[...]Texas Shaving Laws Have Cosmetologists and Barbers On Edge › Beauty School Blog[...]…

As far as Razor cutting. Barbers are in fact trained in all manners of cutting hair including the use a feather razor. In fact up until recent years the haircutting course in most cosmetology schools is considered a barbering course.

Barbers
A “barber” is any person who engages in the practice of “barbering” for the public generally or for consideration.

As per the Kenyucky board of barbering defination:
“Barbering” is the practice upon the human neck and head, principally of shaving or trimming the beard or cutting the hair but includes also:

•Giving facial and scalp massage or treatments with oils, creams, lotions or other preparations, either by hand or any contrivance;
•Singeing, shampooing, pressing, arranging, dressing or dyeing the hair or applying hair tonics;
•and Applying to the neck or head cosmetics, lotions, powders, oils, clays or other preparations.

Dictionary:

Barber
n.
One whose business is to cut hair, hair dressing or arranging of, and to shave or trim beards.

v., -bered, -ber·ing, -bers.

In fact in Kentucky its 1500 hours to graduate school
Then a bored practical including written exam.

During the practical you must perform a Mens Business taper(From nothing to hair at a 45% angle around the base perimeter of the head with no gaurds using only a taper comb for taper and barber comb for sides then a standard hair cutting comb for shear work on the top) the perform neck shave, upright Shampoo, A Straight razor face shave complete with hot towels and calling out which step of the fourteen your on as well as what stroke type, then a face massage calling out what part your on and correct manipulations, followed by your live model being checked and escorted out you will show and describe application of color, highlighting, and 3 perm rods on a maniquin. Then once all thats done and you pass in an our and twenty minutes you can apprenticeship for nine months and do this test again in less time for your full llicense. How many of the cosmetologist in this list can say they had 600 hours of nothing but straight razor shaves on live people, chemistry 350, haircutting 350 and, 200 sanitation. Not including apprentiship? How many cosmotolgists posting in this list has more training then that?

For Texas Barbers there are; 155 Barber Teachers, 41 Licensed Barber Schools, 13,375 Class A Barbers.

For Texas Cosmetologists there are; 4,708 Instructors, 409 Cosmetology Schools, 123,917 Cosmetology Operators.

Who should be held accountable for the differences in the numbers? They Both have to complete 1,500 hours, and pass both written and practical exams.

With a state population of 25.2 million people, why aren’t there more Licensed Barbers?

All I say is this: IF Texas offered Apprenticeships (which is how i was trained), and if Texas offered a Cosmetology to Barber (or vice-versa) crossover program (ex. a cosmo has to complete 750 hrs of Barber Training and take the exam), wouldn’t that help to somewhat balance the shaving law issue? Cosmo’s who want to shave could easily enroll, complete the training, pass the test and get to work. As of right now, Texas requires cosmo’s to take the entire 1,500 hours, thus ending up having 3,000 hours of school when completed….

Now, here’s some real talk…..”Then why didn’t cosmo’s enroll in Barber school in the first place”, you ask? Remember, there are a limited # of Barber Teachers AND schools, creating a never ending “wait list”. Also, there are a large # of people who get released from the prison system, and find ways to get the state gov’t to pay for Barber School for free so guess who gets first dibs on an opening….?? The Barber Teacher know’s the state’s gonna give up the $$ quicker. And that’s the game…

ALSO, how many of the 41 Barber schools offer evening classes for those who have to work during the hours of 8am-5pm? Most instructors I know in Texas are having trouble finding help to run the schools and the quality sometimes takes a back seat because 1-2 teacher’s have to manage the school, instruct and discipline at the same time and its not easy: Teachers become overworked at times.

What’s the real deal here?

In fact a place that I worked after the sports place I managed and I had two barbers that came to work on Sundays when the barber shop they worked in was closed. They were slower than all the cosmos and fades were not as smooth. They refused to do women’s hair at all and threw off everything. We could not keep them because everyone else did not think it was fair that the cosmos got stuck with all the womens cuts which take a lot longer. They could do decent flattops which really are not in style anymore at all but when needed I can do a flattop that looks just as good as theirs. It takes me slightly longer than other cuts but I was still faster than them.

Here is something else…I have never done a full bikini wax either. I am licensed to do one and I have seen it demonstrated, but if I were to start doing them I would take speciality classes just like I would if I wanted to start doing full shaves. Waxing is not something cosmetologist focus on during school the waxing customers go to the esthiticans (I know I prob spelled that wrong). I personally would not want to do a full shave just trim the neck and edge. Also I have used balding clippers to do triple zero fades (these actually get closer than that) and I would have to say those are probably more dangerous than a straight razor because the blades are so close it will try to pull a tiny piece of the skin into the clipper if the skin is not pulled tight. Sometimes even if it is it will still cut the skin or if I am having to pull up on the skin over areas I have already cut there could be tiny amounts of blood I don’t even know are there. I would much rather just use a razor it is much more safe.

I would also like to say as a cosmetology instructor yes we all the same thing about blood OSHA etc that barbers do. Our text book is for all states and Texas is one of the few that can not use a straight razor. OSHA is one of the first things that is taught. As far as everyone saying that cosmetologist are taking over and ruining their business it is a free market. You have the right to market how you please to win back your customers or keep them just as cosmetologist do. Cosmetologist do not owe you anything. I have also worked for barbers that you would never know are actually barbers because they do color, perms, etc. I never freaked out and thought they were taking away from cosmetologist.