after talking to my beautician (she does natural and regular hair) she has informed me that in Ohio (I live in Cleveland) you have to have your license. So, in December I begin cosmetology school. Yes, I hate the fact that I have to sit through months of school, but unfortunately in Ohio you have to get that paper to do hair!

  i don't see the point of spending 450 hrs learning something i never intend to use. in my opinion synthetic braids or micros (whatever they call them) isn't natural hair. natural hair is dredlocks. all i do is wash and twist hair with all natural products.  the state enforcing regulations is just a way for the powers that be (white folks) to capitalize off our culture. i understand what the sister was saying about the cons of doing hair at home(kids, husband, phone), but i'm very professional because i'm providing a service that i expect to be paid for so i make sure everything is tight. i've done a lot of research on locking and maintenance. most of the knowledge i've obtained didn't come from a book, it came from older sisters and brothers that have had locks for 20 -30 years. i trust their wisdom much more and anything i'd ever read.

The only thing a piece of paper says is that you went through the b/s to get it. Personally, I feel like working out of your home is just fine,
 without having to take the classes.

in Southern Cali. Where I live-East of L.A. is pretty scarce of natural hair-care businesses (State of California makes it hard to do natural hair without a license--for which there is no test in natural care--or little schooling available out here---that doesn't mean there aren’t people doin it though:-0 )

  I've decided to go to cosmetology school and become a natural hair stylist (have to get the license first!). I'm actually fed up with corporate America all together, from their attitudes about hair, to the attitudes about "us" in general.

Improperly done natural hairstyles can damage your hair as can processed hairstyles. Yes, there will always be people who have a natural gift for hairstyling, but licensing regulates and at least makes sure people are TAUGHT correctly. We still have the option of having Miss Ma'am down the block braid, perm or lock our hair, but for those people who feel more comfortable with someone licensed, they will have that option.

In school we are taught many things. Most of them in fact 85% of them deal with chemicals, or maintenance of hair chemically treated. I personally do not think that woman who only want to maintain and style natural hair should have to go through 1500 hours (that is what I have to go through in my state) and $8,000. In order to get licensed since half of the things taught will not apply.

I do however feel that there needs to be some form or Regulation. Hair is not a toy. And although the styling is a form of art, many people over look that it is a part of the human body, and anything time you start dealing with the maintenance of the body there needs to be some form of regulation.

It is my opinion that cosmetology laws are one way to keep Black women in bondage to the relaxer/straight hair. Should locticians be licensed? And if so who determines which lock is legal? How do you determine what is a good lock? Will the state set the standards for locks?

Braiding is an art that originated in Africa and evidence of it can be found during Cleopatra's reign. In all of these years, no cosmetology institute in the USA has taught it. Therefore they should not regulate what they don't teach or understand.

our natural hair practitioners didn't think it was right for them to be forced to go to cosmetology school to learn how to work with straight hair and how to apply chemicals to kinky hair... when that's not the kind of work they were going to be doing.   Some of the states finally came up with licensing programs that better address "our" natural hair as opposed to the cosmetology licenses that deal with straight hair and chemical straigteners, etc. So... that's the reason some states have licensing requirements for natural hair care; and that's the reason I think it's a good thing.

I, for one, would encourage you and others to openly defy any law requiring you to get even a braiders license, not to mention my aversion to a cosmetology license. ….

I think it's the almighty dollar, personally. The almighty dollar mixed with lessening of competition. The dollar on the part of the state/government; lessening of competition on those that have become state licensed and are bound by law to do hair (natural or otherwise) in a licensed salon. It seems there are some folk who don't mind getting services done in homes, there are also folk who wouldn't touch the "bootleggers" as their known,
 with a 10-foot pole.
Point: there's something out here for everyone.

The licensing thing is kind of up in the air...I asked this person to do my hair, heard about her through word of mouth ... but there have been licensed folks who have messed up my hair ... guess it kind of goes with whatever pleases you...but I was more satisfied with her 
work than the shops...