Louisiana Salon Sanitation Rules: Chapter 7 of the Board's Regulations

The baseline every salon and school must meet

Every beauty shop, salon and cosmetology school must be adequately lighted, well ventilated and kept in a clean and sanitary condition at all times. All of them must have sterilizers or sanitizers available, used in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, and all instruments including disposable equipment must be kept clean and sanitized. Combs and brushes must be thoroughly cleaned with soap and water after each patron has been served and then immersed in a solution of one part water to ten parts of sodium hypochlorite (bleach), an EPA hospital grade disinfectant, or some equally efficient disinfectant used per the manufacturer's instructions. That ratio is worth reading twice, because it is written in the rule exactly that way round. Shampoo boards and bowls must be kept clean at all times. Towels for patrons must be clean and freshly laundered and kept in a closed cabinet designated for clean towels only, soiled towels go in a container, and cosmetologists must wash their hands with soap and fresh water immediately before serving each patron.

Premises, tools and the things that must be covered

Fluids and powders must be applied from a shaker type dispenser so the bottle or shaker never contacts the client. Floors, walls and fixtures must be kept clean and sanitary at all times, and carpet or floor cloth may not be used in any work area. No board-licensed facility may permit a live animal on the premises except an animal certified to assist a disabled person. Every facility needs an adequate supply of both hot and cold running water and a sufficient number of wash basins. Hair clippings must be swept off the floor after each client and disposed of in a covered container. All tools and implements that come into direct contact with a client must be sterilized, sanitized or disposed of after each use, and new or freshly sanitized tools must be stored separately from all others. Storage cabinets, work stations and vanities must be cleaned after each client. Blood spill kits must be available in every salon and in every school.

What is prohibited outright

Two different prohibitions sit in this chapter and the exam mixes them up. LAC 46:XXXI.701 bans three things from the performance of cosmetology: credo blades or any blade designed for the removal of multiple layers of skin, formaldehyde for the sanitization of equipment, and nail enhancement products containing methyl methacrylate (MMA) monomer. Separately, LAC 46:XXXI.717 says that no licence or permit the board issues authorises a list of services in a licensed salon at all, and that list is longer: diagnosis, treatment or therapy of any dermatological condition, electrolysis, lasers, micro-needling, micro-blading, any service that penetrates or invades the live tissue or dermis, any acid used to exfoliate below the epidermis, commercial body art such as tattooing, cosmetic tattooing, body piercing, branding and scarification, and any apparatus the U.S. Food and Drug Administration classifies as a medical device. The governing principle for skin work is set out in LAC 46:XXXI.711: cosmetologists, estheticians and persons authorised to perform microdermabrasion may only exfoliate or perform services affecting the epidermis, never the dermis or the skin below it.

Procedures for esthetics and nails, and what inspectors may do

Esthetics providers must wash their hands with an antimicrobial skin wash before contacting any client, wash all implements with antimicrobial wash before sanitization or sterilization, wash all towels and linens in disinfecting detergent, and place used disposables in a closed, bagged trash container. Manicuring and pedicuring adds one duty that surprises people: the provider must require the customer to wash the area to be serviced with an antimicrobial wash before any service, and the pedicuring tub must be sanitized after each service per the manufacturer's instructions. On enforcement, inspectors and board employees may enter any board-licensed salon or school during regular business hours, interview any person present, and examine all work records, and they may enter any premises where cosmetology services are advertised or offered in order to enforce the Act. Proprietary information gathered on an inspection stays confidential unless it is to be offered as evidence in an administrative hearing or court proceeding. An inspector may impose and collect a fine only where the licensee waives the right to a formal hearing, must hand the licensee a duplicate copy of the violation notice, and a licensee who disputes the report may submit contrary evidence in writing or present it at the assigned hearing date.