(a)  The division shall issue licenses to persons engaged in, or desiring to engage in, the practice of barbering, hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring or esthetics and for instructing in any approved school of barbering or hairdressing and cosmetic therapy and manicuring or esthetics; provided, that no license shall be issued to any person under this chapter unless the applicant for the license:

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

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

(3)  Is of good moral character;

(4)  Is a high school graduate or holds the equivalent or has twenty-five (25) or more years of prior experience in the practice for which the license is sought;

(5)  Has satisfactorily completed the course of instruction in an approved school of barbering, hairdressing, and cosmetic therapy and/or manicuring or esthetics;

(6)  Has satisfactorily passed a written and a practical examination approved by the division to determine the fitness of the applicant to receive a license; and

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

Terms Used In Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-8

  • Barber: means any person who shaves or trims the beard; waves, dresses, singes, shampoos, or dyes the hair; or applies hair tonics, cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oil clays, or lotions to the scalp, face, or neck of any person; or cuts the hair of any person; gives facial and scalp massages; or treatments with oils, creams, lotions, or other preparations. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • Division: means the division of professional regulation within the department of health. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • Esthetician: means a person who engages in the practice of esthetics, and is licensed as an esthetician. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • Esthetics: means the practice of cleansing, stimulating, manipulating, and beautifying skin, including, but not limited to, the treatment of such skin problems as dehydration, temporary capillary dilation, excessive oiliness, and clogged pores. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • Manicurist: means any person who engages in manicuring for compensation and is duly licensed as a manicurist. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • person: may be construed to extend to and include co-partnerships and bodies corporate and politic. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-6
  • Practice of barbering: means the engaging by any licensed barber in all, or any combination of, the following practices: shaving or trimming the beard or cutting the hair; giving facial and scalp massages or treatments with oils, creams, lotions, or other preparations, either by hand or mechanical appliances; singeing, shampooing, arranging, dressing, curling, waving, chemical waving, hair relaxing, or dyeing the hair or applying hair tonics; or applying cosmetic preparations, antiseptics, powders, oils, clays, or lotions to the scalp, face, or neck. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • School: means a school approved under chapter 40 of Title 16, as amended, devoted to the instruction in, and study of, the theory and practice of barbering, hairdressing, and cosmetic therapy, esthetics, and/or manicuring. See Rhode Island General Laws 5-10-1
  • United States: include the several states and the territories of the United States. See Rhode Island General Laws 43-3-8

(b)  Notwithstanding the provision of subsection (a)(4), on and after July 1, 1997, an applicant seeking licensure as a barber must be a high school graduate or hold the equivalent combination of education and experience.

(c)  The division may license, on a case-by-case basis, with or without examination, any individual who has been licensed as an esthetician, barber, cosmetologist, electrologist, or manicurist under the laws of another state, which, in the opinion of the division, maintains a standard substantially equivalent to that of the state of Rhode Island.

History of Section.
P.L. 1926, ch. 765, § 3; P.L. 1927, ch. 1026, § 1; P.L. 1936, ch. 2362, § 3; P.L. 1938, ch. 2585, § 3; G.L. 1938, ch. 263, § 3; P.L. 1942, ch. 1229, § 1; G.L. 1956, § 5-10-8; P.L. 1974, ch. 246, § 1; P.L. 1985, ch. 181, art. 53, § 1; P.L. 1986, ch. 378, § 1; P.L. 1988, ch. 314, § 1; P.L. 1993, ch. 289, § 1; P.L. 1999, ch. 43, § 1; P.L. 2001, ch. 165, § 1; P.L. 2015, ch. 141, art. 20, § 2; P.L. 2016, ch. 489, § 1; P.L. 2016, ch. 491, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 38, § 1; P.L. 2017, ch. 62, § 1.