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Barbering and Cosmetology are two professional fields that fall under the
umbrella of Beauty. There are several subdivisions of Beauty
that include the care of hair, skin and nails. Some of the different kinds of Beauty Specialists
are Barbers, Cosmetologists, Etheticians, Manicurists, Nail Technologists,
Electrologists and Skin Care Specialists. Each state has a Cosmetology Board
that oversees license requirements. In some states such as Florida
and Illinois beauty licensing is enforced by the State Department of Professional
Regulation. The typical state requirement is several
hundred hours of beauty school followed by an exam that, if successful, leads
to licensure.
The beauty profession historically involved independent contracting with
business property owners. For example, a licensed Cosmetologist would rent
a space from a salon and get a percentage of sales. Now many salons have
moved to hourly wage employees instead of independent contractors.
