{"id":171542,"date":"2026-03-22T22:53:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/171542\/"},"modified":"2026-03-22T22:53:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-22T22:53:08","slug":"new-york-orders-salon-schools-to-teach-curly-hair-treatment-to-curb-racial-discrimination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/171542\/","title":{"rendered":"New York orders salon schools to teach curly hair treatment to curb racial discrimination"},"content":{"rendered":"

New York\u2019s cosmetology and hair-styling schools must soon start <\/a>teaching how to deal with kinky and curly hair if they want to be able to license students.<\/p>\n

New rules from the New York Department of State<\/a> require the updated coursework \u2014 designed to curb racial discrimination \u2014 to be in place by September.<\/p>\n

New York cosmetology schools must teach kinky and curly hair care to license students by September. okrasiuk \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n

\u201cI have curly hair. Not everyone has straight hair.<\/a> The new training at the beauty schools will benefit those who don\u2019t have straight hair,\u201d said state Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Nassau), who co-authored the bill \u2014 and noted that when she first got into politics, she was advised to \u201cstraighten her hair\u201d to look more professional.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a form of discrimination,\u201d Solages said of shops that don\u2019t offer the service.<\/p>\n

The pol noted that she and her daughter both have had experiences with having their hair mangled in beauty salons.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe person behind the chair should understand your hair,\u201d the lawmaker said.<\/p>\n

Solages co-authored the new law with state Sen. Jamaal Bailey (D-Bronx) in 2023, requiring all hair and cosmetology schools to make \u201ctextured\u201d-hair education part of their general curriculum.<\/p>\n

The state rules were published earlier this month \u2014 about a week after a black woman and her daughter filed a federal discrimination suit against an Ulta Beauty salon on the Upper East Side, claiming stylists there told them they don\u2019t cut \u201cyour kind of hair.\u201d<\/p>\n

State Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, co-author of the bill, said it combats discrimination. Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

New York Human Rights Law bars discrimination based on traits associated with race, including hair texture.<\/p>\n

In 2024, the state received 622 cosmetology license applications and 89 natural-hair-styling license applications.<\/p>\n

Solages said current hair cutters can renew their license without undergoing continuing education, which means they\u2019re not covered by the mandate. The courses will only apply to new students.<\/p>\n

The amendments also do not increase the number of study hours required to obtain a license. Instead, the new instruction on natural kinky or curly will be woven into current curriculum hours.<\/p>\n

Under the revamped law, the 300 to 1,000 hours of instruction needed for licenses from hair-treatment and cosmetology schools will include:<\/p>\n

Ten hours of hair analysis that includes the study of curly, coily, kinky, wavey, wiry and straight hair.<\/p>\n

20 hours of treatment and shampooing that includes \u201cUnderstanding Hair Products as it Relates to Natural Hair Care and Styling\u201d and a \u201cHydration and Moisture Steam Treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much more extensive instruction on hair braiding, including the use of crochet needles and bead threaders, and treating or removing hair extensions.<\/p>\n

18 hours on textured-hair-styling services, including treatment of \u201cCurl and Coil Hairstyles,\u201d blow-dry preparation for braid styling and natural hair and ironing natural hair.<\/p>\n

State Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages, co-author of the bill, said it combats discrimination. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The New York State Beauty School Association said it does not foresee \u201cany significant barriers that would prevent schools from fully complying with the revised requirements within the proposed timeframe\u201d and that \u201cinstitutions will be able to integrate these changes without undue burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state has been working on updating its regulations for hair salons for nearly a decade, after the legislature\u2019s 2017 approval of a law that created an \u201cAppearance Enhancement Advisory Committee.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panel was tasked with developing recommendations regarding cultural and ethnic awareness for various hair types, including curl patterns, strand thickness and volume.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New York\u2019s cosmetology and hair-styling schools must soon start teaching how to deal with kinky and curly hair…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":171543,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[16471,68,5017,57,9,11,10,70018,5271,58],"class_list":["post-171542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-discrimination","tag-exclusive","tag-hair","tag-metro","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-news","tag-salons","tag-schools","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171542\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/171543"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}