Connecticut hair braiding rules

Do you need a license to braid hair in Connecticut?

Q: Do you need a license to braid hair in Connecticut?

No license needed. Braiding needs no license, because the hairdressing definition does not prohibit an unlicensed person from braiding hair.

Q: Do you need a license to do locs in Connecticut?

Not stated. Connecticut's official pages we read do not say whether starting and maintaining locs need a license. Ask the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments before you offer them.

Q: Do you need a license to do hair extensions or sew-ins in Connecticut?

Yes. Weaving, which the statute lists under hairdressing and cosmetology, requires a Registered Hairdresser and Cosmetician license. Hours and fees for each full license are on the Connecticut cosmetology license page.

Q: Do you need a license to install wigs in Connecticut?

Not stated. Connecticut's official pages we read do not say whether installing wigs on a client needs a license. Ask the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments before you offer it.

No license needed. Braiding needs no license, because the hairdressing definition does not prohibit an unlicensed person from braiding hair. Below: locs (not stated), hair extensions and sew-ins (license needed) and wig installs (not stated), each answered from Connecticut's own statutes, rules or board pages, read on October 29, 2026, with the state's own words.

Braiding: No license needed
Locs: Not stated
Extensions: License needed
Wig installs: Not stated

Licensed by the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments.The board's site Hours and fees for each license The state's own words

Hair braiding

Do you need a license to braid hair in Connecticut?

No license needed. Braiding needs no license, because the hairdressing definition does not prohibit an unlicensed person from braiding hair.

License needed: No license needed
Exemption: Unlicensed people may braid hair, because the hairdressing definition does not prohibit it.

Connecticut is one of 35 states whose official pages exempt hair braiding from licensing.

Locs

Do you need a license to do locs in Connecticut?

Not stated. Connecticut's official pages we read do not say whether starting and maintaining locs need a license. Ask the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments before you offer them.

License needed: Not stated

Hair extensions and sew-ins

Do you need a license to do hair extensions or sew-ins in Connecticut?

Yes. Weaving, which the statute lists under hairdressing and cosmetology, requires a Registered Hairdresser and Cosmetician license.

License needed: License needed
Licenses that allow it: Registered Hairdresser and Cosmetician
License for this work alone: None

Wig installs

Do you need a license to install wigs in Connecticut?

Not stated. Connecticut's official pages we read do not say whether installing wigs on a client needs a license. Ask the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments before you offer it.

License needed: Not stated

Good to know

What else Connecticut asks of braiders

A person who cuts, styles or arranges hair in a hairdressing shop, store or place needs a license.
Hairdresser and cosmetician licenses are renewed once every two years.
The DPH hairdresser license application fee is $100.00.
A hairdresser license requires at least 1,500 hours of study in an approved school.

Sources

What Connecticut's official pages say

Each answer above, in the words of Connecticut's own statutes, rules or board pages, read on October 29, 2026. Rules change: confirm with the Connecticut Department of Public Health and local health departments before you start charging for a service.

Hair braiding: “provided nothing in this subdivision shall prohibit an unlicensed person from performing shampooing or braiding hair;”
cga.ct.gov
Hair extensions and sew-ins: “means the art of dressing, arranging, curling, waving, weaving, cutting, singeing, bleaching and coloring the hair and treating the scalp of any person”
cga.ct.gov
“No person shall engage in the occupation of registered hairdresser and cosmetician without having obtained a license from the department.”
cga.ct.gov
Also good to know: “No person may engage in the cutting, styling or arranging of hair in any hairdressing shop, store or place without a license issued under the provisions of this chapter.”
cga.ct.gov
Also good to know: “All hairdresser and cosmetician licenses, except as otherwise provided in this chapter, shall be renewed once every two years”
cga.ct.gov
Also good to know: “A completed application with photograph and fee of $100.00.”
portal.ct.gov
Also good to know: “completed a course of not less than fifteen hundred hours of study in a school approved in accordance with the provisions of this chapter”
cga.ct.gov