What you can do to protect the beauty industry.
When you hear the phrase “Less government regulation,” chances are you reflexively nod in favor of the idea. Sounds like a good thing, right? But when it comes to the beauty industry, deregulation is a slippery slope that could severely impact your business if legislation were to pass. Bottom line: deregulation affects all beauty professionals, but none more than the most important people — your clients.
What exactly is deregulation?
In short, deregulation is the reduction or elimination of government power. It usually comes about to make it easier for competition to abound in a given industry.
What would deregulation look like in the beauty industry?
It would mean making essential licenses easier to obtain. This can manifest as a reduction in the amount of hours required to obtain a license, or lessening — even eliminating — hours devoted to health and safety standards.
The scary part is, deregulation is already happening. And it’s affecting the quality of our work.
That doesn’t sound good at all.
Exactly. Arguably the single biggest issue with deregulation is the quality of hairdressers is going down. And that means two words: BAD HAIR! Safety is an issue, but in most cases not a big one.
The larger issue is that right now in the state of Illinois — and in most other states — you need 1,500 hours to become a licensed cosmetologist. That can be done in less than a year, not nearly enough time to become adept at all the facets of cosmetology. Learning how to do hair, nails, skin and color takes years, not months.
The Rosy stance: Getting your hairdressing license should take closer to 3,000 hours. You should then be required to apprentice before you practice. With the current regulations, the sad fact is there are more bad hairdressers than good.
What can we do about it?
First, get to know probeauty.org, particularly “I am a professional. I am licensed.”
Talk to your clients about deregulation. If they’re inspired to protect the quality at their favorite salon, they can join you in contacting your state’s elected officials.
The beauty industry’s regulations are in place to ensure proper education and training, which leads to better salons for customers. Let your voice be heard and let your government know what you think about deregulation in the beauty industry.
Leave a Reply