Cosmetologist

This reading sits behind the What a Trade Is panel for the trade named below. The panel gives the trade in 250 words; this gives the trade its context — what the work is, how it is learned here, and what it costs and pays.

The panel text

What. A cosmetologist cuts, colors and treats hair, skin and nails under a state license that exists because chemicals, blades and heat meet a human head all day.

Tools. Shears, clippers, combs, color bowls and brushes, dryer and irons, the sanitation station, the state rulebook.

A day. Consult. Shampoo. Cut or color to the plan. Style. Sanitize every tool between clients. Book the next visit. Count the drawer.

Pay. $26k entry to $60k for a full book; salon owners beyond. Tips and product sales are part of the income.

Path. 1,500 clock hours: hair cutting, color and chemical services, skin, nails, sanitation, salon business, state law → NIC written and practical → State Cosmetology License. Pathway: Cosmetology → Barbering → Esthetics → Massage.

See it. The barber chair lineage, Gallery G8, and the student clinic floor — open to the public on Thursdays.

Reading further

The panel's series (What a Trade Is) hangs together in Gallery G10, the Hall of Makers. Each panel in the series is printed at 48 inches on aluminum composite, lent to schools and libraries, and archived here with its reading.

The program behind the panel: Cosmetology

10.0–15.0 months full-time. Curriculum: Hair cutting/color/chemical; skin; nails; sanitation; salon business; state law.

Courses

• 1. Universal Core: Safety, Math, Communication & Career — 148 hr (core), $1,185
• 2. Hair cutting/color/chemical — 138 hr (trade), $1,985
• 3. Skin — 138 hr (trade), $1,985
• 4. Nails — 138 hr (trade), $1,985
• 5. Sanitation — 138 hr (trade), $1,985
• 6. Salon business — 138 hr (trade), $1,985
• 7. State law — 137 hr (trade), $1,975
• 8. Capstone Project — 180 hr (capstone), $1,800
• 9. Clinical Practicum — 270 hr (externship), $1,080
• 10. Certification Exam Preparation — 75 hr (exam_prep), $750

Credentials: State Cosmetology License (NIC).

Every course above carries a written exam, an observed skills demonstration, a signed log and a safety audit; the program ends with the capstone, the externship and the credential exam.