How to Send a Contract to a Client as a Makeup Artist

You did the consult, confirmed the date, and blocked the time. Then the client cancelled the morning of. No deposit. No contract. Nothing you can do. If this has happened to you even once, this guide is for you.

Solo beauty artists lose thousands of dollars every year to no-shows, last-minute cancellations, and clients who simply disappear after a booking confirmation. The fix is simple and takes less than ten minutes to set up: a contract.

This guide walks you through exactly what to include, how to send it, and how to make the whole process so fast that you never skip it, even for a quick booking.

Do makeup artists actually need a contract?

Yes — and it does not matter whether you are doing a quick birthday glam or a full bridal party. A contract is not about distrust. It is about clarity. It tells your client exactly what they are getting, what they are paying, and what happens if plans change. It protects both of you.

Beyond the legal protection, a contract signals professionalism. Clients who see a clean, branded agreement before a booking are more likely to take the appointment seriously, pay the deposit, and show up on time.

What to include in your contract

You do not need a 10-page legal document. A one-page agreement that covers the essentials is far more likely to actually get signed and returned.

• Client full name and contact details
• Service description — what exactly is included and what is not
• Date, time, and location of the appointment
• Total price and deposit amount required to confirm
• Deposit refund policy — what happens if the client cancels
• Rescheduling policy and how much notice is required
• Late arrival policy — how long you will wait
• What happens if you need to cancel (your obligations)
• Both signatures and the date signed

For bridal bookings, also add a trial appointment clause, final headcount deadline, and a travel fee if applicable.

How to send the contract: step by step

The format matters less than the habit. Whether you email a PDF or use an app, the key is that it goes out before the booking is confirmed and the deposit is collected before you block the date.

The honest reason most artists skip contracts

It is not laziness. It is that the process is genuinely time-consuming when done manually. Finding the template, filling in the details, converting to PDF, attaching it to an email, waiting for it to come back signed. By the time you have done that three times on a busy Friday, it is easy to think “I’ll just trust this one.”

That is exactly the appointment that will cancel on you.

The solution is not more discipline. It is removing the friction entirely. When sending a contract takes 30 seconds instead of 15 minutes, you do it every single time without thinking about it.

How Artisée handles contracts for you

Artisée was built specifically because of this problem. When you create a booking in the app, it reads the client details and service information and drafts your contract automatically. You review it, make any edits, and download a branded PDF in one tap. No templates to maintain, no copy-pasting, no formatting.

The whole thing takes about 30 seconds. And because the contract lives inside the same app as your client profile, payments, and calendar, everything is connected. You can see at a glance which bookings have signed contracts and which do not.

Frequently asked questions