Individual State License Requirements*

(See bottom of the list for Updates on some of the Licensing Information)

State	Oversight	License Contact Information
Alabama	Alabama Department of Public Health	Alabama Department of Public Health
Alaska	Alaska Board of Barbers and Hairdressers	Alaska Division of Occupational Licenses
Arizona	County Departments of Health Services	None
Arkansas	Arkansas Department of Health	Arkansas Department of Health
California	California State Department of Health Services	County Health departments
Colorado	Colorado Department of Health and Environment County Health Agencies	Colorado Department of Health and Environment
Connecticut	Connecticut Department of Health	None at this time
Delaware	Delaware Department of Health	Delaware Department of Health
Florida	Florida Department of Health	Florida Department of Health
Georgia	Georgia Department of Human Resources	County Boards of Health
Hawaii	Hawaii Department of Health	Sanitation branch of the Hawaii Department of Health
Idaho	None as of this writing	None as of this writing
Illinois	Unknown	Unknown
Indiana	Unknown	Unknown
Iowa	Iowa Department of Health	Iowa Division of Health Protection and Environmental Health
Kansas	Kansas Board of Cosmetology	Kansas Board of Cosmetology
Kentucky	Local Health Departments	Local Health Departments
Louisiana	Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals	Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals, Food and Drug Program
Maine	Maine Department of Health and Human Services Bureau of Health	Maine Division of Environmental Health, Health Inspection Program
Maryland	Unknown	Unknown
Massachusetts	www.state.ma.us/dph/bhqm/bhqm.htm	www.state.ma.us/dph/bhqm/bhqm.htm
Michigan	Unknown	Unknown
Minnesota	Unknown	Unknown
Mississippi	Mississippi Department of Health	Mississippi Department of Health, Professional Licensure
Missouri	Missouri Department of Economic Development	Missouri Office of Professional Registration
Montana	Montana Department of Health and Services	None until January 2006
Nebraska	Nebraska Department of Health	Nebraska Department of Health
Nevada	None known; check locally	None known; check locally
New Hampshire	New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services	New Hampshire Bureau of Health Facilities Administration
New Jersey	New Jersey Department of Health and Vital Statistics	Unknown
New Mexico	Unregulated	Unregulated
New York	Health Commissioner	No statewide license
North Carolina	North Carolina Department of Health	Local Health Departments
North Dakota	Unregulated	Unregulated
Ohio	Ohio Department of Health	Local Boards of Health
Oklahoma	Oklahoma State Department of Health	Oklahoma State Department of Health, Consumer Protection Division
Oregon	Oregon Health Licensing Department	Oregon Health Licensing Office
Pennsylvania	Unregulated	Unregulated
Rhode Island	Rhode Island Department of Health	Rhode Island Health Professional Regulation
South Carolina	South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control	Unknown
South Dakota	South Dakota State Department of Health	No statewide license as of this writing
Tennessee	Tennessee Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental Health Services	Local Health Departments
Texas	Texas Department of Health, Drugs and Medical Devices Division	Texas Department of Health Licensing and Enforcement Division
Utah	Check with county health departments	Check with county health departments
Vermont	Vermont Secretary of State	Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation
Virginia	Virginia Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation	DPOR Boards for Barbers and Cosmetology
Washington	Washington Secretary of Health	Unknown
Washington, DC	Unknown	Unknown
West Virginia	West Virginia Health and Human Resources	West Virginia Health and Human Resources
Wisconsin	Wisconsin Public Health Sanitarians	Wisconsin Public Health Sanitarians
Wyoming	Unregulated	Unknown

*From US Department of Labor (June 13th, 2005). OSHA

UPDATES

• Starting July 2010, WASHINGTON STATE requires licencing for anyone performing any Permanent Makeup procedures. There is also a mandatory Bloodborne Pathogens class and exam that is required to be repeated every year for anyone practicing these services. To find out more click here.

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As the Tattoo & Body Piercing Industry Evolves - by Susan Preston, PPIB

While recently waiting on a layover in the Minneapolis airport, I was thinking how tattooing, permanent makeup and body piercing are developing into more mature industries. Either that or I am aging. Since I am an optimist by nature, I prefer to think our industries are advancing in years, not me.

In 1989, Susan Church and I founded the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals (SPCP) to formalize standards and ethics to the permanent cosmetic field. In the early 90's, the Association of Professional Piercer's (APP) was formed to do the same thing for body piercing. During the same time, tattooing came out of the alleys and developed into a respected profession with their own organization call the Association of Professional Tattooers (APT).

Throughout the 90s, I was very vocal on how I thought permanent cosmetic technicians should view themselves and their world. I also offered a lot of “helpful” advice and gave strong opinions on piercing and tattoo issues.

Let's face it; I will be opinionated to my dying day. However, as our industries are no longer in their infancy, I realized that some of my ideas and strong opinions might need to change.

At this stage of business maturity, most professionals understand basic sterilization. Fifteen years ago rotary permanent cosmetic machines were unsafe because the plastic could not be properly sterilized. Now that has changed as manufacturers were forced to make their machines safe due to industry demand, legislation and exposure to lawsuits. Now the vast majority of people in the permanent cosmetic industry use pre-sterilized, singly packaged needles, tubes and tips done to medical industry specifications.

Most body piercers and tattooists understand the need for autoclaves. Almost everyone uses steam sterilization on their needles, tubes, forceps and other moveable parts. However, many still do not spore strip test regularly. Now we are seeing some tattooists purchasing pre-sterilized equipment like most permanent cosmetic people do. Thus the public is certainly more protected from contamination than they were in earlier years.

So where does that leave the industry organizations such as the SPCP, APP, APT and those other people who want to help these industries grow and become more professional? Recently my thinking took an abrupt turn when I heard from two people that California held a hearing about body piercing, tattoo and permanent cosmetic regulations. It suddenly dawned on me that in our near future, the battles would be fought as groups, not as individuals.

The proposed California legislation had wording in it that said “a person getting a body piercing, tattoo or permanent cosmetic procedure who is on any type of prescription medication will need to get approval from their doctor before getting the procedure.”
If a person is on something as simple as prescription sleeping pills, they are supposed to go to their doctor to get permission to get their navel pierced. This is crazy. Yet if we all don't stay vigilant, this sort of thing will happen.

Fortunately, rational minds prevailed and the proposal was subsequently defeated.

Maybe the job of our industry organizations and leading professionals will be to keep an eye on what is impacting the overall industry, whether it be at the legislative level or the press. Without vigilance, we could become victims of our own success when cities, counties or states try to limit the growth of the industry by imposing onerous restrictions on individual's right to get a tattoo or piercing such as what California attempted to do. And then there is
the press, which is always ready to jump on the story and sensationalize it when something
goes wrong.

While our industries are now “main stream”, there is still a segment of the population that wants to limit where and how a professional tattooist and piercer can practice. The medical industry feels that they should be involved with permanent cosmetics, which in the case of the proposed California legislation, was a really bad idea.

At this stage of our industry growth, it is best that the professionals become part of their industry organization. Just to keep up with what is happening around the professions, we may need to do this. There is strength and wisdom in numbers. Only by working as a group can we effectively fight these ideas and restrictions. Let's evolve as team players.

SUSAN PRESTON, President
Professional Program Insurance Brokerage
371 Bel Marin Keys Blvd, Suite 220
Novato, CA 94949
CA License #: 0B17238
Phone (415) 475-4300 Fax (415) 475-4303
Email: Susan@tattoo-ins.com
Website: www.tattoo-ins.com

For Original Text Click Here.

Post-Surgery

Permanent makeup can achieve fantastic results for people who have experienced skin damage after surgery.

Equipment is of disposable nature and all matters of hygiene and sterility comply strictly to those set by the US Health Department.

These permanent coloration procedures can ease anxiety and embarrassment and help to restore self confidence and appearance.

Methods

As with all other permanent makeup treatments, thereby taking the best care of your skin and the least application time. All equipment complies strictly with US Health Department regulations and in fact is single use and disposable.

What will it look like?

You and your Specialist/Technician will spend time drawing and discussing the color and appearance of your permanent color treatment prior to commencing color application. We will always offer our professional opinion, but ultimately it is most important that you are happy with the result. The aim is to restore the affected area to as close to its original appearance as possible. However on the day of the treatment the color can look much stronger and needs up to a week to settle.

Questions

If you have any inquiries about permanent makeup, or would like to schedule a consultation to discuss how you could benefit from permanent makeup, don’t hesitate to contact your Permanent Makeup Specialist/Technician.