Esthetician Career Guide

• Becoming an Esthetician
• Duties
• Education
• Salary
• Licensing

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Home / Esthetician Career Guide / Licensing

Your guide to esthetician licensing and certification

Even though they may only be providing superficial skincare treatments to clients, estheticians and other cosmetology professionals need a license in order to practice. This protects clients by ensuring that estheticians have completed minimum educational and other professional standards before providing client care.  

All 50 states require estheticians to have a license, but each state’s requirements for licensure can be a little different. If you’re thinking about starting a career as an esthetician, it’s imperative that you research and understand what’s required where you live and work so you can follow the necessary steps to get your career started strong.  

Esthetician license requirements by state

We’ve compiled the basic esthetician licensing requirements for all 50 states below including minimum education and exam requirements. In addition to the exam types listed below, keep in mind that some states also require applicants to pass a laws and rules exam.  

State regulations often change and reciprocity requires additional steps—always check with your state’s licensing board directly to find out everything you need to do to obtain an esthetician license.  

Esthetician licensing basics 

All estheticians need a license before they can offer services to clients. Licenses are issued by states, often through a state’s board of cosmetology.  

The only real consistent licensing requirement for estheticians in all states is that they must complete training through an approved education program. From there, the requirements diverge quite a bit.  

For starters, the number of hours of education needed to qualify for licensure ranges from about 300 in some states to 1,000 or more in others, with most states requiring about 600 hours of education. Some states also allow approved apprenticeships in lieu of a formal education program, but these typically must last longer. For example, Washington state requires estheticians to complete an education program of at least 750 hours, but that number jumps to 2,000 hours if they choose to do an apprenticeship instead.  

Other common licensing requirements that you might expect to be ubiquitous are not always so—for example, some states have minimum age requirements (usually at least 16 or 17 years old) and others do not. Some states require licensed estheticians to have a high school education or GED, while others don’t have these kinds of prerequisites. These are just another example of the importance of researching your state’s laws if you want to become a licensed esthetician.  

Continuing education requirements

Most states do not require estheticians to complete continuing education (CE) to maintain their license. A little less than a third of states have CE requirements, meaning these estheticians must complete a certain number of CE hours or continuing education units (CEUs) each license renewal cycle. Attending classes, webinars, conferences and other events are common ways for most people to earn CE hours.  

Keep in mind that you must complete continuing education if you choose to pursue the esthetician certification from the National Coalition of Estheticians Association (NCEA). As a result of the lack of CE requirements for licensure, the NCEA developed CE requirements for their credential holders to try to raise the standards of practice in the hopes that licensure standards may eventually follow their lead. 

What about esthetician certification?

There are several different esthetic and skincare certifications that are available to licensed estheticians and cosmetologists. Professional certifications are a way to demonstrate your commitment to your profession and the skills you’ve acquired. Having a certification, therefore, could make you a more competitive job candidate and attract more clientele, which could in turn lead to a higher earning potential. Most certifications require you to pass an exam administered by a professional organization in order to get certified.  

Estheticians can obtain various skincare and esthetic certifications through organizations like CIDESCO, but the National Coalition of Estheticians Association (NCEA) offers the leading esthetician certification nationwide. Becoming NCEA Certified is a voluntary, national credential open to estheticians after initial licensure. 

In order to qualify for the NCEA exam, you must be able to provide proof of the following:

After you submit an application, you’ll receive a study manual once your application is processed.  

Passing their exam grants you your certification. In order to maintain your NCEA certification, you have to recertify every four years by completing 12 CEUs each cycle.

In order to maintain your NCEA certification, you have to recertify every four years by completing 12 CEUs each cycle.

You must recertify a total of three times (12 years total) before you can earn a lifetime certification, after which you no longer must complete CEUs to maintain your certification.

Final say

If you’re thinking of embarking on a career as a skincare specialist, you need an esthetician license to practice in all 50 states. Licensure begins with proper education, with most states requiring that you complete an esthetician or cosmetology program of at least 600 hours to qualify. After that, you need to pass your state’s licensing exams. From there, estheticians have the option to pursue voluntary credentials through professional organizations like the NCEA.