I am currently a license basic esthetician pursuing my Master Esthetic's license and getting ready to graduate at the end of this month.  My instructor informed us of this forum which we can respond to the idea of allowing "grandfathered"  estheticians to be allowed to obtain their license without having to go through formal training.  I totally agree with Shiva Vahid's statements that she has made in addition to add my own opinions.  Virgina has made a standard of 1200 hours in a formal school in order to become a Master Esthetician-this standard should not be lowered or excused.  We are trying to raise the bar for estheticians and a lot of estheticians who have been grandfathered in have learned unsafe skills or are not aware of sanitary procedures or even understand the science behind products or skin histology.  When someone who has not had formal training is working on client and implements unsafe standards, practices and treatments because they have been show the process how to do a treatment but do not understand the science behind the treatment it in turn will cause a negative consequence for the client, that in turn, puts us licensed estheticians in a group of being unsafe and uneducated.  I believe and hope to see that all states implement the 1200 hour program in order to become a master esthetician.  A formal education is necessary and vital in order to keep our clients safe and for the sake of keeping professionalism in the estheticics field.

Thank you,

Christine Davis