An email on Tuesday and a question nobody can answer
A client emails to say her eyes were irritated after a lash lift on Saturday. You want to handle it properly: check her record, look at what was used, and if necessary contact the supplier. Her booking shows a lash lift and tint with the senior therapist. It does not show which bottle of lift solution, which tint and developer, or when they were opened. The therapist thinks it was the new box, but there were two open on the trolley that day.
If the supplier asks for a batch number, you cannot give one. If two other clients had a similar issue, you have no way to link them.
Products are tracked as stock, not per client
- Stock is counted in boxes and bottles, with no link to the treatments they were used on.
- Lash adhesive and some solutions have a limited life once opened, but opening dates are written on the bottle, if anywhere.
- Several of the same product can be open at once across different rooms or trolleys.
- Therapists finish a treatment, check out and move on, with no step that records the product.
- Patch tests and treatments may use different bottles of the same product.
A weak position when something goes wrong
If a client reports a problem, not being able to say what was used makes it hard to respond well, to talk to the supplier, or to show your insurer what happened. It also means you cannot spot a pattern, such as several clients reacting to one batch, which is exactly the kind of thing you would want to catch early. Your insurer and suppliers set what they expect you to keep; the practical problem is that nothing in a normal salon day captures it.
Batch logging that takes seconds
- When a new bottle or tube of a tracked product is opened, the therapist scans its barcode or photographs the label on the salon tablet. The system records product, batch, opening date and who opened it, and prints or shows a short code to write on the bottle.
- You choose which products are tracked: typically tints, developers, lash adhesives, lift and lamination solutions, and any professional product your insurer asks about.
- When a therapist checks out a treatment that uses tracked products, she picks the open batch from a short list, usually just one or two options, on the booking.
- Patch tests record the batch in the same way, so you can see whether the test and the treatment used the same one.
- Opened products past the shelf life you set after opening are flagged on the tablet, so they can be replaced.
- Any client record shows every tracked product and batch used on her, and any batch can be searched to list every client it was used on.
| Question | Today | With batch logging |
|---|---|---|
| Which tint was used on her? | Therapist's memory | Product and batch on the booking |
| When was that bottle opened? | Maybe written on it | Recorded with who opened it |
| Who else had that batch? | No way to know | Search by batch |
| Is this adhesive past its open life? | Guesswork | Flagged on the tablet |
What to do about a reported reaction is a matter for your policy, your insurer and, where appropriate, a medical professional. We build the record; we do not advise on the response.
A record you can pull up in a minute
On a normal morning the lash tech opens a fresh adhesive, scans it and writes the short code on the lid. Through the day, each lash booking is checked out with that adhesive selected, a single tap. When a client gets in touch the following week, the manager opens her record and sees the lift solution, tint and developer batches and their opening dates. If the supplier asks, the batch numbers are there. If another client mentions something similar, the batch search shows whether they had the same one.
The flag for products past their open life turns out to be one of the most used parts, because adhesives and solutions are easy to forget at the back of a trolley.
Could your salon answer this question today?
- You cannot say which batch of tint or adhesive went on a given client.
- Opening dates are written on bottles, or not at all.
- Several of the same product are open at once.
- You would struggle to list every client a batch was used on.
- Your insurer or supplier has asked for product details you could not give.