California Esthetician License Requirements

California licenses estheticians through the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology (BBC), part of the Department of Consumer Affairs. You must complete a Board-approved training program and pass a written PSI exam before you can legally provide skin care services for compensation.

1. Meet the eligibility requirements. You must be at least 17 years old and have completed the 10th grade in a public school (or its equivalent).
2. Complete 600 hours of training. Enroll at a BBC-approved school and complete 600 hours of practical and technical instruction in skin care, or qualify through a registered apprenticeship or equivalent out-of-state practice.
3. Submit your Esthetician Application. File the Application for Examination and Initial License with the $115 non-refundable fee (covering both the exam and your initial license) online through BreEZe or by mail, along with your school’s Proof of Training.
4. Schedule and pass the PSI written exam. Once your application is approved, PSI will send you a handbook to schedule your exam at a time and location of your choice.
5. Receive your license. Candidates who pass the written exam are issued a license the same day.

California requires 600 hours of practical and technical instruction in a skin care course under Business and Professions Code § 7364, at a school approved by the Board of Barbering and Cosmetology. The curriculum breaks down into four required subject areas:

• Health and Safety (100 hours): Hazardous substances, chemical safety, safety data sheets, protection from hazardous chemicals, preventing chemical injuries, and health and safety laws and regulations, including preventing communicable diseases.
• Disinfection and Sanitation (100 hours): Disinfection procedures to protect the health and safety of consumers and technicians, and proper disinfection procedures for equipment used in establishments.
• Skin Care (350 hours): Chemical and manual facials, and massaging, stimulating, exfoliating, cleansing, or beautifying the face, scalp, neck, or body using hands, esthetic devices, cosmetic products, antiseptics, lotions, tonics, or creams that do not ablate or destroy live tissue.
• Hair Removal and Lash/Brow Beautification (50 hours): Tinting and perming eyelashes and brows, applying eyelashes, and removing superfluous hair by depilatories, tweezers, sugaring, nonprescription chemicals, or waxing (lasers and light-wave devices are excluded).

Instead of school, you may qualify through a registered apprenticeship program (Article 4, commencing with BPC § 7332), or by practicing skin care outside California for a period equivalent to the required training — each three full months of documented out-of-state practice counts as 100 hours. Training completed at a non-approved school, or apprentice hours submitted in place of school hours, will not qualify you for the exam.

California uses a single written examination developed by PSI — there is no separate practical/hands-on exam for estheticians under current law.

Format

The esthetician exam has 75 scored questions plus 10 unscored pretest questions, with 90 minutes to complete it. It is offered in English, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, and Simplified Chinese; if you cannot read, speak, or write English at a 10th-grade level and your language isn’t available, you may request an interpreter.

Registration and Rescheduling

After your application is approved (about 6 weeks for initial applications, 3 weeks for re-exam applications), PSI sends a candidate handbook so you can schedule your exam at any PSI location. You may reschedule without forfeiting your fee if PSI receives your cancellation at least 2 days before your scheduled date, either online at candidate.psiexams.com or by calling 1–877–392–6422.

Retakes

There is no limit on how many times you may retake the exam, but you must submit a Re-Examination Application and pay the application fee for each attempt. You cannot work in a licensed establishment while waiting to test — unlicensed activity can draw a $1,000 fine.

Under Business and Professions Code § 7415, California esthetician licenses are issued for a two-year period and expire at midnight on the last day of the month of issuance. The standard renewal fee is $50.

Continuing Education

California does not require any continuing education hours to renew an esthetician license. You may take CE courses voluntarily, but nothing is mandated by the Board.

Late and Lapsed Renewal

If you miss your expiration date, you can still renew for up to five years afterward by paying all accrued renewal fees plus a delinquency fee equal to 50% of the renewal fee (bringing a standard renewal to $75 total). If a license goes unrenewed for five full years, it is permanently cancelled under BPC § 7418, and you must reapply, pay all fees, and pass the exam again as a first-time applicant.

How to Renew

Renew online through BreEZe, the Department of Consumer Affairs’ licensing portal. Once your license is associated with your BreEZe account and within 60 days of expiration, the renewal option appears automatically; payment posts instantly (absent outstanding fines) and a physical license arrives within about 7 business days. California does not issue temporary licenses while a renewal is pending.

California defines the practice of skin care in Business and Professions Code § 7316(c). A licensed esthetician may, for compensation:

• Facials and skin treatments: Give facials, and massage, stimulate, exfoliate, cleanse, or beautify the face, scalp, neck, hands, arms, feet, legs, or upper body using hands, esthetic devices, cosmetic products, antiseptics, lotions, tonics, or creams, for the purpose of improving the appearance or well-being of the skin, without ablating or destroying live tissue
• Lash and brow services: Tint and perm eyelashes and brows, and apply eyelashes to any person
• Hair removal: Remove superfluous hair using depilatories, tweezers, sugaring, nonprescription chemicals, or waxing, or by devices and appliances of any kind, except lasers or light waves (rays)

Per the Board’s official esthetics brochure, a California esthetician cannot: use medium-grade or medical-grade skin exfoliants, use any type of laser, remove superfluous hair with light waves (rays), or remove skin tags or moles. Estheticians must work in a State-licensed establishment, and services performed outside of a licensed salon generally require a separate Personal Service Permit. You can verify any license through the Department of Consumer Affairs’ License Search tool.