Mississippi eyes ban on three high-ticket esthetician services

Microblading, microneedling and microchanneling — services priced at $300 to $400 each and the top revenue drivers at small spas across the Golden Triangle — would be banned for estheticians under rules the Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology and Barbering posted for public comment in December.

Kym Holley, owner of Bubble the Day Spa in Columbus, bought a microchanneling device in October after the Mississippi Esthetic Conference cleared the equipment for state-licensed skin care professionals. She is still paying off the training program that certified her on the device.

"They're taking a $300 or $400 service away," Holley said. "Where, right now, 90% of that is going toward paying (the training) off. It's going to hurt a lot."

What the proposed rules prohibit

The draft regulations, posted on the board's website in December, would bar licensees from:

• Microblading — a brow technique that deposits pigment with hair-like strokes
• Microneedling — controlled skin punctures that stimulate collagen
• Microchanneling — a similar modality using a pen-style device

Nanoneedling and microcurrent services remain permitted, Executive Director Catherine Bell said, because the cutoff the board is enforcing is depth: estheticians may work only in the upper layers of skin without medical oversight.

How did licensees respond?

Holley flagged an association email dated Jan. 3 to roughly two dozen Golden Triangle estheticians and spa owners. About 20 of them met on Sunday, Jan. 5, and signed a joint letter to the board warning that the rules erase their highest-revenue services.

"If you talk to any of those estheticians in the room, they went to school and learned a lot of the procedures that (the state board is) now trying to take away," said Amy Bogue, owner of Allegro Medspa in Columbus, who organized the meeting. "They've been trained in school. And most all of them have certifications and extra education and have put thousands and thousands of dollars into training to do some of the extra … microblading or microneedling."

The group also asked District 39 Rep. Dana McLean to push for an additional 25 days of public comment on the 90-plus-page draft. McLean submitted the request by email to Bell on Monday, Jan. 6. The board denied it.

"Could you please provide details on these regulations and any history or information on why they have been proposed?" McLean wrote. "… From what I understand, most were caught off guard and completely unaware of these developments and proposed rules."

Where the new board is drawing its line

The board was created during the 2024 legislative session when a bipartisan bill merged the Mississippi State Board of Cosmetology with the Mississippi State Board of Barber Examiners. Bell, who leads the combined agency, said the rewrite uses the merger as a chance to reset the rulebook.

"It's an exciting time, because it's very rare in state government for an agency with a history as long as the cosmetology board or barber board had … for them to have that history and … knowledge of that history, but to be able to have a clean slate and an opportunity to charge forward and to move Mississippi forward," Bell said.

Some additions — including an apprenticeship pathway for cosmetologists, barbers, nail technicians and estheticians — came directly from the Legislature, Bell said. Square-footage requirements for schools were tightened to lift training quality, with operating schools grandfathered in. The esthetician prohibitions fall out of the same depth principle.

Why licensees say the distinction won't work in a treatment room

Holley runs nanoneedling and microchanneling through the same device, swapping only the tip. She warned the services look identical to clients, leaving practitioners exposed to fines if a board inspector reads the room differently.

"It leaves it to where we truly do not know what we can and cannot offer," Holley said.

Terrance Bonner, a master esthetician and instructor with 14 years in the field and owner of the Glam Station and Spa in Columbus, said licensed skin care professionals already avoid treatments that draw blood. Certification coursework, he added, defines how deep licensees can work without supervision.

"It was very … discouraging because these were things that we were already ready to do, and that is now taken away from us and making a livelihood for ourselves," Bonner said.

What's next?

The 25-day public comment window closed earlier this week. The board has scheduled an oral proceeding for 2 p.m. on Jan. 26 in Jackson. Bell said the rule language could shift before the package is finalized.

"We're still in the infancy, if you will, of the rule changes," Bell said. "There's lots of work and time and opportunities for the public to weigh in."

Licensees can email additional comments to [email protected] through the Jan. 26 oral proceeding.