Terms and conditions for a permanent make-up artist

Permanent make-up terms have to deal with deposits on long appointment slots, patch tests and medical screening, retouch sessions, aftercare the client may ignore, and the client who arrives with somebody else's brows and expects them gone. I draft customer terms around how your business actually runs, for a fixed fee of £995, delivered in five working days.

Who this is for

Permanent make-up and micropigmentation artists in England and Wales: microblading, powder and ombre brows, lip blush, eyeliner, scalp micropigmentation and areola restoration, whether you work from a studio, a rented room or travel to clients. Almost every client is a consumer, and that shapes the whole document. If you also treat training models at a reduced rate, that needs saying in the terms.

What matters in permanent make-up terms

Screening, patch tests and turning a client away

Permanent make-up is not a service you can safely sell on demand. Your terms should make the client responsible for giving a full and honest medical history, disclosing medication, pregnancy, skin conditions and previous pigment, and for attending a patch test where you require one. They should also give you a clear right to decline or stop on the day if what you see does not match what you were told, and say what happens to the deposit when you do. A client who omits a blood thinner and then complains about retention is a dispute you can head off in the drafting.

Deposits, long appointment slots and cancellation

A lip blush appointment blocks out most of a working day and a late cancellation is rarely refilled. A deposit is reasonable, but under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a term that keeps a client's money on cancellation without a matching obligation on you, or that imposes a disproportionate charge, sits on the grey list of terms a court may find unfair. Tie the deposit to the time you are holding and give a clear notice period. Where the booking was made online, by phone or by message, the Consumer Contracts (Information, Cancellation and Additional Charges) Regulations 2013 add a fourteen-day cancellation right to handle in your booking process.

The healed result, the retouch and what your marketing promises

Pigment heals differently in every skin. Your terms should treat the first appointment and the retouch as one course of treatment, say what the retouch covers, how long the client has to book it, and what happens when they reappear long after that window at full price. They should also be careful with guarantees. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 a service must be performed with reasonable care and skill, and information the client relies on is binding, so a healed photograph on your feed or a promise to match a reference picture can become part of what you sold.

Aftercare and fading

Most of what decides the outcome happens after the client leaves. Sun, swimming pools, saunas, picking at scabs, acid and retinol skincare and other treatments over the area all affect how pigment settles and how fast it fades. Your terms should require the client to follow the written aftercare you give them, record that it was given, and state plainly that fading is expected with this kind of work and that a colour boost is a new chargeable appointment rather than a remedy for a defect. Without that, every faded brow arrives as a complaint about your workmanship.

Corrections and another artist's pigment

Correcting somebody else's brows or liner is the work most likely to end in an argument. You cannot know what pigment was used, how deep it went or how it will behave once you work over it, and lightening or removal may take several sessions with no promise about the end point. Your terms should treat corrections as a separate service with their own consultation and their own price per session, and say expressly that the result cannot be predicted from photographs and that residual shadow or warmth may remain. Saying that before the first session is far cheaper than arguing it after.

Liability, insurance and client photographs

Liability for personal injury caused by negligence cannot be excluded, and against consumers the Consumer Rights Act 2015 does not allow you to limit liability for a service to less than the price paid. What the terms can properly do is record your insurance, exclude losses you never priced for such as lost earnings or a missed wedding, and deal with images: whether you may use before and after photographs in your portfolio and advertising, and how consent is withdrawn. If you pay a photographer, the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 leaves copyright with them unless it is assigned in writing.

What it costs

Customer or supplier terms and conditions, £995. One set of terms, customer-facing or supplier-facing, drafted around your business. Five working days.

Review of your existing terms, £495. You already have terms and want to know how much of a problem they are. Returned marked up with my amendments and an explanation of the changes. Three working days.

Buying online forms the engagement on payment. The scope is what the terms and conditions drafting page describes, you accept the Terms of Service at checkout, and I email you within four working hours to get started. If you would rather ask something first, email me.

What you get

• A full set of terms drafted around your business, not a template with your name inserted
• A covering note in plain English explaining every commercial choice I made and why, so you can defend the terms in a negotiation without ringing me
• Liability, payment, termination and IP provisions set at a level that will survive a procurement review
• Consumer-facing wording drafted to be enforceable where you sell to consumers
• Guidance on how to incorporate the terms properly, which is where most businesses actually fail
• One round of amendments after you have read them

What is not included

• Negotiating your terms with individual customers
• Sector-specific regulatory compliance beyond the contract terms themselves
• Website privacy notice and cookie compliance, which I quote separately
• Terms governed by the law of another country

Questions I am often asked

Is my consent form enough on its own?

A consent form records that the client understood the treatment and its risks. It does not set your payment terms, your cancellation policy, your retouch rules or your liability position, and it is usually signed on the day, too late to bind what was agreed at booking. The two documents should work together, with the terms accepted when the deposit is paid.

I take most bookings through Instagram messages. Does that matter?

It matters a great deal. Terms bind the client only if they had a real chance to read them before booking, and a bare payment link sent in a message is where most artists come unstuck. My covering note sets out how to put the terms in front of the client at the point of booking so the clauses you rely on are actually part of the contract.

A client says her brows are the wrong colour and wants a full refund. Where do I stand?

That turns on what you promised and whether the work was done with reasonable care and skill. Terms drafted properly record that healed colour varies, that the retouch forms part of the course, and that adjustment comes before money back. They will not stop the complaint, but they give you a documented position and a complaints route to offer first.

Related guidance and services

• Terms and conditions drafting, £995, the service this page describes
• Contract review, £495
• Ask Caesar, £495 a month

This page is general guidance for businesses in England and Wales, not advice on your own circumstances. Last reviewed: September 2026. Email geoffrey@caesar.co.uk.