Is Lash & Brow Tinting In California Illegal?

The short answer, yes.

Unfortunately the state of California does not approve any lash or brow tinting services. I believe California may be the only state that has banned these services. (Though I have heard that Oregon has also banned tinting too. I need to do more research on each individual states.) 

The reason being is that the FDA prohibits any salons or licensed estheticians or cosmetologist from using tinting products. Unfortunately the FDA has not approved any color additives in said tinting products for such services. There was an alert in effect for lash and brow tints (dyes) that contained coal and tar additives. 

The Board of Barbering and Cosmetology statement:

https://www.barbercosmo.ca.gov/forms_pubs/ib_lashbrowserv.pdf

Though lash and brow tinting is considered illegal in California, I see TONS of lash and brow tinting services available from licensed estheticians, cosmetologists, spas and salons. Either they are unaware or defiant. In some cases, some professionals are unaware that there is “tinting” within some services. 

Some examples:

Lash Lifts/Lash Perms:

Lash perms, now more referred to as “lash lifts” or “keratin lash lifts” etc., are essentially what it sounds like. It’s a perm to your natural lashes to make them curlier. Usually these services come with lash tinting to help make lashes darker and more noticeable. This is especially great for naturally light haired clients. In most cases, the tinting portion of the service is included within the service. The catch is, the vendors who teach or “certify” for this service sometimes includes the tinting as part of the overall service. Making some professionals not realize they are offering two services in one, the perm and the tint. As long as they don’t tint and separate the service, this is an easy fix.

Brow Lamination:

Just like lash perms and lash lifts, brow lamination falls in the same category. Essentially brow lamination is a service that perms your brows to go in a direction that makes the brows appear fluffier and a more manipulated and manacured style that the client desires. Again, in some cases, these services come with brow tinting to help make the brows darker and more manacured. In most cases, the tinting portion of the service is included in the seevice. The catch is, vendors who teach or “certify” for this service sometimes includes the tinting as part of the overall service. Making some professionals not realize they are offering two services in one, the lamination and the tint. As long as they don’t tint and separate the service, this is an easy fix. 

Personally, I don’t risk it. I offer brow laminations but I do NOT have tint. I’ve heard horror stories of some techs working for salons who happened to have lash tint in the drawer though they didn’t use it. They recieved a visit from state board who caught it, and they recieved a $1,000 fine. So, yeah. Not worth it.

Haircolor:

I understand a lot of people also tint their brows by using left over hair color or hair dressers will slap on some leftover color when servicing a client for their hair. Through the board rules, it's not recommended. Nor would I  recommend it considering it's a very high concentration of ammonia. That even normal lash and brow tinting products don't contain that high of concentration of ammonia. 

My personal opinion on it, I find it ridiculous. California State board (and other states)  can’t seem to really regulate correctly. They finallllly regulated eyelash extension service to only licensed estheticians and cosmetologists back in 2014 (in CA). However, lash extensions aren’t currently apart of any beauty school curriculums nor is it apart of state board testing in California. Some schools also don’t teach lash perms or brow laminations, nor are either of those services apart of a beauty school curriculum or on the state board test.

They are okay with lash perms being done by someone who is a licensed esthetician or cosmetologist, but they may not be properly trained. Not to mention, they are fine with perms as a service (lash perms/lifts and brow lamination) meaning they okay with ammonia getting close to the eyes, but not tint because the FDA doesn't approve of the pigment. 🤷🏼‍♀️😅 But every other state, it's legal. I also find it to be contradiction, that in states that have legalized lash and brow tinting, that cosmetologists are approved for hair color and lash and brow tinting, but estheticians are not allowed for hair color but approved for lash and brow tinting. Though cosmetologists are taught about color and it's chemistry and ingredients, while estheticians didn't get the same education when it came to that, but is allowed to use a lower dosage version of hair color products. It's all just purely silly.

Techs:

To my other lash tech professionals in California, please be aware of the regulation. I've heard of horror stories of people just having the tinting products in their rooms, and after a random visit from state board, was given a $1,000 fine. Personally, I don't find it worth it. 

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xo

Holly