1.3 The Michigan Esthetician Practical Examination

The Michigan Esthetician Practical Examination

Quick Summary: Table 21a of R 338.2121a requires both an esthetician theory test and an esthetician practical test. The practical is the PSI National Esthetician Practical, roughly 85 minutes long, scored out of 48 points with a cut score of 37. Five timed topic areas are demonstrated on a manikin — "No models are allowed." Two thirds of the rating criteria are not about technique at all: every task is scored on infection control precautions and safety precautions as well as on the task itself.

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1. The Rating Structure — Why Sanitation Is the Whole Test

Read the evaluation lines from the Michigan candidate bulletin and the scoring logic becomes obvious. Topic Area 1 is rated on exactly three lines:

1.1  Prepares daily workstation
1.2  Adheres to workplace infection control precautions
1.3  Adheres to workplace safety precautions

Every sub-task in every topic area repeats that pattern. Across the five areas there are 48 rating points, and only about a third of them are the task itself. PSI states the design intent directly: "Scores are based on the test taker displaying a solid knowledge of workplace Infection Control and Safety Precautions."

It follows that there is no required style. The bulletin says so: "There is no necessary or required style or technique a school needs to teach, or a test taker needs to perform... The number one safety rule in our industry is: Following Instructions."

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2. The Five Topic Areas

A proctor times each area and announces a warning ("there are 5 minutes left", or 2 minutes on the shorter sub-segments). When told to stop you stop immediately, stand quietly and wait. You are not scored for anything not completed inside the allotted time.

Topic Area 2 — Basic Facial (20 minutes, split three ways)

• 5 minutes: prepare the workstation and prepare the client for a basic facial.
• 10 minutes: "Demonstrates a basic facial using a towel steam process."
• 5 minutes: clean off the basic facial workstation.

Exam Note: The rated element is a facial performed with a towel steam process — not a machine steamer, and not a lengthy layered protocol. Hot-towel handling, wringing and temperature checking therefore carry real weight here; they are covered in the facial chapter of this guide.

Topic Area 3 — Eyebrow Waxing and Tweezing (20 minutes)

• 5 minutes: prepare the workstation and the client.
• Then, one-on-one with the evaluator: "Please complete a waxing procedure on one eyebrow," rated as "Demonstrates an eyebrow wax procedure using simulated soft wax."
• Then: "Please complete a tweezing procedure on three (3) hairs."
• 5 minutes: clean off the workstation.

Two details settle a great deal of internet folklore. The wax is simulated — petroleum jelly, cold cream or a similar substance is acceptable — and the national Q&A confirms there does not have to be hair on the manikin's brow. Evaluators are watching bracing, sanitation and safe handling, not hair removal. The tweezing task is a literal count: three hairs.

Topic Area 4 — Makeup Application (25 minutes)

• 10 minutes: prepare the workstation and the client.
• 10 minutes: the application itself, rated on two specific lines — "Transfers makeup to palette" and "Uses applicators."
• 5 minutes: clean off the workstation.

The two rated lines are the hygiene sub-topics from the theory outline: decanting product onto an artist palette rather than working from the container, and using disposable applicators.

Topic Areas 1 and 5 — Workstation Preparation

Area 1 is the daily set-up; Area 5 is turning the station over for the next client. They are graded on the same three criteria and are, point for point, the cheapest marks on the test.

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3. Kit, Labelling and Disposal

The kit rules generate more failures than technique does.

• One closable container ("supply kit") holding everything needed for all five areas. Suggested dimensions not more than 24" wide × 24" long × 24" high, so it fits under the table when not in use.
• There is no supply list. PSI tells candidates to bring what they would use in their own professional environment.
• Two disposal containers, one marked "Single-use" and one marked "multi-use." Every item used in the test goes into one of them. A plastic liner inside a paper bag is suggested but not required.
• Individual bags may be packed and labelled per topic area; once the workstation is set up, empty bags go into the "single use" bag.
• Absolutely no aerosols.
• Labelling must be large, legible and clearly visible to the evaluator.
• Products that OSHA does not class as dangerous chemicals, and that would not require an SDS in a real business, may be fictitious — a self-created label on a container of some substitute substance is fine. Chemicals that would require an SDS must come from the original manufacturer-labelled container.
• Disinfectant containers must carry a legible manufacturer's label, and the disinfectant must list virucidal, bactericidal and fungicidal properties on that label.
• Cover your name and your school's name on your person and your supplies.
• Watching other candidates is treated as cheating.

Exam Note: "The supply kit represents a clean and disinfected storage in an esthetician's workstation and should be treated as such." Leaving the kit open, or returning a used item to it, is scored as contamination. Equally: "All product containers used in the National practical test are considered 'Multi-use' containers; no 'single-use' containers are recognized." You cannot escape a double-dipping finding by claiming a jar was single-use.

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4. The Infection Control and Safety Checklists PSI Publishes

The bulletin lists what evaluators are looking for. Learn these as a checklist; they are the rubric behind two of the three rating lines in every task.

Infection control expectations

• Clean hands before starting a service; know when hands become contaminated and keep them clean.
• Know single-use versus multi-use items and dispose of each properly.
• Disinfect workstation surfaces and keep them from becoming contaminated.
• Keep the supply kit uncontaminated — do not return items to it, do not leave it open.
• Recognise when a work surface has become unhealthy and needs cleaning and disinfection.
• Dispense multi-use products without contaminating the container — no double dipping, no contact with skin or work surfaces.
• Keep the client from being contaminated by the esthetician; keep in-use containers uncontaminated.
• Ensure all tools are clean and disinfected.
• Know how to manage body fluids (blood, vomit, faeces) without contaminating yourself or others.

Safety expectations

• Understand workplace safety regulations issued by federal and state regulators.
• Avoid cross-contamination of chemicals and products on the workstation.
• Follow chemical mixing procedures, chemical storage and SDS practice.
• Keep the workstation free of injury risk — clean spills, pick up dropped items, prevent slips and trips.
• Confirm tools and equipment are in safe working order: no frayed or exposed wires, no rusty metal.
• Use tools and equipment safely.

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Real-World Scenario: Losing Points Without Touching the Manikin

Scenario: Priya arrives for her practical with a well-stocked kit and strong technique. She scores 33 of 48 and fails.

Analysis of the deductions:

1. Topic Area 1. She sets out her implements, then leaves the kit lid open on the floor beside the table for the rest of the test. The kit is scored as disinfected storage; leaving it open is a contamination finding that recurs across areas.
2. Topic Area 2. Halfway through the towel-steam facial she picks a dropped spatula off the table, wipes it on a towel and continues. Recognising a contaminated implement and disposing of it is exactly what line 2.8 rates.
3. Topic Area 3. Her simulated soft wax is in an unlabelled jar. Labelling must be large, legible and clearly visible; the evaluator cannot verify the product.
4. Topic Area 4. She loads foundation directly from the bottle onto a brush rather than decanting onto a palette — losing the "Transfers makeup to palette" line outright, and drawing an infection-control deduction because every container is treated as multi-use.
5. What would have saved her. None of these are technique failures. Closing the kit, discarding the dropped spatula into the "Single-use" container, labelling the jar and using a palette are four cheap corrections worth more than the five points she was short.

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Key Takeaways

• Structure: five topic areas, ~85 minutes, 48 points, pass at 37.
• Subject: a manikin — no models; one manikin covers the whole test.
• Timing: 10 / 20 / 20 / 25 / 10 minutes; nothing finished after time is scored.
• Rating pattern: task + infection control precautions + safety precautions, repeated for every sub-task.
• Specifics to memorise: basic facial uses a towel steam process; wax one eyebrow with simulated wax; tweeze three hairs; makeup is rated on transferring to a palette and using applicators.
• Kit: one closable container ≤ 24" per side, two containers labelled "Single-use" and "multi-use", no aerosols, legible labels, disinfectant labelled virucidal/bactericidal/fungicidal.
• No review: unlike the theory test, the practical has no comment or review process.