The problem
Lash adhesive and brow tints usually come with a patch test instruction, and a paper card or a note in a phone is easy to lose. Checking the record before each of 40 appointments a week, at about 1.5 minutes each, takes an hour a week, about 4.3 hours a month, and a missed test is a risk to the client and to your insurance.
What the AI does
Fresha's help center says you can set patch test requirements for specific services. Clients booking online are asked to confirm they've had a valid test, and if not, they're told to complete one in the salon; bookings aren't blocked, but appointment notifications remind them. You record each test on the client's profile with a title, the date, who did it, a status of pending, passed or failed, and notes such as reactions seen. Fresha treats a passed test as valid for 6 months, a period you can't change. Your product manufacturer's instructions and your insurer's terms decide when a test is needed, not the software, and you decide whether to go ahead.
A worked example
A solo lash and brow technician in Chester sees about 40 clients a week for extensions, lifts and tints, with patch tests noted on paper cards. They move to Fresha's Independent plan, mark every lash and tint service as needing a patch test, and record each test on the client's profile as they do it.
Before
About 1.5 minutes per appointment checking paper cards, 40 appointments a week, and the odd test that can't be found
After
Each client's tests on their profile, with a flag on the booking; checking takes seconds, saving about 4.3 hours a month
What it's worth
About $114£86€102A$165C$162 a month in time saved: 1.5 minutes on each of 40 appointments a week is an hour, times 4.3 is about 4.3 hours, worth $114£86€102A$165C$162 at $27£20€24A$38C$38 an hour. That is against Fresha Independent at €14.95 (about $17£13€15A$25C$24) a month, shown in local currency, or nothing extra if you already use Fresha. The real value is not treating a client without a valid test.
How to set it up
- Set up Fresha with your services and mark every service whose products need a patch test.
- Record each existing client's most recent test from your cards, with the date, product and result.
- Book new clients a patch test appointment before their first full treatment, as the product instructions say.
- After each test, update the status to passed or failed and note any reaction.
- Before each appointment, check the client's tests and ask whether anything has changed, such as new medication or a reaction elsewhere.
What goes wrong
- Fresha's 6-month validity is fixed. If your product instructions or insurer ask for a test more often, or before every tint, follow them and use Fresha as the record, not the rule.
- Bookings aren't blocked without a test, so a client can still turn up untested. The check before you start is yours.
- Test results and reactions are health data under UK GDPR. Keep them in Fresha, not in a phone's notes or a free personal account, and limit who can see them.