What should a facial consultation form include?
A facial consultation form should say who the client is, then ask whether they’re pregnant or breastfeeding, whether they use Roaccutane, retinoids or other prescription skincare, about allergies to skincare ingredients, nuts or fragrance, and about sunburn, cold sores, broken skin and skin conditions on the day. For a peel, add the patch test and what’s been done to their skin lately. For LED, ask about medication that makes skin sensitive to light and about epilepsy. It ends with their consent and a signature with the date. Check the final wording with your insurer.
We make Covered Beauty, which has ready-made facial and LED light therapy forms, so we’ve said where they fit. Nothing here is legal or medical advice. Your insurer’s rules and the product manufacturer’s instructions come first.
What does our facial form ask?
Every ready-made form in Covered Beauty starts with the client’s full name, date of birth and home address, so the signed form stands on its own as a record. Then the facials and skincare form asks:
- Are you pregnant or breastfeeding? (yes or no)
- Are you using prescription skincare (e.g. Roaccutane/Accutane, retinoids) now, or in the last 6 months? (yes or no)
- Any known allergies to skincare ingredients, nuts, or fragrance? (yes or no)
- Any sunburn, active cold sore, or broken skin today? (yes or no)
- Any skin conditions or medications we should know about? (written answer)
- I confirm the information I’ve given above is accurate, and I consent to this treatment. (a tick to agree)
Its note to the client says some active ingredients can irritate the skin or react badly with prescription skincare, that a peel on broken or sunburnt skin can do real damage, and that their skin may be more sensitive to the sun for a few days afterwards.
It has no patch test question and no aftercare tick, so add them if you do peels (more on that below).
Why does each question matter?
Roaccutane and retinoids
The NHS page on isotretinoin (Roaccutane) tells people taking it not to have skin treatments such as microdermabrasion or chemical peels, not to have waxing or laser hair removal and not to use sunbeds. It doesn’t give a time to wait after they stop. Our form asks about now or the last 6 months, and what you do with a yes is down to your training, your product’s instructions and your insurer.
Allergies
The form asks about skincare ingredients, nuts and fragrance. BABTAC’s Good Practice Guide, from 2016, is the trade body’s guidance for its members. It points out that salicylic acid is related to aspirin, so anyone having a salicylic peel should be asked about an aspirin allergy, with the answer on their record. Our form doesn’t name aspirin, so add it if you use salicylic acid.
Sunburn, cold sores and broken skin
This one is about the day itself, because a peel or exfoliation on sunburnt or broken skin is where the damage happens. If a client arrives with an active cold sore, move them to a day after it’s healed.
Skin conditions and medication
The national occupational standard for facial skincare treatments asks you to take the client’s medical history and medication into account, to know which conditions stop a facial and which mean adapting it, and to refer anything suspicious on the skin to a healthcare professional. It isn’t law, but qualifications are built on standards like it. The written answer gives the client room to tell you about eczema, rosacea or anything else you should know.
Pregnancy
BABTAC’s 2016 guide listed pregnancy among the exclusions for the stronger peels its insurance covered, so check what your own policy says before you peel a client who answers yes.
Doing a peel? What to add
The facial standard covers very superficial peels, the kind that work on the skin’s outer layer. It asks you to understand how a peel weakens the skin’s barrier, the higher risk of sun sensitivity afterwards and why to carry out a skin test, and its skin analysis includes the Fitzpatrick scale. Anything stronger needs the training and the insurance for it.
BABTAC’s guide puts some peels on its patch test list, depending on the manufacturer, and says that for the stronger peels clients generally need a patch test 1 to 2 weeks before, depending on the product. Its tips: a thorough consultation with expectations you both agree on, telling the client about the downtime and preparing their skin beforehand, a signed consent form, SPF 30 every day afterwards, and a review about two weeks after the peel.
For the stronger peels its insurance covered, its exclusions included anyone who hadn’t been given before and aftercare advice in writing, anyone not patch tested when the manufacturer recommends it, pregnancy, open cuts or wounds, an aspirin allergy, retinoic acid (Retin-A) and anyone under 16. An addendum to the guide says TCA peels are no longer insurable on its policy. Your own insurer’s list is the one that counts.
So for peels you might add questions like these:
- Have you had a patch test with our peel, with no reaction?
- Are you allergic to aspirin?
- Have you had waxing, laser, IPL, microdermabrasion or another peel on your face recently?
- Do you get cold sores?
- Have you been using the skin preparation products we recommended?
Any question you add that mentions a patch test is asked fresh at every visit, never carried over from last time. Add a tick to say the client understands the aftercare and will follow it, too: BABTAC’s guide says clients should sign to confirm they’ll carry out the aftercare, and our facial form doesn’t have that tick.
What about LED light therapy?
LED has its own ready-made form, kept short. It asks:
- Are you taking any medication that increases sensitivity to light? (yes or no)
- Do you have epilepsy or a history of seizures? (yes or no)
- Are you pregnant or breastfeeding? (yes or no)
- I confirm the information I’ve given above is accurate, and I consent to this treatment. (a tick to agree)
Its note to the client says LED is considered low risk, but the light can be a problem for anyone on medication that makes them more sensitive to light, or with a history of seizures triggered by flashing light.
BABTAC’s guide says that for light therapies, clients who are sensitive to light shouldn’t be treated, and that the consultation is where you find that out. Your LED device’s instructions list its own contraindications, so check the form against them and add anything they name. If a treatment includes LED as well as a facial or peel, link both forms to it and the client fills in one after the other.
How do you get it signed before they arrive?
Paper forms get filled in on the couch, in a rush, and then need locking away. Covered Beauty gives you three ways to have it done before you start:
- With their booking. Link the form to your facial, peel and LED treatments and it goes out with the confirmation, with a reminder 48 hours before if it isn’t done.
- A private link. Email it, or copy it into WhatsApp or a text. It works for 14 days and only for that client.
- On your phone or tablet. Set a kiosk PIN, then use Hand to client. It shows only their forms until someone from your team enters the PIN.
When the form comes with a booking and the client filled in the same form in the last 6 months, they see their previous answers and confirm nothing has changed, then sign again. That suits regulars on a course of peels or monthly facials. Patch test questions never carry over. Forms sent as a private link or handed over on your tablet are always filled in fresh, so whoever holds the device never sees another client’s earlier answers.
The signed form lands on the client’s record, ready to print or download as a PDF, and Covered Beauty keeps it for 7 years from the appointment, or from the day it was signed for a form filled in without a booking, while your account is open. See how online consultation forms work. Try the facial and LED forms free for a week, with no card needed. Forms are on both plans, from £9 a month.
Download the free blank forms
Each one is an A4 PDF with every question that form asks (listed above), boxes to tick yes or no, a line for your business name, and lines for the client’s signature and yours with the date. The extra questions we suggest aren’t on them, so write in the ones you need. The foot of each page says they’re free templates from Covered Beauty. Print them, keep a few on a clipboard, and check the wording with your insurer first.
Paper still means the client fills it in once they’re in your room. Send this form before they arrive, free for a week, with no card needed.
Questions from facialists and skin therapists
Do you need a patch test before a chemical peel?
BABTAC’s 2016 Good Practice Guide lists some peels among the treatments that need a patch test, depending on the manufacturer, and says clients generally need one 1 to 2 weeks before a stronger peel, depending on the product. Follow your peel’s instructions and your insurer’s rules.
Can you give a facial or peel to someone taking Roaccutane?
The NHS tells people taking isotretinoin (Roaccutane) not to have skin treatments such as microdermabrasion or chemical peels, and not to have waxing. It doesn’t say how long to wait after they stop, so go by your training, your product’s instructions and your insurer. Our form asks about prescription skincare now or in the last 6 months.
What should an LED light therapy consultation form ask?
Our LED light therapy form asks about medication that makes skin more sensitive to light, epilepsy or a history of seizures, and pregnancy or breastfeeding. Check it against the contraindications in your device’s instructions and add anything they name.
How long should I keep facial consultation forms?
BABTAC’s 2016 Good Practice Guide says seven years, so check what your insurer asks for. Covered Beauty keeps signed forms for 7 years from the appointment, or from the day it was signed for a form filled in without a booking, while your account is open. If you ever leave, export them within 30 days of your account ending, as our terms say, so you still have them.
Is there a free facial consultation form template?
Yes. The blank facials and LED light therapy forms on this page are free to download and print, with no sign-up. You can also try the same forms in Covered Beauty free for a week, edit every word and send them before the appointment.
Sources
Each page was read on 24 October 2026. Our own form questions are printed as Covered Beauty’s ready-made forms ask them today.
Other consultation form guides
Every free blank form, sorted by treatment, is on free salon consultation form templates. Or read what to put in a consultation form for:
What else should you read?
Best booking software for aesthetics clinics in the UK
Medical history and consent signed before the appointment, kept with the record, and deposits on longer treatments.
Read the guide ↗Consent forms and GDPR: a guide for UK beauty salons
What counts as health data, the consent you need, how long to keep forms and what to do when a client asks you to delete them.
Read the guide ↗Online consultation forms
Send a private link or hand over your tablet, with or without a booking. Signed forms land on the client’s record.
See how it works ↗