Solages-sponsored law took effect September 1 after 2023 signing
Governor Kathy Hochul signed the bill in 2023, giving cosmetology and natural hair styling schools three years to update their curricula before the new requirements took effect September 1.
The bill’s sponsor, Assembly Member Michaelle Solages, framed the legislation in terms of access to commercial services. “This is about equal access to service,” Solages said in a statement earlier this year. “No New Yorker should ever walk into a salon and be turned away or receive substandard care because of their hair texture. Now, with the adoption of this legislation, they won’t have to.”
The law requires cosmetology and natural hair styling classes to cover hair types from “the kinkiest to the straightest.” Coursework must include hair and scalp properties, hair care, and styling techniques for textured hair, and students must demonstrate their proficiency on those techniques when they sit for state licensing exams.
The total number of training hours required for a license does not change under the new law. A separate statement from Solages said, “By embedding the new instruction into existing programs, these changes will expand skills and service without increasing costs, and will ensure that haircare professionals are prepared to serve all of their clients.”
New Jersey enacted comparable legislation in January, requiring students to receive training on textured hair, including curly hair in written and practical components of state licensing exams, and requiring schools to maintain appropriate training tools.