Tennessee State Board of Cosmetology

The Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners was created as a combined board in 2014, merging oversight that had previously been split between Tennessee's cosmetology act, passed in 1986, and its barbering act, passed in 1929. Licensing requirements for cosmetologists, aestheticians, manicurists, natural hair stylists, eyelash specialists, cosmetology shops, and cosmetology and specialty schools appear in Tennessee Code Annotated Title 62, Chapter 4, while master barbers, barber technicians, barber shops, barber schools, and barber instructors are governed by Title 62, Chapter 3.

The board operates under the Department of Commerce and Insurance's Regulatory Boards Division and shares the department's Nashville office at 500 James Robertson Parkway. Rather than maintaining a separate walk-in office, the board conducts all licensing, renewal, and complaint intake online: applicants and licensees manage their credentials through the state's CORE licensing portal, consumers verify a license through Verify.tn.gov, and the public files complaints through the department's online complaint portal.

Licensees and applicants with questions can reach the board directly at (615) 741-2515 or by emailing cosmetology.board@tn.gov. General correspondence to the Department of Commerce and Insurance can also be mailed to 500 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville, TN 37243-0565.

Tennessee licenses cosmetologists, master barbers, manicurists, aestheticians, natural hair stylists, eyelash specialists, and barber technicians as individual disciplines, each with its own training-hour minimum, plus cosmetology and barber instructors, registered hair braiders, shops, and schools. Personal licenses run on a two-year cycle, and most disciplines require no continuing education to renew — the notable exception is instructors, who must complete 16 hours of board-approved continuing education every two years.

Every individual license issued by the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners runs on a two-year cycle. Cosmetology schools instead expire annually on August 31, and barber schools expire one year from the month they were originally licensed, so the two-year cycle described here applies to personal licenses such as cosmetologists, barbers, manicurists, aestheticians, and instructors.

Renewal is not automatic. Licensees renew online through the state's CORE licensing portal, and the option to renew appears in a licensee's CORE account once they are within 60 days of their expiration date. Most individual license types pay a $60 renewal fee; instructors additionally must submit proof of 16 hours of board-approved continuing education and pay a $70 renewal fee; registered hair braiders renew for $30.

Missing the expiration date triggers a late fee — $25 for individuals — that the board strictly enforces and does not waive. A license that has lapsed for more than three years becomes invalid rather than simply expired, and reinstating it requires retaking the reinstatement exams through the board's testing vendor, PSI, in addition to submitting a new Application to Test. Licensees whose license has lapsed for three years or less should contact the board office directly, since reinstatement policies vary by situation and are not fully automated through the CORE portal.

Consumers can file a complaint against a Tennessee-licensed cosmetologist, barber, aesthetician, manicurist, natural hair stylist, eyelash specialist, shop, or school through the Department of Commerce and Insurance's online complaint portal. The board investigates issues such as unfair or deceptive business practices, unlicensed activity, and other suspected violations of the cosmetology and barbering statutes, but it does not have jurisdiction to recover refunds or reimbursements for consumers — complainants seeking money back are directed to private legal counsel or the Tennessee Division of Consumer Affairs mediation program.

Anonymous complaints are accepted and reviewed case by case, provided they include enough information to act on — at minimum, the respondent's contact information, a description of the alleged violation, and any supporting documentation. Filing anonymously means forfeiting the right to receive status updates as the complaint moves through the process, and because all complaints are public records under the Tennessee Public Records Act, any identifying information a complainant does include becomes part of that public record.

Once filed, a complaint is forwarded to the named respondent for a response, then reviewed by the department's legal counsel before the facts are presented anonymously to the board at a regularly scheduled meeting. The board votes on whether the facts support discipline; if so, the respondent is typically offered a Consent Order before the matter proceeds to a formal hearing.