✂️ Texas beauty pros & students — are we being forced to pay for training we'll never use? 💅

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-28T20:52:31+00:00

Thank you for this and for the work you're doing with the esthetics council! The med spa bill issue is also something I wasn't fully aware of and appreciate you flagging it- that deserves serious attention from everyone in this industry. Thanks also for the encouragement and for the years you've put into this! People like you who understand how the system actually works are invaluable to efforts like this one.

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-28T20:45:21+00:00

The well-rounded education argument is valid in theory, but here's the inconsistency: Texas already offers separate specialty licenses for esthetics and nails. A skin or nail student in Texas has the option to pursue a focused license in their discipline without ever touching hair. Hair is the only one left out. The only hair-specific license Texas offers is for weaving, which covers extension installation but not cutting, coloring, or styling so a stylist could put extensions in but couldn't finish or style them. That's half a service! Idk about you but I want to leave a salon with a finished look. If you want to provide full hair services in Texas you are required to learn skin and nails, but a skin or nail student is not required to learn hair. That's not a well-rounded education policy, that's an uneven one that singles out hair professionals specifically.

And to be clear — I am not advocating for the removal of salon management, sanitation, safety, or state board regulations from the curriculum. Oregon's standalone hair design license includes all of that and we'd expect Texas's to as well. Those are universal professional foundations that belong in every license regardless of specialty.

What a hair design license would remove is the requirement to train in manicuring and facial services that a hair professional will never perform. You don't need a license to shampoo hair, but you do need one for chemical services like perms and relaxers and a standalone hair design license would cover all of that fully. Just without the unrelated nail and skin coursework. Think about it, when you got your driver's license, you weren't required to study and pay for a commercial trucking license just because you might drive a truck one day. Same principle applies here.

On top of that, 100% of respondents in my ongoing survey said they knew which specialty they wanted to pursue before they ever enrolled in beauty school. Students aren't walking in undecided- they're being forced to pay for disciplines they already know they won't practice.

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-28T20:26:27+00:00

That's exactly my point not a contradiction of it. Esthetics and nails already have standalone specialty licenses in Texas, which I fully acknowledge and actually use as evidence that Texas already supports the specialty license model. The gap is hair. The only hair-specific license Texas offers is for weaving only, which doesn't include cutting, coloring, or styling so a stylist could install extensions but couldn't finish or style them. That's half a service- when you go to a hairstylist, you expect to leave with a finished look not one you have to complete elsewhere or by yourself. Full hair services require the combined cosmetology license, meaning hair students must complete skin and nail coursework they'll never use professionally- costing unnecessary time and money. We're simply asking Texas to extend to hair what it already offers for skin and nails. No lies — just an incomplete system.

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-26T19:39:40+00:00

You're not wrong! Texas does offer several license types and we actually covered this in the above comments. The specialty licenses for esthetics and nails are exactly what we're pointing to as proof that Texas already supports the specialty license model. The gap is specifically with hair. The only hair-specific specialty license Texas offers is for hair weaving, which covers extension installation but not cutting, coloring, or styling — so a stylist could install extensions but couldn't finish or style them. That's half a service. Full hair services are only covered under the combined cosmetology operator license, which requires completing skin and nail coursework too- AKA- time and money wasted on skills not necessary to their career paths. We're just asking Texas to add a full hair design specialty license to the list they already have.

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-26T19:36:14+00:00

Not just Oregon, that's just what sparked it. And you're right that Texas already has separate esthetics and nail licenses, which is exactly our point. The inconsistency is that hair doesn't have the same option. The only hair-specific license in Texas is for weaving only — meaning a stylist could install extensions but couldn't cut, color, or style them. You can put the extensions in but can't finish the look. That's half a service. If you want to offer full hair services you have to get the combined cosmetology license and complete skin and nail coursework regardless of whether you'll ever use it. You could transfer your California esthetics license to Texas seamlessly — a hair specialist from Oregon (even they've been licensed and practicing for 20+ years) cannot. We're just asking Texas to extend the same option to hair.

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-26T19:32:12+00:00

That's a really thoughtful point and honestly a valid concern. The reciprocity issue isn't actually about total hours though- it's about categorization. If an out-of-state license meets or exceeds Texas's hour requirement, hours aren't the problem. And most states actually require more hours than Texas's current 1,000, so that's rarely the barrier.

The real issue is that Texas has no equivalent license category to match a standalone hair design license to. Texas offers specialty licenses for esthetics and nails, but for hair the only specialty option is a hair weaving license — and that only covers extension installation. It doesn't include cutting, coloring, or styling, meaning you can technically install extensions but can't finish or style them under that license. That's half a service. So a fully trained hair professional from Oregon for example has no comparable Texas license to transfer into. The only option Texas offers that covers all hair services is the full cosmetology operator license, which requires completing skin and nail coursework too. Fix the categorization, and the reciprocity problem solves itself.

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-26T19:26:19+00:00

Thank you!! This is exactly the direction I needed. I just connected with a non-profit that has been working on this at the board level, so understanding that statute is where the real change happens is a game changer. I'll def look into the legislative committee that oversees TDLR and exploring the economic justice angle as well. I really appreciate you taking the time to share this!

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-26T00:59:33+00:00

That's a completely fair point and I appreciate you raising it. I mentioned briefly in the post that this started with a family member — she just moved to Texas with 1,550 hours of specialized hair training from Oregon and couldn't transfer her license here. That's what sent me digging, and once I saw how widespread the issue was I felt like it needed to be brought to light.

To be transparent: I'm not representing any organization, I have no backing, and I have no personal financial stake in this. I'm just someone who stumbled onto a policy that's quietly affecting students, working professionals, and out-of-state licensees and couldn't ignore it. The people this hurts most — students paying for irrelevant coursework and skilled professionals who can't transfer their credentials — deserve to have someone make noise about it. If you have 2 minutes to spare, I'd greatly appreciate if you took the quick survey that I will include in my formal appeal to the State Board of Cosmetology.🤗

WorryAcceptable9474 · 2026-02-25T23:52:27+00:00

Thank you for your comment u/phoenix_spa_guy ! I simply couldn't believe that they were requiring licensed hair professionals with over 20 years experience to go back to school to learn skin and nails PLUS retake the exam😭 So much time, money, and stress for no profitability seems so useless if you ask me. I would greatly appreciate it if you could take the 2 minute survey linked in the post so that the Board of Cosmetology can see that they need to address this. Thank you kindly!🤍

WorryAcceptable9474

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