I went to beauty school in 1986 and this coming year will be my 29th year as a salon professional.  I started my career by attending a vocational school as an adult in NJ where 1200 hours of classroom and practical hand-on experience was required to qualify to take the State Board of Cosmetology Exam that included a written exam, plus an oral and practical exam.  But, if I am just cutting hair, which is dead appendages and coloring it, which anyone can clearly do at home, why do I need a license?!!!!

Why? Because the most important things I needed to learn was how to keep a salon guest safe. As I open our new studio, once again I understand how to create a safe beauty environment, because I went to beauty school and have a license.  It’s funny to me how many students complain that they learn nothing about how to cut, color or how to “do” hair, and I hear salon owners constantly complain that the kids getting out of school today don’t know how to cut, color or how to “do” hair.  I go to a lot of great school, so I know that this is not completely true, and have seen the work done by students at NAHA so some clearly have great experiences.  But, no matter good or bad, and whether they realize it our not, when they took their state boards for their state, it guarantees the guest and salon owner that the school taught them.

Sanitation

I promise you I was asked on my state board exams how did I sanitize my comb, how did i sanitize my scissors, how did I sanitize my clips, how did I sanitize my brushes and each answer was different.  I learned and was tested on how to store a sanitized towel and how to dispose of a towel that has touched a guest, so that it didn’t touch another guest. I learned and was tested on how to drape a guest in a way that is sanitary to protect the guest from contact transfers from one guest to the next, including the accidental transfer of body fluid like blood, or color, bugs or just someone else's hair.

Health

My license means that, like my fellow salon professionals, I learned the muscles, nerves and bone structures of the parts of the guest’s body that our license permits us to touch, which is a major difference between what Hairdressing License, Manicuring License and Barbers License applicants are tested on, because each allows the licensed professional to touch various amounts of the guest with lots of overlay and differences too.  A license means the salon professional can keep a guest safe from infections and disease, because they have been tested.  Not only does the test ensure that knowledge of the disease, the applicant needs to be ready to answer questions including the identification and treatment, including what to do in a situation that could cause the transfer of highly contagious diseases and fungi.  A license also means that a salon profession understands how to safely mix the products needed to preform services on a guest safely, including understanding why 30 vol should not be mixed with professional lightener and applied to the scalp, something that can be learned the hard way on-line.

Safety

My license means that from an accidental cut to an accidental burn, I know how to protect a guest from the other guests’ accidental remains.  As we open our new studio in PA, my salon license will insure guests that we have a blood containment kit as well as a working inspected fire extinguisher, including the best ways to have the most sanitary and safe environment for our guests.

I am proud that my salons have always exceeded in sanitation for our guests and it starts with the fact that we hire licensed salon professional graduates from beauty schools.  And yes, there are lots of things messed up in the system, starting with the hours required per state and the challenges transferring licenses, but the reality is we touch people and as a salon guest they need to realize that they can’t control who we just touched before them. If guests want to be guaranteed that we were taught and tested on how to make sure nothing from any other guests transfers to them, they should ask for our licensees.  And as is true for me, my license doesn't mean I can cut hair well, but at least the worst anyone would have to worry about was a bad haircut.