamination of the product which t might occur if multiple people place their hands directly into the product.
5/ The Esthetician’s tools/implements should always be in a closed, container that is labeled clean. If the Esthetician uses drawers or zip-lock bags to store clean tools/implements the drawers and bags should be labeled “clean.” also. Though it’s unlikely that you will see the Estheticians tools once you are laying on the massage bed, this should be a common practice for the Esthetician.
Tip: When in doubt ask questions.
6/ A professional practice for Estheticians is that the client never sees the clean-up of the treatment room or the tools and or implements that are used during a treatment, but dirty items should always be placed in a container that is clearly marked as dirty/soiled that houses all of the dirty non-disposable tools including mask brushes.
7/ Valid licenses should be on display in an area where the client can see them. No license no treatment.
8/ Wax pots should always be covered when not in use, and they should be clean and free of hair. A wax applicator should never be left in the wax pot even if the Esthetician says that she uses it to test the temperature of the wax. Note these two things. That the Esthetician should not double dip when applying wax to any area of your face or body. Nor should she blow on the wax applicator to cool the wax.
9/ All sharps should be placed in a sharps container after use, and not left in the open or thrown into the trash receptacle.
10/ If you are having a makeover, the makeup used should be clean, and spayed down prior to your appointment, as should the makeup brushes that will be used on you during your makeover. Pencils should be sharpened between clients and mascara wands and lip brushes should not be doubled dipped or reused on other clients.