Bubble the Day Spa owner and esthetician Kym Holley just purchased a microchanneling machine for her Columbus spa in October, after the Mississippi Esthetic Conference approved the device.
Holley is still paying off the fees for the training program she went through to use the device, which creates tiny punctures in the skin, promoting the production of collagen and elastin.
But Jan. 3, Holley noticed an email from her cosmetology association, saying the Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering is changing its rules and regulations for licensees, prohibiting microchanneling, along with microneedling and microblading – Holley’s highest paying services.
“They’re taking a $300 or $400 service away,” Holley said. “Where, right now, 90% of that is going toward paying (the training) off. It’s going to hurt a lot.”
An esthetician is a licensed skin care professional who provides treatments like facials, chemical peels, waxes and other treatments. They also provide treatments in the top layers of the skin, such as microchanneling and microblading (a semi-permanent technique that uses small scratches resembling hair to add pigment and definition to eyebrows).
Holley alerted some of her fellow Golden Triangle estheticians and spa owners about the rule changes. About 20 of those met Sunday to discuss the issue, coming together to sign a letter to the board about their concerns around the reduction of their services.
“If you talk to any of those estheticians in the room, they went to school and learned a lot of the procedures that (the state board is) now trying to take away,” said Amy Bogue, owner of Allegro Medspa in Columbus, who helped to organize the meeting. “They’ve been trained in school. And most all of them have certifications and extra education and have put thousands and thousands of dollars into training to do some of the extra … microblading or microneedling.”
The group of estheticians also reached out to District 39 Rep. Dana McLean. While a 25-day comment period on the proposed rules ended Tuesday, McLean asked for another 25 days for the licensees to weigh in.
That request wasn’t granted.
“Could you please provide details on these regulations and any history or information on why they have been proposed?” McLean wrote in an email Monday to the board’s executive director. “… From what I understand, most were caught off guard and completely unaware of these developments and proposed rules.”
A clean slate?
During the 2024 legislative session, a bipartisan bill combined the Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology and the Mississippi State Board of Barber Examiners into one new board.
Executive Director Catherine Bell said shortly after, the new board started working to create new rules and regulations, though they drew from the rules the two prior boards had created.
“It’s an exciting time, because it’s very rare in state government for an agency with a history as long as the cosmetology board or barber board had … for them to have that history and … knowledge of that history, but to be able to have a clean slate and an opportunity to charge forward and to move Mississippi forward,” Bell said.
Some major changes written in the proposed rules – like a new apprenticeship path for training cosmetologists, barbers, nail technicians and estheticians – came directly from the legislature, Bell said, and then the board crafted a framework to make those programs possible.
Other changes, like expanded square footage requirements for schools, were a part of ensuring the best quality learning environment for students, Bell said. Currently operating schools were grandfathered into those proposed rules.
But when it came to esthetician services, Bell said the prohibitions came down to how deep into the skin estheticians should be allowed to work. While the rules prohibit microblading, micro needling and micro channeling, they do not prohibit nano needling or microcurrent services, which should allow estheticians to work within the top layers of skin, but no more, Bell said.
But Holley said the way the rules are written shows that the person writing them was a lawyer, not an esthetician. In practice, the services look the same.
Holley uses the same microchanneling gun for nanoneedling, just with a different tip attached to it. Otherwise, the services are identical, and someone who walked into her spa may think she is performing a prohibited service, she said, leading to a fine.
“It leaves it to where we truly do not know what we can and cannot offer,” Holley said.
Terrance Bonner is a master esthetician and instructor, along with the owner of the Glam Station and Spa in Columbus. He has been practicing esthetics for 14 years.
Bonner said estheticians already work with the understanding they cannot provide services that produce blood to prevent the spread of disease. Well-trained estheticians should know how deep they are allowed to go into the skin without medical supervision, he said, as it is included in their certification courses.
“It was very … discouraging because these were things that we were already ready to do, and that is now taken away from us and making a livelihood for ourselves,” Bonner said.
‘Still in the infancy’
Bell said the board has received many comments, specifically around the rules fueling the estheticians’ concerns, over the past week. Those may change how the rules look before they are finalized.
“We’re still in the infancy, if you will, of the rule changes. There’s lots of work and time and opportunities for the public to weigh in,” Bell said.
Though the public comment period on the rules was not extended for an additional 25 days, the board scheduled an oral proceeding for 2 p.m. Jan. 26 to hear from licensees. Until then, the board will continue to accept additional comments and hear feedback on the changes to the rules and regulations from those attending the proceeding, McLean said.
Comments or questions can be submitted to [email protected].
Correction: An earlier version of this story inaccurately listed some services regulated by the cosmetology board. Eyebrow threading and eyelashes are exempt from regulations.
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