Arkansas hair braiding rules
Do you need a license to braid hair in Arkansas?
No license needed. Natural hair braiding is exempt from cosmetology licensing, and a Natural Hair Braiding Certificate is optional. Below: locs (no license needed), hair extensions and sew-ins (no license needed) and wig installs (license needed), each answered from Arkansas's own statutes, rules or board pages, read on October 29, 2026, with the state's own words.
- Braiding
- No license needed
- Locs
- No license needed
- Extensions
- No license needed
- Wig installs
- License needed
Licensed by the Arkansas Department of Health.The board's site Hours and fees for each licenseThe state's own words
Hair braiding
Do you need a license to braid hair in Arkansas?
No license needed. Natural hair braiding is exempt from cosmetology licensing, and a Natural Hair Braiding Certificate is optional.
- License needed
- No license needed
- Optional license for this work
- Natural Hair Braiding Certificate, 80 hours of training
- Exemption
- Natural hair braiding is exempt, but applying dyes or reactive chemicals to alter hair color or structure, or using fusion bonds, falls outside the exemption.
Arkansas is one of 35 states whose official pages exempt hair braiding from licensing.
Locs
Do you need a license to do locs in Arkansas?
No license needed. Starting and maintaining locs is covered by the natural hair braiding exemption, so no license is needed. Arkansas also offers an optional Natural Hair Braiding Certificate (80 hours of training).
- License needed
- No license needed
- Optional license for this work
- Natural Hair Braiding Certificate, 80 hours of training
- Exemption
- Locs are exempt as natural hair braiding (locking), but dyes or reactive chemicals that alter color or structure, and fusion bonds, fall outside it.
Arkansas is one of 25 states whose official pages exempt starting and maintaining locs from licensing.
Hair extensions and sew-ins
Do you need a license to do hair extensions or sew-ins in Arkansas?
No license needed. Sew-in weaves and extensions done by hand or with a mechanical device are exempt from licensing, but fusion-bonded extensions are outside that exemption. Arkansas also offers an optional Natural Hair Braiding Certificate (80 hours of training).
- License needed
- No license needed
- Optional license for this work
- Natural Hair Braiding Certificate, 80 hours of training
- Exemption
- Sew-in weaves and extensions done by hand or with a mechanical device are exempt; fusion-bonded extensions are not covered.
Arkansas is one of 11 states whose official pages exempt hair extensions and sew-ins from licensing.
Wig installs
Do you need a license to install wigs in Arkansas?
Yes. Working on wigs or hairpieces falls under the cosmetology definition, so a Cosmetologist license is needed.
- License needed
- License needed
- Licenses that allow it
- Cosmetologist
- License for this work alone
- None
Good to know
What else Arkansas asks of braiders
- An individual may operate an establishment where only natural hair braiding is practiced without a natural hair braiding certificate.
- The optional certificate also requires a 40-hour scalp care course, a written exam and an application.
- Fusion-bonded extensions are outside the natural hair braiding definition.
- This compilation of the Cosmetology Act includes amendments through the 2023 Acts.
Sources
What Arkansas's official pages say
Each answer above, in the words of Arkansas's own statutes, rules or board pages, read on October 29, 2026. Rules change: confirm with the Arkansas Department of Health before you start charging for a service.
- Hair braiding
“The practice of natural hair braiding, except as provided by this subchapter, is exempt from regulation under this chapter”
healthy.arkansas.gov “Provide proof of completion of an eighty-hour health and safety”
healthy.arkansas.gov “natural hair braiding is practiced without obtaining natural hair braiding certification.”
healthy.arkansas.gov “The application of dyes, reactive chemicals, or other preparations to”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Locs
“extending, locking, or braiding hair by hand or with a mechanical device that”
healthy.arkansas.gov “The practice of natural hair braiding, except as provided by this subchapter, is exempt from regulation under this chapter”
healthy.arkansas.gov “Provide proof of completion of an eighty-hour health and safety”
healthy.arkansas.gov “natural hair braiding is practiced without obtaining natural hair braiding certification.”
healthy.arkansas.gov “The application of dyes, reactive chemicals, or other preparations to”
healthy.arkansas.gov “keratin bonds, or fusion bonds; or”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Hair extensions and sew-ins
“The use of natural or synthetic hair extensions, natural or synthetic”
healthy.arkansas.gov “The practice of natural hair braiding, except as provided by this subchapter, is exempt from regulation under this chapter”
healthy.arkansas.gov “Provide proof of completion of an eighty-hour health and safety”
healthy.arkansas.gov “natural hair braiding is practiced without obtaining natural hair braiding certification.”
healthy.arkansas.gov “keratin bonds, or fusion bonds; or”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Wig installs
“hair of any person or wigs or hairpieces”
healthy.arkansas.gov “Engages in the practice of cosmetology in a licensed cosmetological establishment, except the branch of electrolysis”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Also good to know
“natural hair braiding is practiced without obtaining natural hair braiding certification.”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Also good to know
“Provide proof of completion of a forty-hour scalp care course approved by”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Also good to know
“keratin bonds, or fusion bonds; or”
healthy.arkansas.gov - Also good to know
“Acts 688 & 583 of 2023”
healthy.arkansas.gov
Questions
Arkansas hair braiding licenses, answered
Do you need a license to braid hair in Arkansas?
Do you need a license to do locs in Arkansas?
Do you need a license to do hair extensions or sew-ins in Arkansas?
Do you need a license to install wigs in Arkansas?
What do you need to open a braiding salon in Arkansas?
Plan the rest
Ready to fill your book
- Hours, exams and fees for each Arkansas cosmetology and barber license
- What Arkansas requires to open a salon or shop of your own
- What Arkansas inspectors check in a salon
- Renewing a Arkansas cosmetology or barber license
- Renting a chair or a suite? Start from a booth rental agreement
- A deposit and cancellation policy for long appointments
Hair braiding rules in other states
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