2023 -- H 6369

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LC002461

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     STATE OF RHODE ISLAND

IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY

JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2023

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A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- BARBERS, HAIRDRESSERS,

COSMETICIANS, MANICURISTS AND ESTHETICIANS

     

     Introduced By: Representative Arthur J. Corvese

     Date Introduced: May 05, 2023

     Referred To: House Corporations

     It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:

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     SECTION 1. Sections 5-10-1 and 5-10-8 of the General Laws in Chapter 5-10 entitled

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"Barbers, Hairdressers, Cosmeticians, Manicurists and Estheticians" are hereby amended to read

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as follows:

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     5-10-1. Definitions.

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     The following words and phrases, when used in this chapter, are construed as follows:

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     (1) “Apprentice barber” means an employee whose principal occupation is service with a

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barber who has held a current license as a barber for at least three (3) years with a view to learning

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the art of barbering, as defined in subsection (14).

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     (2) “Barber” means any person who shaves or trims the beard; waves, dresses, singes,

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shampoos, or dyes the hair; or applies hair tonics, cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oil

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clays, or lotions to the scalp, face, or neck of any person; or cuts the hair of any person; gives facial

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and scalp massages; or treatments with oils, creams, lotions, or other preparations.

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     (3) “Board” means the state board of barbering and hairdressing as provided for in this

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chapter.

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     (4) “Department” means the Rhode Island department of health.

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     (5) “Division” means the division of professional regulation within the department of

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health.

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     (6) “Esthetician” means a person who engages in the practice of esthetics, and is licensed

 

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as an esthetician.

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     (7) “Esthetician shop” means a shop licensed under this chapter to do esthetics of any

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person.

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     (8) “Esthetics” means the practice of cleansing, stimulating, manipulating, and beautifying

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skin, including, but not limited to, the treatment of such skin problems as dehydration, temporary

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capillary dilation, excessive oiliness, and clogged pores.

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     (9) “Hair design shop” means a shop licensed under this chapter to do barbering or

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hairdressing/cosmetology, or both, to any person.

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     (10) “Hairdresser and cosmetician” means any person who arranges, dresses, curls, cuts,

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waves, singes, bleaches, or colors the hair or treats the scalp, or manicures the nails of any person,

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either with or without compensation, or who, by the use of the hands or appliances, or of cosmetic

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preparations, antiseptics, tonics, lotions, creams, powders, oils or clays, engages, with or without

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compensation, in massaging, cleansing, stimulating, manipulating, exercising, or beautifying, or in

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doing similar work upon the neck, face, or arms, or who removes superfluous hair from the body

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of any person.

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     (11) “Instructor” means any person licensed as an instructor under the provisions of this

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chapter.

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     (12) “Manicuring shop” means a shop licensed under this chapter to do manicuring only

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on the nails of any person.

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     (13) “Manicurist” means any person who engages in manicuring for compensation and is

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duly licensed as a manicurist.

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     (14) “Practice of barbering” means the engaging by any licensed barber in all, or any

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combination of, the following practices: shaving or trimming the beard or cutting the hair; giving

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facial and scalp massages or treatments with oils, creams, lotions, or other preparations, either by

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hand or mechanical appliances; singeing, shampooing, arranging, dressing, curling, waving,

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chemical waving, hair relaxing, or dyeing the hair or applying hair tonics; or applying cosmetic

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preparations, antiseptics, powders, oils, clays, or lotions to the scalp, face, or neck.

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     (15) “Practice of hairdressing and cosmetic therapy” means the engaging by any licensed

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hairdresser and cosmetician in any one or more of the following practices: the application of the

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hands or of mechanical or electrical apparatus, with or without cosmetic preparations, tonics,

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lotions, creams, antiseptics, or clays, to massage, cleanse, stimulate, manipulate, exercise, or

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otherwise to improve or to beautify the scalp, face, neck, shoulders, arms, bust, or upper part of the

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body; or the manicuring of the nails of any person; or the removing of superfluous hair from the

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body of any person; or the arranging, dressing, curling, waving, weaving, cleansing, cutting,

 

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singeing, bleaching, coloring, or similarly treating the hair of any person, or the application or

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removal of eyelash extensions, fibers or false eyelashes to an eyelid or eyelids and any use or

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application of any chemical, adhesive, glue, tonic, oil, dye, serum or lotion to the area of the eyelid,

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eyelash or the eyebrow. Provided, however, that the practice of hairdressing and cosmetic therapy

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shall not include natural hair braiding.

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     (16) “Practice of manicuring” means the cutting, trimming, polishing, tinting, coloring, or

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cleansing the nails of any person.

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     (17) “School” means a school approved under chapter 40 of title 16, as amended, devoted

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to the instruction in, and study of, the theory and practice of barbering, hairdressing, and cosmetic

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therapy, esthetics, and/or manicuring.

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     5-10-8. Issuance of licenses — Qualifications of applicants.

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     (a) The division shall issue licenses to persons engaged in, or desiring to engage in, the

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practice of barbering, hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring or esthetics and for

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instructing in any approved school of barbering or hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and

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manicuring or esthetics; provided, that no license shall be issued to any person under this chapter

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unless the applicant for the license:

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     (1) Is at least eighteen (18) years of age;

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     (2) Is a citizen of the United States of America or has legal entry into the country;

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     (3) Is of good moral character;

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     (4) Is a high school graduate or holds the equivalent or has twenty-five (25) or more years

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of prior experience in the practice for which the license is sought;

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     (5) Has satisfactorily completed the course of instruction in an approved school of

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barbering, hairdressing, and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring or esthetics, which shall include

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a separate course and certificate for application or removal of eyelash extensions, fibers or false

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eyelashes issued by the division;

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     (6) Has satisfactorily passed a written and a practical examination approved by the division

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to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive a license; and

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     (7) Has complied with § 5-10-10 and any other qualifications that the division prescribes

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by regulation.

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     (b) Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a)(4), on and after July 1, 1997, an

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applicant seeking licensure as a barber must be a high school graduate or hold the equivalent

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combination of education and experience.

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     (c) The division may license, on a case-by-case basis, with or without examination, any

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individual who has been licensed as an esthetician, barber, cosmetologist, electrologist, or

 

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manicurist under the laws of another state, which, in the opinion of the division, maintains a

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standard substantially equivalent to that of the state of Rhode Island.

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     SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.

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EXPLANATION

BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL

OF

A N   A C T

RELATING TO BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONS -- BARBERS, HAIRDRESSERS,

COSMETICIANS, MANICURISTS AND ESTHETICIANS

***

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     This act would add the application or removal of eyelash extensions and the use of

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chemicals in the area of the eyelids to the definition of the "practice of hairdressing and cosmetic

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therapy".

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     This act would take effect upon passage.

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