Massachusetts Laws, Rules, and Professional Ethics
Who may practice
Massachusetts regulates esthetics through the Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering within the Division of Professional Licensure, under Title 240 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations (240 CMR). You may not perform services for compensation without a valid individual license, and the shop must hold its own separate license. Licenses are personal: they cannot be loaned, sold, or transferred, and they must be available for inspection. Board inspectors may enter a licensed shop during business hours without an appointment.
Scope of practice
Your scope is the care and beautification of the skin: cleansing, exfoliation, masks, massage, makeup, and hair removal by waxing, tweezing, sugaring, and threading. It does not include diagnosing skin disease, prescribing, injecting, cutting living tissue, or operating lasers and other medical devices. Those belong to licensed medical professionals. When a client's skin looks medically suspicious, document what you observed, decline the service, and refer.
Ethics in practice
Obtain informed consent, protect confidentiality, advertise honestly, never promise a cure, keep client records, and maintain professional boundaries. Sanitation violations and practicing beyond scope are grounds for discipline, including fines, suspension, or revocation.
Traps
- Questions often offer a 'the doctor delegated it' scenario; delegation does not expand your license.
- A school permit is not a license, and a shop license does not cover unlicensed employees.
- Confidentiality does not end when the client leaves the building.
Worked example
A client asks you to 'lance' a cyst or freeze a mole. You explain it is outside your scope, do not touch the lesion, refer to a physician, and note the referral in the record.