North Carolina won’t regulate ‘fairy hair’ after earlier enforcement
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- State board initially wasn’t sure but later confirmed fairy hair is outside its scope.
- Regulators warned Leslie Stern she needed a natural haircare license and certified shop.
- State board will publish a document clarifying its decision on regulations.
Fairy hair was the reason regulators sent inspectors out to warn at least one artist she needed to be licensed by the state. Now, they say the hair accessory falls outside their purview.
The North Carolina Board of Cosmetic Art Examiners reviewed the practice of attaching metallic thread to single strands of hair and decided it won’t regulate fairy hair, Lynda Elliot, the board’s executive director, said.
The decision comes after Leslie Stern was the subject of letters and visits by state regulators warning her about her fairy hair operation, The News & Observer reported.
Stern needed to obtain a natural hair care license and be working out of a state-certified shop or she’d be breaking the law, regulators told her, which could have meant hundreds of hours of training and thousands of dollars.
But now, she’ll continue her practice the way she has for years.
“I am overjoyed to hear this news and appreciate the board considering our perspective,” Stern told The N&O, adding that she was thankful for her clients and the shops that host her pop-up event.
Deregulating fairy hair
Elliot originally told The N&O that the board didn’t have enough information about fairy hair to make a decision on how it needed to be regulated — if at all. That’s despite enforcement action against Stern’s business.
Now it seems the board does have enough information about the practice.
On Thursday, Elliot confirmed that fairy hair services fall outside the legal boundaries of cosmetology and natural hair care.
A bill moving to the North Carolina Senate floor for discussion would distinguish natural hair care – which consists of braiding, twisting and locking hair – from hair design. Hair design includes using bleach and other chemicals, and it requires more hours of training.
State Sen. Amy Galey, one of the primary sponsors of Senate Bill 808, said fairy hair services weren’t brought up in discussion during the bill’s drafting.
Elliot said the cosmetic board would not regulate fairy hair services since it doesn’t fall into either natural hair care or hair design services, meaning it’s beyond the legal parameters of the board’s scope.
She added that the board will publish a document clarifying the decision on its website.
Stern’s just grateful for the decision and said state regulators had reached “a conclusion that allows us to continue to spread joy.”
