Virginia Regulatory Town Hall
Agency
Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation
 
Board
Board for Barbers and Cosmetology
 
chapter
Tattooing Regulations [18 VAC 41 ‑ 50]

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9/14/15  6:06 pm
Commenter: Brian Fillman

Board for Barbers and Cosmetology Tattooing Regulations [18 VAC 41 ? 50]
 

Why have three separate licenses for tattooing? Permanent makeup allows you to do full face , eye liner, brows, lips, etc, including scarification covers and areola pigmentation. A "Tattoo" artist can do the same thing. Tattooed eyebrows are not uncommon, tattoos on eyelids are not uncommon, breast tattoos are not uncommon, so why is there a difference in licensing. All of the procedures are virtually the same,the setup, sterilization precautions, prep, after care, and with so many options of machines, that too is completely transferable from one type to another. So why have different licensing. If you can do permanent makeup you can certainly do other artistic types of tattoos, If you can tattoo an eyelid or the inside of a lip as a Tattoo artist you can apply a nice brow as well. Just like in the field of tattooing, as long as it has been around, the practitioners/artists have always developed their own style and preferences of what they like to do. Which drives the clientele... not what type of license you hold. 

Realistically, any form of personal service profession is self regulating. I don't need the government to tell me if an artist is good enough, or if their sanitation is good enough. If you walk into a shop and look at their work, and their surroundings, and watch as they set up their station, it's obvious if they know what they are doing or not! You can pass any exam but still be a bad artist and put out bad work. If and when, that happens, the business will not stay in operation. You shouldn't need the government to be responsible for overseeing that.

If the state wants and thinks it needs to regulate for the "protection" on the citizens, then are they liable for bad work that comes pout of the shop?  I can't wait till the lawyers start working that angle! Then you will have lot's of law suites against the inspectors and the state because they got a "bad Tattoo".  

My recommendation is simplify, I'm not opposed to artists having to take a test regarding sterilization, and having the knowledge and understanding of blood borne pathogens, and the importance of sterilization, but that should be the most that is required for a license.In which case one classification of tattooing is still all you need.

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