Law and Professional Practices
Who regulates what
OSHA protects workplace safety and requires bloodborne-pathogen training plus SDS access. The EPA registers disinfectants. The FDA regulates cosmetic labeling and safety but does not pre-approve cosmetics. The FTC governs advertising and endorsement claims. Your state board licenses practitioners, defines scope of practice, sets sanitation rules, requires continuing education, inspects salons, and disciplines licenses. Local zoning and health departments add another layer.
Core legal concepts
Scope of practice is the boundary of what your license permits - no diagnosing, no prescribing, no injections, no cutting living tissue. Negligence is a failure to use the care a reasonably competent professional would use; malpractice is professional negligence. A tort is a civil wrong. Informed consent covers procedures with real risk; implied consent covers ordinary acts, such as a client extending a hand for a manicure. Client records are confidential; minors generally need a parent or guardian's consent.
Professional practice
Follow the ADA - provide reasonable accommodation and admit service animals. You may decline service for genuine safety or health reasons, such as a contagious condition, but not on a discriminatory basis. Keep accurate records, disclose product ingredients, and never guarantee a result you cannot control.
Worked example
A client asks you to trim an ingrown toenail with a lancet and to "freeze off" a skin tag. Reasoning: both cut or destroy living tissue and are outside cosmetology scope. Performing them is unlicensed medical practice and will not be covered by your liability policy. Decline, document the conversation, and refer to a physician.
Traps that cost marks
Believing the FDA approves cosmetics; confusing state and federal authority; assuming a signed release removes liability for negligence; discussing a client's service with friends.