Guides · for braiders
Do you need a license to braid hair in Mississippi?
No license, but a registration. Mississippi asks braiders to register with the State Department of Health for a $25 fee, complete the self-test in its infection control brochure, and keep both where they braid. No school hours, no exam to sit.
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Who needs to register
Anyone who braids hair for pay in Mississippi, unless they already hold a Mississippi cosmetology or barber license. The law defines hair braiding as twisting, wrapping, weaving, extending, locking or braiding the hair by hand or with a mechanical device, and it leaves out dyes, reactive chemicals and anything else that changes the hair’s color or straightens, curls or alters its structure.
The law says what the registration is for: a list of the people who braid for pay. It doesn’t license or regulate how you braid. It’s the same whether you braid in a shop, from home or at your clients’ places.
How to register, step by step
Apply online and pay $25
On the State Department of Health’s Professional Licensure page, under Hair Braiders, choose Apply for registration. Have your date of birth and the last four digits of your Social Security number ready, and a card or e-check for the $25 registration fee. Fees aren’t refundable, and a card adds a processing fee.
Get the brochure
The department publishes a brochure on infection control for braiding in or outside a salon or barber shop. The law has the department offer it on its website, or by mail on request for the cost of postage.
Complete its self-test
The brochure ends with a self-test on what it covers. You fill it in yourself: the rules set no exam center and no passing score.
Keep both where you braid
Keep the brochure and your completed self-test at the place you braid. That’s what keeps you exempt from the cosmetology and barbering license.
Inspections
Department of Health staff may visit any place where hair braiding is done, during business hours (8 a.m. to 8 p.m.), to check that the brochure and completed self-test are there. That’s the whole inspection the law provides for.
Questions braiders ask
Is the registration the same as a cosmetology license?
No. The registration is with the Department of Health, and the law says it’s only a listing of the people who braid for pay. Cosmetology and barber licenses are for the services braiding doesn’t include.
Can I color or relax hair with this registration?
No. Dyes, reactive chemicals and anything that straightens, curls or changes the structure of the hair are outside Mississippi’s definition of braiding, and need a cosmetology or barber license.
I already have a cosmetology license. Do I register too?
No. The braiding rules don’t apply to cosmetologists or barbers licensed in Mississippi.
Do I need anything else to braid from home?
Possibly a business license from your city or county, and their rules for working from home. The state registers you; local rules cover where you work.
Sources
- Regulations Governing Registration of Individuals Performing Hair Braiding, MS State Department of Health (PDF)
- House Bill 313 (2024), as signed: Miss. Code Ann. § 73-7-71 and § 73-7-31 (PDF)
- MS State Department of Health: Professional Licensure (Hair Braiders)
- MS State Department of Health: apply for registration online
Rules and fees change: check the source before you rely on them.
Braid. HAUSBRAID handles the rest.
Once you’re on the state’s list, the clients come with questions, calls and late-night DMs. HAUSBRAID gives you a menu page with deposits, answers the calls you can’t pick up mid-braid, and writes every DM up as a booking you approve with a tap.
7 days free, no card to start. Then $20 a month for your first braider.