posted on: 04/22/2025
The beauty industry is rapidly evolving, with ever-changing color trends and cutting techniques dominating pop culture and new cosmetology laws prevalent in state legislatures. Some changes advance the industry, while others risk impeding its growth. Setting the industry back includes decreasing education hours or all out deregulation. What we’re seeing is sneaky “foot in the door” tactics that exempt individuals who practice only some services from requiring a license. The latest trick in the playbook is attempting to deregulate blow-dry styling.
What’s considered blow-dry styling and is it happening in your state? In 2025 alone, California, Nevada, North Carolina, Texas, and South Carolina introduced bills that would allow anyone to shampoo, condition, dry, curl, and straighten the hair using hot tools. Some states, such as North Carolina, would even allow untrained individuals to install hair extensions, hair pieces, and wigs. If this made the hair stand up on the back of your neck, it should.
The reason lawmakers want to deregulate blow-dry styling is nuanced, but for the most part, it’s twofold: (1) some states view licensing as an unnecessary barrier to enter the work force; and (2) the blow-dry bar boom. A push to reduce red tape combined with a popular convenience-focused hair service is the perfect storm. The argument is that those employed by a blow-dry bar are performing the same tasks that millions of Americans do at home: shampooing, conditioning, blow-drying, and styling using the same hot tools that are available for purchase and are used at home. This puts into question whether formal training is required to perform these services.
If that is the biggest argument for deregulation, we must look at what is taught in cosmetology programs that makes education so important. Licensed hair professionals must adhere to proper sanitation and infection-control procedures. Infection control is a major component to cosmetology and hair curriculum, and if a state deregulates blow-dry styling, an uneducated individual may not know proper universal precaution protocols. It may be one of your least favorite to-do items, but as a licensed pro, you know disinfecting combs and brushes after each client prevents lice, contagious scalp conditions, or diseases from being passed from one client to the next. Without sanitation and disinfection fundamentals, there’s no way to guarantee cosmetologist or client safety.
Lice may make your skin crawl, but when the topic of hair integrity enters the chat, things can get really heated. If a state deregulates blow-dry styling, uneducated individuals may permanently damage the hair follicle, burn off the hair, or even burn a client’s scalp using hot tools. The North Carolina bill mentioned earlier would allow anyone to install extensions. Improper hair extension installation can cause tension, leading to breakage or traction alopecia over time, and low-quality extensions can lead to matting that causes stress to the hair and scalp. Without proper education and licensing, an individual may harm a consumer, both physically and aesthetically.
Fundamentally, deregulating blow-dry styling devalues cosmetology education and licensure. Cosmetologists across the country are trained at approved cosmetology schools for an average of 1,500 hours and must pass both a theory and a practical exam, not to mention the costly effects that deregulation has on a professional’s bottom line. Licensed pros determine their service menu prices based on their education and experience level. When untrained individuals are allowed to perform certain cosmetology services, they may undercut a licensed pro’s business by offering services at less expensive rates, giving them an unfair advantage. That's unacceptable.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, there are solutions! When Oklahoma signed into law House Bill 2141 (2024), creating a carve out for blow-dry styling, lawmakers recognized the need to ensure public safety. An individual must complete instruction in general sanitation, including learning how to use mechanical devices for drying, curling, straightening, or styling hair, before receiving a certificate. Similarly, Utah signed into law Senate Bill 87 (2021), exempting individuals from licensure who perform blow-dry styling. However, unlicensed individuals who perform the service must receive a hair safety permit after completing a hair safety program.
While these aren’t the best-case scenarios, they are middle-ground alternatives that keep the public safe. They’re also perfect examples of states willing to listen to subject-matter experts, advocating for cosmetology standards and public protection.