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The client called her a 'Karen.'
By NyRee Ausler — Written on Jan 16, 2023
It takes a special type of person to work in an industry where you are required to make physical contact with your clients.
People like nail technicians and massage therapists routinely have to put their pride aside to provide good service.
A makeup artist recently took to the subreddit, AITA (Am-I-The-A—hole) to ask if she was wrong for turning away a client with a skin condition.
She had no opportunity to prescreen the client for services.
The 34-year-old woman starts by explaining that she has worked as a makeup artist for a small company for the past ten years, doing makeup for weddings, proms, and other events.
The Redditor wants viewers to know right away that, “This has nothing to do with skin tone or race. I don't want to mislead with my title. This was over skin TEXTURE/condition.”
The day prior to posting, she had a young lady between 16 and 18 years old show up to have her make up done for an upcoming school dance.
This was her first time seeing the teen as appointments are booked through the company.
The makeup artist was shocked by the condition of the teen’s skin.
The woman says, “Well, long story short, her skin was in terrible condition, and I didn't feel comfortable putting makeup on it.”
She explains that the girl had a lot of acne scars on her face as well as open wounds, presumably from picking bumps, and dried blood.
In addition, she shares that the client had a ‘rash’ around her eyes and mouth, consisting of “light red patches”.
She was concerned about her tools and making the problem worse.
Next, the beauty industry worker tells readers that she was concerned that the skin condition might be contagious and did not want the blood on her tools.
“Yes, my company sanitizes everything, and I know if it's done properly nothing should spread,” she posted.
Nevertheless, she was “weirded out” by the prospect of reusing those tool on other clients later on, saying the thought didn’t sit well with her.
She also had concerns about possibly exacerbating the problem by clogging her already open pores with makeup.
She tried to let the client down easy.
According to the Redditor, she did he best to provide good customer service while delivering bad news.
She says, “I tried to be very nice to the girl and explained that due to there being open wounds on her face I couldn't do her makeup because of risk of infection.”
She reiterated her concerns about the health of the young woman’s skin and avoided telling her, “I don't want you spreading diseases around to my clients.”
The company refunded the price of the service, though the teen insisted she needed her makeup done.
The poster’s manager sided with her and offered the customer a reduced service of just an eyeshadow application versus full-face makeup.
The woman claims that the angry client, “Kept insisting on a full face, made a big scene, ended up calling me a "b-tch" and a "Karen", then eventually stormed out.”
Now she has turned to Reddit to solicit objective opinions from her peers on whether or not she did the right thing.
They agree with her actions but empathize with the young lady.
The first comment reads, “NTA (not the a—hole). She clearly was acting out due to her situation. I would not take that personally. Poor girl.”
The original poster agreed, stating, “Yeah, I really do feel bad for her, I know her situation must suck, and I hate to have added to that. I just wish she didn't yell at me in front of the whole shop.”
NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.