beauty professionals deserve​

Beauty,

Not Barriers.

States force beauty professionals to spend too much time and money at traditional cosmetology schools before they can earn a dime.  Many go into debt, waste time learning what they don’t need to know or already know, or are left dissatisfied with their program. There’s no denying that beauty professionals deserve more flexible training options that cater to their specific needs.

There are alternative ways to regulate the industry that cost artists far less money and time, while still protecting health and safety.

We want to help make it less costly to work in beauty—and we want to know what you think.  Are there ways to improve the industry?  Tell us, and we’ll send you a free beauty gift!

tell us what you think!

It’s not Fair That Beauty Professionals must spend…

AVERAGE OF

tuition to attend cosmetology school

Aspiring beauty professionals spend, on average, $16,000 to attend state-required cosmetology school. And after spending all this money, many still have to get additional training because their school didn’t teach them what they needed to learn.

average of

borrowed to attend cosmetology school

Students often go into a lot of student loan debt to afford school.  But programs rarely graduate students on time, delaying—or even blocking—aspiring beauty professionals’ entry into the workforce, and increasing their debt burden. 

UP TO

hours to attend cosmetology school

States require up to 2,100 hours of cosmetology school.  Students have reported that they spend much of the practical instruction time standing around, waiting for clients.  A former student told The New York Times, “I would say probably 60 percent of our time was sitting around waiting […] I was literally just waiting. I had to finish my clock hours.”

And while in school, students usually must provide services to paying customers—and not earn a dime. 
The school profits twice: from the student’s tuition, and the paying customers. 
it’s 2024: it doesn’t make sense to require beauty artists to spend so much time in traditional, lengthy, costly programs, when there are so many othER, more affordable training options. but many cosmetology schools lobby to keep hour requirements high – because they profit off of every hour you pay for.

states can free beauty artists to

design their own careers,

save money and time, and start working and hiring. 

  • States can allow beauty artists to pursue apprenticeships, gaining real-world and paid experience, instead of forcing them to go to a traditional school.
  • States can allow beauty artists who want to provide narrow services that don’t involve chemicals to do so without a cosmetology license, while ensuring sanitation standards are met.
  • States can treat the beauty industry like the restaurant industry, where the restaurant is licensed but the chefs are not. This ensures customers are protected and gives employers the ability to hire and train as they see fit.
  • Most importantly, we want to hear about your experience and how you think beauty industry regulations can be improved!
tell us what you think!

Beauty professionals face steeper and more costly licensing requirements than many other fields.

Education

Chefs prepare food that is ingested by customers, and aren’t required to get a license or go to school. They take a short, simple sanitation course, and the restaurant is subject to inspections. It’s up to the chef whether they want to go to culinary school.  

Time

On average, cosmetologists must complete nearly 10 times more training than entry-level EMTs, who administer life-saving first aid.  

Regulations

Personal trainers aren’t required to have a license. Tattooing is arguably riskier and more invasive than what cosmetologists do, but some states let artists work after only a few hours of training in bloodborne pathogens and communicable diseases.

The United Kingdom and 12 members of the EU don’t require licensing for beauty professionals at all. 

The UK has “voluntary certification,” which allows beauty professionals to decide which credentials they want to pursue. If they want to call themselves a “State Registered Hairdresser,” they have to meet certain requirements; but they don’t have to do this in order to provide services. 

While aspiring beauty professionals are in school—spending money and not making money—those in other occupations are learning on the job or practicing their crafts while earning a living from day one. That’s not fair.

Some states make it easier to provide beauty services.

Required hours of schooling differ state to state, even though beauty services don’t.  Some states allow services that don’t involve chemicals to be performed without having to go to cosmetology school first.

Some states allow beauty professionals to:​
  • Style hair
  • Shampoo
  • Apply makeup
  • Braid hair
  • Apply eyelash extensions
  • Thread
without getting a cosmetology license first.

Hear from beauty professionals who have benefited from changes to laws

Thousands of artists like myself just want to earn an honest living doing what they love and continuing the tradition of their cultural skills. I want to teach and empower these artists to perfect our trade and stand up for themselves and thousands more to pursue their dreams in the occupation of their choice.”


Melony’s natural hair braiding business, Naturally Speaking in Mississippi, now employs 25 people and has trained more than 125 people how to braid hair. But becoming a braiding entrepreneur was unnecessarily challenging: the state required her to spend 300 hours in a “wigology” class that didn’t even teach braiding; and out of the state’s 40 schools, only two taught this course. And then when she went to pass on her skills to others, she learned she had to take an additional 3,200 hours to become a licensed cosmetology instructor—learning skills she did not engage in, and learning nothing about braiding. Melony’s fierce advocacy led to the state exempting braiding from cosmetology licensing. 
melony armstrong
African Hairbraider

I didn’t let the industry regulators keep me from earning a living doing what I love, and you don’t have to either. Join me and many more who see it’s time for us to make it easier for artists to get to work in the beauty industry.”

Cristina is one of the hundreds of entrepreneurs whose small businesses were endangered when her state began requiring a cosmetology license for makeup artists.  Cristina is a cosmetology school graduate, but her $20,000 program only spent about a week on makeup; her instructor even recommended she take a separate $400 makeup artist certification course.  After she graduated and passed the exams, she couldn’t afford the license fee, so never got it.  When the state began requiring it, she was told too much time had passed since school—so she took her business underground to avoid fines and criminal penalties.  She teamed up with the Institute for Justice to successfully push for a bill that exempts special event hair, makeup, and blow-dry services from cosmetology licensure; providers only need to take a four-hour course on health, safety, and infection control. 
cristina ziemer
Salon Owner​


I simply wanted to continue doing eyelash extensions, just like when I was living in Texas, one state over. No one should have to pay thousands of dollars and spend hundreds of hours in school to keep doing the work they are already trained to do.”

Brandy wanted to start a new chapter in her career in 2020 as an eyelash-extension specialist, so she trained for 320 hours to get licensed in Texas and opened a thriving eyelash extension business. When Brandy and her husband moved to Oklahoma, the State Board of Cosmetology insisted that she get a full cosmetology license before continuing her business. Despite her extensive training and experience, her expertise meant nothing to the Board.
brandy davis
Eyelash-extension Specialist

Artists shouldn’t have to jump through unnecessary hoops that exist to pad the pockets of those in power in our industry. We stood up and made a difference in our state of Minnesota and you can do the same in your state.”

Debbie knows better than most that makeup is an afterthought in cosmetology school. Herself a licensed cosmetologist, Debbie worked for years as an instructor and later education director for a large chain of cosmetology schools. As she describes it, cosmetology school just teaches students how to touch up clients’ makeup.  Debbie has also seen firsthand how cosmetology schools, hungry for financial aid money, reel in aspiring makeup artists. “They tell them, ‘Everything you want is on the other side of this contract,’” she says. These students would often ask her how they could build a career in makeup like hers. It gave her no pleasure to tell them they would not learn the necessary skills in cosmetology school. This experience inspired Debbie to open Faces Etc, the first dedicated makeup school in the Upper Midwest. But when the state started requiring cosmetology school for makeup artists, Face Etc’s enrollment plummeted since graduates could no longer legally work unless they also had a cosmetology license. Thanks to her advocacy alongside Cristina, her state exempted makeup artists from licensure.
debbie carlson
Makeup School Entrepreneur

Nowadays, we’re seeing a huge disconnect between what is taught in school and what is needed in a job. Many salons are struggling to hire high quality candidates. Practices are outdated. People graduate without real world experience, while others struggle to graduate despite being highly skilled. A cosmetology license simply does not indicate the skill level of a person at all.”

Even after passing beauty school with flying colors, Kristin was not properly equipped for a career as a nail tech, so she has dedicated her own career to helping beauty professionals hone their talents through practical skills education.
kristin house

Beauty professionals deserve more options and flexibility.

Not everyone wants to use chemicals or engage in all the cosmetology skills: some beauty professionals only want to provide narrow services.  

  • They may only want to do makeup artistry or special event hairstyling.
  • They may have brought an artistic skillset from another country, like threading or braiding. 
  • They could be single parents, caregivers, military spouses, or of modest means and can’t afford the time or cost of school. The expensive licensing system keeps them from pursuing their dreams, or dealing with debt.  
  • And there may be others who want to work in a salon just doing shampooing or blow-drying, but can’t because they are required to get a license.  This can keep out those with disabilities, recent immigrants with language barriers, and other vulnerable groups who may have a difficult time finding work.

The beauty industry runs on

uniqueness & creativity,

but these laws are stifling it. 

  • Are you a beauty professional who has faced challenges with your training, finding work, debt from school, pay, or hiring qualified staff?
  • Do you have ideas about how to help improve the way the beauty industry is regulated? 
  • We want to hear about your experience—whether you are currently working in the industry, you want to be a beauty artist, or you own a salon.
tell us what you think!

👋

We want To Hear From You.​

We’ve worked alongside talented artists across the country to change these laws. We want to hear from you about your experience with the beauty industry to see if we can help.

tell us what you think!
We believe that beauty professionals deserve better.

learn More

Beauty, Not Barriers is an initiative of the Institute for Justice, a non-profit organization that works alongside beauty professionals and other workers nationwide to change laws that make it hard to earn a living.  So often, state laws require way too much to work in an occupation—like expensive training that can teach things that are not necessary.  

  • There are better, affordable, less challenging alternatives to these kinds of laws.
  • The alternatives would make it easier for existing and aspiring beauty professionals alike to work in the industry.  
  • We support beauty, opportunity, entrepreneurship, professionalism, and safety.  We are against barriers. 
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