Guides · for braiders
Do you need a license to braid hair in Florida?
No. Since July 1, 2020, Florida asks for no license and no registration to braid hair: the state law exempts braiding from its cosmetology rules. That includes extensions and wefts, as long as you don’t cut, color, relax or chemically treat the hair.
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What Florida counts as hair braiding
The law defines hair braiding as weaving or interweaving natural human hair or commercial hair, including hair extensions or wefts, for pay, without cutting, coloring, permanent waving, relaxing, removing or chemical treatment. If your work stays inside that line, Florida’s cosmetology chapter says no license or registration is required.
Box braids, knotless braids, cornrows, braids with added hair: the definition covers the hair being woven and the extensions you add. What takes you outside it is a service, not a style: scissors, color, a relaxer or a perm.
What changed in 2020
Florida used to ask braiders to register with the Board of Cosmetology. A 2020 law (chapter 2020-160, Laws of Florida) repealed that registration as of July 1, 2020, along with the ones for hair wrapping and body wrapping. The Board of Cosmetology’s license types today are the cosmetologist license, the nail, facial and full specialist registrations, and salon licenses. None is for braiding.
So if a course, a website or a friend tells you that you need a Florida braiding registration, that rule is gone.
When you do need a license
Cutting, coloring, permanent waving and relaxing are cosmetology in Florida. Offering them takes a cosmetologist license: at least 1,200 hours of training at a licensed school or program, then the state exam. Cosmetology services must be done in a licensed salon, with narrow exceptions.
Questions braiders ask
Can I braid from home or at my clients’ places?
Florida’s licensed-salon rule is written for cosmetology services, and braiding is exempt from the cosmetology chapter. The state doesn’t license where you braid. Your city or county may still have its own business license and rules for working from home.
Do I need a course or a certificate?
Not for the state. With no license or registration for braiding, Florida sets no required course or exam for it.
Can I trim the ends after I braid?
Cutting is outside Florida’s definition of hair braiding, and hair cutting is part of cosmetology. A trim takes a cosmetologist license.
I’m moving to Florida from a state that licenses braiders. Does my license transfer?
There’s nothing to transfer: Florida has no braiding license, so you can braid without one. A cosmetology license is another matter, with its own endorsement rules at the Board of Cosmetology.
Sources
- Florida Statutes § 477.0135, Exemptions (hair braiding, subsection 7)
- Florida Statutes § 477.013, Definitions (hair braiding, subsection 9)
- Chapter 2020-160, Laws of Florida: repeals the braider registration, § 477.0132 (PDF)
- Florida Statutes § 477.019, Cosmetologists: qualifications and licensure
- Florida Statutes § 477.0263, Cosmetology services to be performed in licensed salon
- Florida Board of Cosmetology: license types
Rules and fees change: check the source before you rely on them.
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