Texas Shaving Laws Have Cosmetologists and Barbers On Edge
Something big is brewing in Texas. Cosmetologists and barbers are both feeling pretty indignant, and judging by the comments in articles like this, their clients have pretty strong feelings, too.
So here’s the deal: some Texas cosmetologists are challenging laws that allow barbers – but not cosmetologists – to shave customers. Cosmetologists want to be able to legally shave their customers, but barbers (who feel that cosmetologists are encroaching on their monopoly over men and boys already) want to keep the razor-wielding privileges for themselves.
Now, Texas law has allowed cosmetologists to trim beards and mustaches since 2001. But where does trimming end and shaving start? Texas has no legal definition of shaving, or even of a “razor.”
That means we’re not just talking about Sweeney Todd-style straight razors? Umm … nope. Legally, Texas cosmetologists can’t even take a pink Lady Bic to the bottoms of a client’s sideburns. The cosmetologists feel like this is silly – they’ve been handling safety razors since they were preteens, and even tattoo artists in Texas are allowed to use disposable razor to shave the area they’re going to tattoo.
Barbers, on the other hand, feel like their exclusive right to shaving customers represents the last thing that sets them apart from cosmetologists. Trained in the 14 distinct strokes of the classic straight-razor shave, they feel they’ve earned the right to at least a small population of men.
So … what do you think? Is it silly that cosmetologists (who often undergo longer beauty training programs) cannot shave their customers, even with safety razors? Or do barbers have a right to hang on to something that’s set them apart since the days of white-and-red striped poles?
Tags: barber school, barber training, barbering, cosmetology, cosmetology classes, cosmetology school, professional cosmetologist, shave, shaving, Texas cosmetology schools
September 17th, 2009 at 9:20 am
I’m on team beauty. Barbers and cosmetologists both work towards making people feel beuatiful and confident. This dispute is hindering that.
September 17th, 2009 at 9:22 am
Interesting. Most cosmetologists do it anyway. Some take the time to cross-over, but most just do it becaues they want to - period.
September 17th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
How about save yourself $10 and shave your own face?
September 17th, 2009 at 3:41 pm
Wait, so a cosmetologist can rip all the hair from around my nether regions with super hot wax and a pair of tweezers, but can’t scrape some fuzz off my husband’s face with a razor? That makes perfect sense.
September 17th, 2009 at 4:28 pm
I agree with Nickie. We can trust a cosmetologist to wax our girl but we can’t trust them to shave sideburns?
September 18th, 2009 at 7:18 am
I think barbers are really reaching with this whole thing. A monopoly on shaving? Give me a break.
September 18th, 2009 at 7:35 am
Wow. That is absolutely ridiculous! So does that mean if my husband gets a haircut, they can’t shave the back of his neck?
September 18th, 2009 at 10:16 am
I like scruffy men myself.
September 25th, 2009 at 7:20 pm
Lets dig in to the Why? - - -
Hi there - My name is Lonnie Morse - both a Cosmetologist and Classic Barber instructor. Being an instructor I see this conversation is really missing the point. Its simple - proper training is needed of each category. Yes - Cosmetologist can cut mens hair and shave with a pink bic. Sorry Ladies - shaving your legs is not the way you shave a mans face. On the other hand, would the Cosmetologist see it proper to cut a bob in a third of the time using less than half the sections and then charge less. Both Barber and Beauty practioners do it all the time.
I’m going off topic - bear with me - It is relevant. Currently there are three states that prevent Barbers from doing any chemistry in a Barber Shop - excuse me! Barber’s were doing chemistry before the hair industry divided a couple of hundred years ago. One third of my men always wore chemistry service. So let me get this straight - Men can buy haircolor off the retail shelf - but - professionally trained Barbers cannot apply chemistry in a safe controlled environment of a Barber Shop? See my point of how ridiculous politicians can effect your biz “smile”
Back to shaving - so - dear hairstylist - just maybe - there is some edginess with the Barbers even considering more movement against them as Cosmetologist out number the Barber practitioner by a mass margin. Think about this - do Beauty schools even have a Barber chair, Strop, a “real” straight razor or even a lather machine on the back bar. I don’t think a massage table standing out on the floor for daily shaves is reality. Does the Beauty school even know “the why” a Barber requires a long Barber shear and taper comb to manicure a taper. We are not talking about clipper fades here. Ever wonder why Barbers can do fifteen minute haircuts routinely when Hair designers book out forty five? Does a Beauty instructor know how to cut hair over a comb with a shear or clipper without using the infamous number game of a clipper guard? I have found that Beauty schools are quick to say - oh yes - we do Barbering - when they havn’t the slightest idea of what real Barbering really is as represented in the Milady’s Text Book of Barbering.
example - Here in Oregon - I was only required to cover approx one third of the content of the Barber textbook to prepare a Barber student for state board examine. It’s no wonder Oregon, Washington, and New Hampshire are the laughing stock of the Barber industry.
Incidentally - I was not able to get any of my students to qualify for reciprocity from any state with out requiring more education that is not covered under a fed student loan package. How would you feel if you just spent full tuition on a Barber course to only find you couldn’t move to any state without having to spend more money for missing curriculum.
So what to do with the change that is coming up-on many states as the cosmetologist continue to over power the Barber by shear numbers - yes the pun was intended “wink” My over view based upon my experience with both Beauty and Barber curriculum - is - if Beauty Schools are going to say they teach Barbering then they should apply the same curriculum and equipment as the Classic Barber schools have across America. Both industry’s would certainly improve as Barber Schools “do not” recruit instructors directly from their student body. A Barber instructor has to have real time work experience in the field before they qualify unlike beauty schools across America.
Giving a man a shave is much more than having him scrunch down in a beauty chair that doesn’t recline and scrapping off his whiskers that haven’t been properly steamed and conditioned for the service. Lets get real - especially today - the Classic Barber Shave is more a spa service than a maintenance service of last century. A practitioner just doesn’t wax off a guys beard like a bikini line. I have spent 90% of my career as a Cosmetologist so I really don’t have a problem with a cosmologist shaving - if - they are trained for it and Ladies, shaving your legs isn’t it.
So far - I have only met a handful of “honest” dual trained Classic Barber and Beauty instructors in my beauty career over forty years. These instructors are the “only ones” that I would ever believe to train a student practitioner how to shave properly. Unfortunately - there are a multitude of “Beautybarbers” coming out of these three states with few places for them to go practice. They are simply un-qualified. Even the chain Barber Shops from out of state will not hire a Oregon licensed Barber - Why - Oregon Barbers are restricted of chemistry. So - here is the real time picture in Oregon - we have Chain Barber Shops that won’t hire Barbers - but “will” hire Hair Designers. Figure that one out?
Lonnie Morse
USA Champion Hairstylist 1975-76
October 18th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I’m a barber in Texas.
Barbers are allowed to wax a person’s face, but not their neck or anywhere else on the body. I want to do bikini waxes. Why can’t I do something as simple as that? It’s not rocket science.
So what if barbers are not taught how to do waxing in school? So what if the rules were suddenly changed in 2005 to allow barbers to do something they’ve never done before? So what if we do something we haven’t been trained to do? Why shouldn’t we practice on our regular customers without having to tell them we don’t really know what we’re doing?
Why can’t we do bikini waxes in our barber shops like what cosmetologists do in their shops? Geez, just think what a great attraction that would be — let our regular clientele watch us learn how to do bikini waxes on beautiful models in the middle of the barber shop! Hah!
One of the reasons for granting licenses to people in the first place is to make sure that the licensee has time to practice his craft and develop a proficiency in his skill, so that unsuspecting people in the community are protected from the ravages of incompetant amateurs. Any cosmetology shop owner should know that if they hire a cosmetologist who performs a service outside the scope of their license, and if anything goes wrong (infection, cut, whatever) then their business insurance won’t cover that cost.
Also, employers who hire people to do shaves need to be aware of the OSHA requirements (effective since 1992). Yep, federal OSHA rules require employers to provide employees a safe working environment, including PPE (personal protective equipment) such as disposable gloves, employer-paid hepatitis shots, and more.
There ain’t too many folks aware of this yet. But anyone who was hired to do shaving since 1992 was covered by OSHA rules covering bloodborne pathogens, and any of those people who contracted a bloodborne disease since 1992 can sue their former employer for $$$ civil damages. Check it out.
http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=INTERPRETATIONS&p_id=22299
The agencies that regulated barbers and cosmetologists in Texas before 2005 were unbeleivably incompetant. Check out what the Texas State Auditor said about them:
http://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/main/04-006.pdf
http://www.sao.state.tx.us/reports/main/04-019.pdf
It’s a wonder the earth didn’t open up underneath them and swallow them up whole! But then, in 2005, the Texas legislature approved abolishing both bureaucracies and transferring regulatory authority to the TDLR (Texas Dept of Licensing and Regulation). They seem to be doing better with the administrative side of things, but they still have a ways to go with sanitation issues.
Check this out:
http://www.kingbarber.com/rants.html
http://www.kingbarber.com/transcript.html
The foolish Barber Board hasn’t even got the sense to stop barbers from using the same razor blade on multiple people. Two % of the public has hepatitis, and if you get enough barbers (and cosmetologists) using the same razor blade to shave necks, then it’s inevitable that these da** fools are going to infect people with hepatitis. The simple fact that *some* cosmetologists want the right to shave people, without understand this, is reason enough to wrench every razor out from every beauty shop in America!
Nope . . . Amateurs ought not play with razor blades.