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The Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC) is established under the Department of Consumer Affairs and is the single state body that licenses and regulates beauty professionals and establishments in California.

Under BPC §7316, an esthetician license covers skin care, waxing, and non-invasive facial treatments. Cutting or trimming hair is not within the esthetician scope and would constitute practicing outside the license.

Laser hair removal involves a medical device that penetrates the skin and is considered a medical procedure in California. It must be performed by or under the supervision of a licensed physician and is outside every BBC license, including a full cosmetologist.

Botox and other injectable treatments penetrate the skin and are medical procedures. Only licensed medical professionals may inject. Performing injectables under a BBC license is practicing outside scope and unauthorized practice of medicine.

A manicurist license is limited to care of the nails and the hands and feet up to and including the elbow and knee. Facials, waxing, and hair cutting are outside the manicurist scope.

California created the Hairstylist license effective 2023. It allows cutting, styling, coloring, and chemical hair services but does not include skin care or nail services.

In California, the barber scope of practice covers cutting, styling, shaving, and chemical hair services including color and perms. The license is not restricted to one gender.

BPC §7317 makes it unlawful both to practice without a license and to aid or abet unlicensed practice. The salon owner can be cited, fined, and have her establishment license disciplined.

Under BPC §7363 each licensee must display their license conspicuously at their workstation so clients and inspectors can verify it without asking.

California requires both an establishment (salon) license issued to the location and individual licenses for every practitioner working there. One does not substitute for the other.

BBC licenses (cosmetologist, barber, esthetician, manicurist, hairstylist, and establishment licenses) renew every 2 years.

Unlike many other states, California does NOT require continuing education for renewal of BBC licenses. Renewal requires payment of the fee and remaining in good standing only.

An expired license is no license. Practicing or advertising as licensed while expired is unlicensed practice and misrepresentation under BPC §7317.

BBC inspection rules require salons to post a current, conspicuous price list of services so consumers know the cost before service. Tax returns, leases, and home addresses are not required postings.

BBC sanitation regulations under Title 16 CCR ban smoking, eating, and drinking in client service areas to keep the environment sanitary. Signs are typically posted to that effect.

By accepting a BBC establishment license, owners consent to reasonable, unannounced inspections during business hours. Refusing entry can itself be a basis for citation.

Informed consent and consultation are professional and legal standards before chemical services. Documenting prior chemicals, scalp condition, allergies, and patch tests protects both the client and the licensee.

Pregnancy alone does not bar hair color in California, but professional ethics call for following manufacturer instructions, considering ventilation, and documenting that the client was informed and consented. Blanket refusal could also raise discrimination concerns.

FEHA prohibits public accommodations, including salons, from refusing service based on protected characteristics such as race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, and national origin. Safety-based or payment-based refusals are different.

The CROWN Act (codified within FEHA) bars discrimination based on natural hair texture and protective styles such as braids, locs, twists, and Bantu knots. Salons should welcome, not refuse, these hair types.

Professional and ethical practice requires immediate first aid, written incident documentation, and reporting through BBC and insurance channels. This protects the client and provides a defensible record for the licensee.

Permanent makeup procedures penetrate the skin and are regulated under California's Safe Body Art Act by local health departments — not by the BBC. A BBC license alone does not authorize microblading.

Eyelash extensions are considered skin/eye area services and fall under the cosmetologist and esthetician scope. Manicurists may not perform them, and no medical license is required.

California allows applicants to qualify by completing the required hours at a BBC-approved school OR by completing a registered BBC-approved apprenticeship. Self-study, working unlicensed, or military service alone is not enough.

BBC citations include the right to appeal. The licensee can request an informal conference or contested-case hearing within the deadline printed on the citation. Ignoring the citation increases penalties and may lead to discipline.

Discipline generally escalates: a citation with fine for minor violations, probation for more serious or repeat issues, suspension that pauses the license for a set period, and revocation that ends the license entirely.

Students are not licensed and may not work for compensation outside of school clinic instruction supervised by an approved school. Working at a salon or charging privately constitutes unlicensed practice.

California's apprenticeship route requires the apprentice to be enrolled and registered in the BBC apprenticeship program and to be supervised by a qualified, approved trainer at all times during salon work.

Title 16 CCR contains the detailed BBC regulations that implement the Cosmetology Act, including sanitation, equipment cleaning, conduct, and inspection standards. It is a primary source for the state board exam.

Knowingly selling a product the client does not need solely to earn commission is dishonest and a breach of the professional duty to act in the client's best interest.

Client records are confidential. Salons should store them securely, share only with authorized staff providing service, and keep them long enough to be useful for follow-up care and any potential dispute.

Each individual licensee is responsible for displaying her own license at her workstation, whether she is an employee or a booth renter. The salon owner still must hold a current establishment license.

True micro-needling that breaks the skin to a treatment depth is a medical procedure. Only very superficial cosmetic-grade rollers may arguably fit within esthetician scope, and even then training and infection control are critical.

Salons should provide reasonable safekeeping, post any disclaimers in plain view, and address legitimate losses through customer service and liability insurance. Brushing off a client harms reputation and may invite legal action.

BBC rules require licensees to keep their address of record current and to notify the board within 30 days of any change so that renewal notices and discipline notices reach them.

Since 2022, California uses only a written multiple-choice exam administered by PSI. The hands-on practical was removed; written content covers safety, science, scope, law, and services.

BBC rules generally require services to take place at a licensed establishment, with narrow exceptions (such as services to a shut-in client) usually arranged through a licensed salon. Truly mobile salon-style operations need careful compliance review.

The professional and legal response is to file a complaint with the BBC and allow the board to investigate. Self-help vandalism or public shaming can expose the owner to civil and criminal liability.

BPC §7317.5 makes clear that cutting or removing corns, calluses, warts, ingrown nails or other growths with a credo blade, razor or similar cutting instrument is a medical procedure, not a beauty service. No BBC license (cosmetologist, barber, esthetician, manicurist or hairstylist) authorizes it, and a waiver does not cure the lack of legal authority.

California limits the manicurist to non-invasive nail and skin care. Filing or buffing intact callused skin with a foot file or pumice is allowed; anything that cuts, excises, or injects is a medical procedure under BPC §7317.5 and is outside the BBC scope entirely.

BPC §7318 does not require the owner of a beauty establishment to be personally licensed; ownership is open to unlicensed investors. What is required is that the location itself hold a current BBC establishment license and that every practitioner working there be individually licensed.

BPC §7318 ties the establishment license to the physical location of the salon. A chain owner must obtain and renew a separate establishment license for each location, no matter how many sites the same person or company operates.

BPC §7321 lets a licensee elect inactive status at the two-year renewal. The license stays on record and can later be reactivated by paying the active renewal fee and meeting any reactivation requirements, but services to the public are not permitted while inactive.

Revocation is the highest level of discipline and the license is no longer valid. BPC §7321.3 sets the framework for petitioning the board for restoration. The board may grant, deny, or impose conditions such as probation, additional training, or fee payment.

BPC §7326 authorizes the BBC to set fees within statutory caps for application, examination, original licensure, renewal, and related services. Applicants and licensees pay the fee in force at the time they apply or renew.

BPC §7332 requires that an apprentice and the approved training establishment enter into a written agreement identifying the apprentice, the supervising licensee (trainer), and the curriculum and hour requirements. The agreement is filed with the BBC as part of the apprenticeship program.

BPC §7333 requires apprenticeship programs to be approved by the BBC and to combine related instruction (classroom-style) with supervised on-the-job training following the board's prescribed curriculum, so that an apprentice graduates with comparable competency to a school student.

BPC §7344 once provided for appointing practical-exam examiners. After AB-1310/SB-803 eliminated the practical exam in 2022, the practical examiner role is no longer used for testing; the BBC's contracted testing vendor (PSI) administers only the written exam.

BPC §7346 ties the establishment license to a fixed location for a defined term that is renewable every two years along with other BBC license categories. The license itself must be conspicuously posted on the premises so inspectors and the public can see it.

BPC §7349 makes operating a beauty establishment without a current establishment license unlawful. The individual licenses of practitioners inside do not substitute for the location license. The BBC may issue citations, fines, and orders to cease operation.