If all goes well this legislative session Bryn Green, of Hays, will be able to earn a living without having to go through an onerous — and expensive — certification process that has little to no bearing on her actual work.
Green wants to provide a service called “sugaring,” an ancient Egyptian form of hair removal that dates back 30,000 years in which hair is removed by the root with a simple paste made of sugar, lemon juice, and water.
However, the Kansas Board of Cosmetology requires practitioners to be licensed cosmetologists, which Green is not. The license requires 1,000 of instruction at an esthetician school or 1,500 hours of instruction at a cosmetology school, with no more than 1% of it in sugaring.
The closest esthetician school that teaches sugaring is more than two hours away, which is prohibitive for the young mom of a one-year-old. There is no sugarer in Hays, so Green drives to Dodge City for the treatments since she prefers the technique over waxing. She sees an entrepreneurial opportunity in providing the service in her hometown but is being blocked by state regulators.
Bryn, represented by the Kansas Justice Institute — which, like The Sentinel, is owned by the Kansas Policy Institute — filed a constitutional lawsuit in October of 2023.
On Tuesday, February 23, 2024, the Kansas Senate Committee on Public Health and Welfare heard testimony from KJI Director of Litigation Samuel MacRoberts on Senate Bill 434, which would exempt sugaring from the cosmetology requirements.
MacRoberts pointed out that — unlike traditional waxing, which involves hot, molten wax — sugaring is done at body temperature, is less likely to cause injury, and is much safer than waxing.
“You can use it on skin that has psoriasis or eczema or spider veins, and you can use it on the same location multiple times,” MacRoberts said. “If you want to remove the paste, you just use a warm washcloth to remove it.
“There is no need to require 1,500 hours of irrelevant schooling to learn how to perform sugaring. Sugaring takes maybe an hour to learn and how to — if you don’t already know this — wash your hands before you do it.”
MacRoberts said it is estimated that less than 1% of the cosmetology curriculum is devoted to sugar — if it is taught at all — and is not tested in practical examinations.
“So in order to become a sugarer, you’re going have to spend tens of thousands of dollars at an expensive cosmetology school to learn completely irrelevant things and get tested on irrelevant subjects,” MacRoberts said.
Jon Leuth, deputy director of Americans for Prosperity, Kansas, sent written testimony in support of the bill as well.
“Legislation such as this bill can be critical steps to address the red tape that is stifling productivity and creating barriers to economic opportunity for business and families in the Sunflower state. It is also an opportunity to remove outdated regulations,” he wrote. “Truly, while the cosmetology licensure portfolio broadly should also be a priority in licensing reform for Kansas, SB 434 would eliminate unnecessary government licensing barriers for people to earn income through sugaring, which is not relevant to the purview of cosmetology licensing in the first place.”
No apparent opposition to sugaring exemption
Unlike the eyebrow threading — which faced significant opposition from the Board of Cosmetology and cosmetology school owners — no testimony against SB 434 was filed, and there were no questions from the committee.
KJI was successful at removing restrictions on eyebrow threading
In the 2022 legislative session, similar to the sugaring issue, KJI helped pressure the Legislature to remove a similarly onerous restriction on eyebrow threading.
In 2020, KJI stepped in to represent business owner Jigisha Modi, who is a licensed cosmetologist and operates a licensed esthetics business in Olathe. She and her husband, Jignesh Biscuitwala, run the business. They were unable to hire Jignesh’s mother even though she had almost 30 years of experience as an eyebrow threader because she didn’t have a government-issued license.
Threading is a centuries-old practice, common in many parts of Asia, in which a thread no thicker than dental floss is used to “lasso” unwanted hair — usually on the eyebrows — and remove it. The skill isn’t a part of the Kansas cosmetology school curriculum, but until July 1 of this year the state required threaders to be licensed and complete 1,000 hours of training for other skills they do not want and will not use.
Eyebrow threading is very safe,” Jigisha said at the time. “It does not require any chemicals or sharp tools, just a simple piece of cotton thread. It is a very safe technique. And it is very sad for our business and our family that I cannot hire an experienced family member to help.”
However, the lawsuit filed by Kansas Justice Institute prompted legislative intervention in the passage of Senate Bill 348, which exempts eyebrow threaders from the licensing — and as the law became effective, KJI and Jigisha Modi’s family dismissed their lawsuit.
“Kansans have a right to earn an honest living, free from unreasonable government regulations. Sam MacRoberts, litigation director for KJI said at the time. “Our lawsuit and the legislation that followed is a great step forward for liberty.”
