keeping hair back

do you use clips or just hold the hair off the face while you paint? (I have been using clips on my kids)..just curious how others handle this?

On girls I use bobby pins, and they keep them after. For boys...they suddenly get a billion times more self-conscious with clips in their hair (doesn't help that their parents are standing there giggling ), so I usually hold their hair back with my hand, turn their baseball cap around, or, if I have to, I'll put one clip in, with many reassurances that as soon as I'm done, it's out!

I buy the cheap packages of little butterfly clips from the dollar store and they all keep them afterwards.... for the boys, I still do it if necessary, but they can take them off as soon as I'm done. I never reuse them though.

Metal duckbll clips - the long ones like these http://salon.wimexbeauty.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=74019&Category_Code=7030

Are big enough and strong enough to hold back long heavy hair, easy in/easy out, just drop in my alcohol to sanitize... take up very little room in my kit.

I find bobby pins too hard to handle (I have grip problems) and they don't hold back enough hair.

I just hold the hair back and then avoid details in the area that is going to be covered anyway. But do have some bobby pins in my kit, that I sometimes remember to use =)
A little spray of water in fly away hair can do miracles.

I do NOT want to touch their hair.... I trained as a make-up artist and the rules were DO NOT TOUCH THE TALENT... ever. You have to use santized/sterilzed tools and applicators...

And.. have you SEEN what some kids have in their hair???? I put the clips in...and take them out... that's the most contact I want.

I use clips like Shannon's in a cup of sanitized water. Probably overkill because lice need a rough surface to grip onto and there isn't a rough spot to be found on a metal clip, but you never know...one of those little buggers might be a special forces type of bug...

I've been fortunate to not have encountered any lice. I don't know that I'd paint the kid if I did simply because I get itchy just talking about lice and I wouldn't be able to paint them without imagining 100 of those bugs with grappling hooks and repelling cord making the leap to my head.

Yeah... I've been told lice don't jump but... I dunno... I watch tv, they show bugs jumping all the time!!!!!!!!!!!

I work as a makeup artist also, and use a hand sanitizer before and clean everything. But this is kids we talk about.
And yes I'm very aware about lice. If you want to see me panic then take a hat someone have worn and try to put it on me. That is why I don't allow them to touch my hair. But the risk that lice is jumping from their head to your hand (that is more or less without hair) and then to your own hair is really small.

i'm not worried about them getting to me, i'm more worried about passing them to the next kid with my hair accessories. I use the head band cuz it's plastic & solid so one wipe with sanitizers kills all.

I like to use the bobby-pins, they've worked well for me. I bought a container of 300 ct. for a few dollars and let the kids keep them. I had some left over little pom-poms in my craft room from a project and decided to glue them to some of the bobby-pins for fun....the girls really liked it and they felt like they were getting a bonus when I said they can have them hehe.

LoneWolf wrote:I work as a makeup artist also, and use a hand sanitizer before and clean everything. But this is kids we talk about.
And yes I'm very aware about lice. If you want to see me panic then take a hat someone have worn and try to put it on me. That is why I don't allow them to touch my hair. But the risk that lice is jumping from their head to your hand (that is more or less without hair) and then to your own hair is really small.

What if I have hairy hands?

i use plastic clips from dollar tree or the metal ones from the beauty supply place... easy and cheap.. just give them away. little girls love keeping the clips.. i use ones that match their outfit(always run out of pink first!)

wow, that's a lot to think about. i've been using the stretchy hair bands from the dollar store, but i guess the lice thing never crossed my mind...eeeewww. guess I'm going to the dollar store for some clips and LOTS of sanitizer!!

I normally rest my other hand on the paintee's chin and I never touch their head or hold their hair back while I am painting...most of the time I luck out and the parent offers to hold the kid's hair back, but if not, I usually just pin their hair back and let them keep the bobby pins or throw them out afterwards if they don't want to take them. Yeah, I'm petrified of those little buggers so if I suspect that a paintee has them (which I haven't had to do yet...knock on wood!) I wouldn't embarrass the kid, just say something like "You're itchy?"