LICENSING GONE WILD: Why Does Blow-Drying Hair in Arizona Require 1,000 Hours of Training?

Picking up a hair dryer in the state of Arizona and using it to dry someone else’s hair, for money, requires more than 1,000 hours of training and an expensive state-issued license. Blow-drying hair without a license could—incredibly—land you in jail for up to six months.

America is saturated with ridiculous licensing rules that do little to protect public health or safety. They exist mostly as a way to drive-up prices and restrict employment. Cosmetology licensing laws are some of the worst offenders of common sense, and Arizona’s cosmetology licensing laws truly boggle the mind. Doing something as simple as shampooing, drying, and styling hair requires a full-fledged cosmetology license, which includes years of training in hair and skin care, makeup application, and other un-related skills.

Before applying for that license, an applicant would have to graduate from a beauty school, which can cost as much as $15,000 in tuition.

State Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita (R-Scottsdale) says the licensing requirement is particularly troublesome for so-called blow-dry bars—salons that offer nothing more than shampooing and styling of hair, without cutting, coloring, or other more advanced hair care.

She plans to introduce a bill to exempt workers who “dry, style, arrange, curl, hot-iron, or shampoo and condition hair” from the state’s cosmetology licensing law, as long as they do not use chemicals to permanently straighten or curl hair and do not cut hair either.

That would be nice, but a complete dismantling of these legally-mandated trade guilds would be even better.