Help...PRACTICAL examination!??

HELP! I’m a recent graduate from Basic Skin Care and am licensed by the state of Florida. I moved back home to PA after college and found out I now have to take a practical Examination!? I only had to take the written part before. So I called the place where it’s held to find out what product line ill be using and they told me I have to bring my own things!( cleanser, toner, mask...) What kind of products and brands do I bring? Do they need to have pumps on the products so I follow infection control procedures? And about the waxing part, do I bring my own wax and heat them up? Will they have a steamer? It even says I have to bring my own trash bag. It just seems like a lot and I’m really stressing out! Can anyone help and give me a few pointers?

Oh my God that is too funny, I am cracking up! I have never heard of that! Tell me more Please!

I took my practical for Pa in October and had to bring all my own supplies. The only thing they supplied was a tabel and a chair. The last week of school we did kit packing. We packed about 15 different kits in 1 gallon ziplock bags labled with what it was, set up, hair removal, makeup, etc. No steamers, just a hot towel and hot wash clothes to take off products, microwaved and wraped in tin foil to keep warm. Although they were not that warm when I went to use them but they served the purpose. You can use pump bottles or jars as long as you use spatulas to remove product from the jar. And yes you have to bring a trash bag to throw away all your used products. You can not re-use products you have to throw it out and use new for the next process. I just bought little jars, pump bottles and spray bottles from Walmart and used very little product in each. The spray bottles for toner and astingent you can use water. As far as the wax, I used a very thick cream, like a body butter for my soft wax on the brow and then a muslin strip to remove. And alginate for the hard wax. We got this from school. They say you can use silly putty. Be sure to sanitize your hands everytime you start or end a procedure. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Tammy in Coatesville, Pennsylvania said: I took my practical for Pa in October and had to bring all my own supplies. The only thing they supplied was a tabel and a chair. The last week of school we did kit packing. We packed about 15 different kits in 1 gallon ziplock bags labled with what it was, set up, hair removal, makeup, etc. No steamers, just a hot towel and hot wash clothes to take off products, microwaved and wraped in tin foil to keep warm. Although they were not that warm when I went to use them but they served the purpose. You can use pump bottles or jars as long as you use spatulas to remove product from the jar. And yes you have to bring a trash bag to throw away all your used products. You can not re-use products you have to throw it out and use new for the next process. I just bought little jars, pump bottles and spray bottles from Walmart and used very little product in each. The spray bottles for toner and astingent you can use water. As far as the wax, I used a very thick cream, like a body butter for my soft wax on the brow and then a muslin strip to remove. And alginate for the hard wax. We got this from school. They say you can use silly putty. Be sure to sanitize your hands everytime you start or end a procedure. I hope this helps. Good luck!

How do you know how to pack the bags and what goes in what??

You really out to try and get your money back because obviously you school taught you nothing. You can use a kit company and then you won't need to pack anything at all.

Jessica in Long Beach, California said: You really out to try and get your money back because obviously you school taught you nothing. You can use a kit company and then you won't need to pack anything at all.

im in the same position as many others my education is in nj and now i want to practice in pa im set up to take the practical test in september i need a hands on class on what is required of me for pa state board practical and state boaard pack how do you find a kit company? please please respond im going crazy!

jacquelyn 1 in mullica hill, New Jersey said: im in the same position as many others my education is in nj and now i want to practice in pa im set up to take the practical test in september i need a hands on class on what is required of me for pa state board practical and state boaard pack how do you find a kit company? please please respond im going crazy!

I am in the same position, moving from NJ to PA. I found a school that offers a 3 hour tutorial and helps you pack your kit. I haven't used them yet, but it was all I could find. It is Bucks County School of Beauty culture. They charge $275 for 3 hours one on one.

Tammy in Coatesville, Pennsylvania said: I took my practical for Pa in October and had to bring all my own supplies. The only thing they supplied was a tabel and a chair. The last week of school we did kit packing. We packed about 15 different kits in 1 gallon ziplock bags labled with what it was, set up, hair removal, makeup, etc. No steamers, just a hot towel and hot wash clothes to take off products, microwaved and wraped in tin foil to keep warm. Although they were not that warm when I went to use them but they served the purpose. You can use pump bottles or jars as long as you use spatulas to remove product from the jar. And yes you have to bring a trash bag to throw away all your used products. You can not re-use products you have to throw it out and use new for the next process. I just bought little jars, pump bottles and spray bottles from Walmart and used very little product in each. The spray bottles for toner and astingent you can use water. As far as the wax, I used a very thick cream, like a body butter for my soft wax on the brow and then a muslin strip to remove. And alginate for the hard wax. We got this from school. They say you can use silly putty. Be sure to sanitize your hands everytime you start or end a procedure. I hope this helps. Good luck!

What school did you attend?

thank you for your response. i actually found that school too. i went to them and they were very helpful. they packed my bag with me and answered all questions that i had .i took the pa test and passed w/ a 98. any questions write me back 10/15/09

Has anyone taken the PA practicals? I could use some advice, heard you have to bring your own water and you can't dispose of it at the testing site. That's sound difficult to meet the safety & sanitation if you don't have a sink or... trying to get rid of dirty water for some of the steps. Should I bring a bin to dump my dirty water between each step?

Tammy in Coatesville, Pennsylvania said: I took my practical for Pa in October and had to bring all my own supplies. The only thing they supplied was a tabel and a chair. The last week of school we did kit packing. We packed about 15 different kits in 1 gallon ziplock bags labled with what it was, set up, hair removal, makeup, etc. No steamers, just a hot towel and hot wash clothes to take off products, microwaved and wraped in tin foil to keep warm. Although they were not that warm when I went to use them but they served the purpose. You can use pump bottles or jars as long as you use spatulas to remove product from the jar. And yes you have to bring a trash bag to throw away all your used products. You can not re-use products you have to throw it out and use new for the next process. I just bought little jars, pump bottles and spray bottles from Walmart and used very little product in each. The spray bottles for toner and astingent you can use water. As far as the wax, I used a very thick cream, like a body butter for my soft wax on the brow and then a muslin strip to remove. And alginate for the hard wax. We got this from school. They say you can use silly putty. Be sure to sanitize your hands everytime you start or end a procedure. I hope this helps. Good luck!

Heard that you have to bring your own water and you can't dump the used water at the facility? does site offer running water? How do I sanitize my hands and water bowl? what do I do with my dirty water for each step?

you will have w you a closed container full of pre wet ( you wet them at home the morning of the test) cotton rounds you use thesr to remove cleanser. bring with you a thermos of hot water and a bowl with a pre wet towel in a baggie this will be for steaming of the face take pre wet towel (you wet and rung lightly the morning of) and pour water lightly over towe in bowl an ring these are the only things you need water for. as for the silly putty they deleted the hard wax part of the test. i tested this year in october also. have a bottle of purel hand sanitizer on your work station the whole time this is what you clean your hands with. good luck

I took the Virginia practical and had to bring all of my own items myself. You should be able to print up all the supplies you will need. I already had my own dermalogica kit so I brought that in...other ladies were using plastic containers with lids (buy at a party store) the waxing we did was simulated so I brought in a tub of vaseline. For us my school said bring in a small trash can that had a foot peddle..come to find out I could have just brought in a trash bag and taped it to the table and did not have to worry about it being sealed everytime..funny how they expect you to sanitize over and over but you can leave that open lol. For the steaming part I just brought in wet towels and had them labeled in a freezer bag..they are not gonna ck the temp all they wanna see is if you know how to steam the face and remove the products. I also had two containers..one labeled water and the other waste water. The only bad thing for me was the surrounding I was prepared to walk in and see a massage table and chair like the one my friend went to take hers...well my location had a shampoo chair and a table behind me so I stood the whole time bending over my client.

Thank you so much for your helpful advice! I truly appreciate it and feel a lot more confident in preparing for the exam this Monday.

you are very welcome im sure you will do great! dont worry one of the girls i went to school with in nj brought all of the products and the supplies we were told to use in nj which were a bit different then what pa teachers told me to use. what im trying to say is it didnt matter.and she passed with a 96. they are mainly looking for sanitation and safety so purell your hands every second you get . and the teacher in pa told me to re zipper your bag after every time you open it for sanitation purposes or they will mark points off. the one thing i was told that made me feel less nervous is the test is graded based on 100 points so dont worry if you feel like you did a couple of things wrong dont let it make you so worried that it messes you up for something just say to yourself oh well and continue. best of luck with your test and let me know how you make out any questions just write me. it is all still very fresh in my mind. let me know how you make out good luck! jackie

What? Who shocked the monkey? What are all of you talking about?

Snickers

I was wondering if anybody who has taken the esthetician practical in VA could give me a heads up on what the best testing site location is to take the practical at?

Jackie,
Did you ever find out what they learn differently that they only have 300 hours and not 600 hours as NJ has?

Beth

jacquelyn scandlin in Swedesboro, New Jersey said: you are very welcome im sure you will do great! dont worry one of the girls i went to school with in nj brought all of the products and the supplies we were told to use in nj which were a bit different then what pa teachers told me to use. what im trying to say is it didnt matter.and she passed with a 96. they are mainly looking for sanitation and safety so purell your hands every second you get . and the teacher in pa told me to re zipper your bag after every time you open it for sanitation purposes or they will mark points off. the one thing i was told that made me feel less nervous is the test is graded based on 100 points so dont worry if you feel like you did a couple of things wrong dont let it make you so worried that it messes you up for something just say to yourself oh well and continue. best of luck with your test and let me know how you make out any questions just write me. it is all still very fresh in my mind. let me know how you make out good luck! jackie

AN EXTRA 300 HOURS OF HANDS ON EXPERIENCE (CLINICAL)

You are saying NJ has the extra 300 hours, correct? So PA doesn't have clinical before they graduate?

ITS AN ASSUMPTION ON MY PART BECAUSE MOST OF MY LAST 300 HOURS CONSISTED OF CLINICAL

nathica in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania said: Heard that you have to bring your own water and you can't dump the used water at the facility? does site offer running water? How do I sanitize my hands and water bowl? what do I do with my dirty water for each step?

I am taking my practical exam on Monday. I am licensed in GA and am nervous about taking the test here. There I took a bottle of water with a bowl marked clean for the clean water to use and dirty for the used water. Is it the same here?

Yes, when I went in '09 it was the same. Good luck!

Any advice on any study guides I can review before my written test? Also oes anyone know where I could get some medical Esthetics courses?

Where can I get a refresher and board review in the Pittsburgh area. I have a CA Esthetician license and I need to take the test in PA. Thanks a bunch

I took my esthetics practical yesterday in Columbia SC and wont know for two weeks if I passed or not. I'm kinda worried because I didn't have 484 wipes for one of my phases and I hope they didn't fail me for that phase. What happened was I thought my phone was dead so I put it in my model's purse before we went in and halfway through my test my phone rang but noone said anything so I just kept going through my motions like nothing happened but I became extremely nervous and started shaking during my hair removal of eyebrow phase. Instead of pretending I was tweezing I actually did and showed the proctor the cotton with the hair on it and she said she didnt want to see that. Before I continue on let me point out that she had a really bad attitude from the beginning. When I proceeded to wax I realized I didn't have my 4*4 wipes out for that so I sanitized my gloves and spritzed toner on them and rubbed it on with my gloved finger, then I poured the powder that I was supposed to put on my 4*4 if I would've had it in my gloved hand and used the qtip to put it on the eyebrow and then placed my strip and pulled sanitized my gloves again and put toner back in my glove and rubbed it on eyebrow, sanitized gloves again and put after wax aloe gel in my gloves and rubbed on eyebrow with my finger. My question is, "Does anyone on here think I failed that phase terribly for not having my 4*4's? I'm not sure if it was sanitary to use my gloved fingers even though I sanitized my hands throughout the whole process. The proctor gave me a puzzled look. I would just like someone else's input on this matter.

Hi! I'm getting licensed in PA for skin care but I don't have the bag pack list of exact things to put in the baggies and what not.... does anyone know where I could get this or anyone have a copy they could maybe email me... please! I would really appreciate it!

Melissa

You need to contact the State of PA and they have a list of all that you need. Also, there are companies where you can buy kits already made. (You will need a magnifying glass too to do the skin eval)

HI,

I took my practical test in Tennessee for esthetics, and then moved to PA. Now, I need to retake my practical test, but PA has a different format of testing, and different requirements. Does anyone know who I would contact to buy a pre-made testing kit? Also, is there any kind of study material that I could find in order to prepare myself for the practical portion of the test? I checked the PA stateboard website, and it lists the categories I will be tested in, but I'm still not sure what is expected of me. In TN, my school gave me a paper that listed step by step what I need to know. Is there anything like that for PA?

Call the State and try to speak with a person regarding the list of what you will need to take with you. I know that they have a list. Also google PA State Board Esthetician kits and you should be able to find something that you can buy for the board test. Also take a magnifying glass with you for the skin eval portion of the test

kathy in Imperial, Pennsylvania said: Call the State and try to speak with a person regarding the list of what you will need to take with you. I know that they have a list. Also google PA State Board Esthetician kits and you should be able to find something that you can buy for the board test. Also take a magnifying glass with you for the skin eval portion of the test

Do they select the sections randomly during the practical, or will I be tested on all sections? In Tennesse, we were tested on each section and had to perform them step by step exactly the way it appeared on the paper. I've heard that for PA, I need to pack for all sections, but that the sections ARE randomly selected. Also, is there a designated set-up time before each section?

There is a time limit for each service and set up and I think that you have to perform all the basic services. Things have changed in PA in the last year so it is hard to say for sure. But really try to get ahold of a person with the State Board and I know that kits are available for sale about $150.00?