District of Columbia: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Regulation

Verified against official sources, 2026-07-12.

How can you check Nano Brows providers in District of Columbia?

Online lookup available: You may search the issuing agency's public lookup for the provider or establishment.

Official lookup for District of Columbia

A lookup result reflects only the information shown by the issuing agency. Directory inclusion does not certify a provider's credentials or legal compliance.

Who regulates it

Split regime: DLCP Board of Barber and Cosmetology licenses body ARTISTS (incl. a dedicated Micropigmentation category); DC Health holds body art ESTABLISHMENT authority (DC Code §47-2853.76b(b); 25-G DCMR). 2025 churn: Law 24-333 briefly moved artist licensing to DOH (applicable 2025-10-01 via Law 25-217 §7286) before Law 26-55 §5232 (eff. 2025-12-06) repealed the DOH artist mandate — net: artists at DLCP, establishments at DC Health.

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

DC Code §47-2853.76(14) (re-verified this session): "'Tattoo' means the placing of pigment into the skin dermis for cosmetic or other non-medical purposes, including the process of micro-pigmentation or cosmetic tattooing." A dedicated 'Body Artist – Micropigmentation' license category exists and is actively issued (47 licensees in the DLCP portal, tested). Exemptions (§47-2853.76a): physician for medical reasons; funeral directors; laser removal; chemical peels/microdermabrasion.

Artist requirements

License required	Yes
Training	500-hour apprenticeship under a DC-licensed body artist, OR exemption with 4,000 hours of experience in the 2 years preceding application (§47-2853.76c); certificates in bloodborne pathogens, CPR, and first aid required
Exam	Board written exam via ProV ($92)
Bloodborne pathogen	yes
Minimum age	unknown — not specified in Part D-i; amended 17 DCMR 3703 text not retrievable this session (Word-only downloads) — gap, not a guess
Fee	$175 initial ($65 application + $110 license); renewal $110 (late $50, reinstatement $210)
Renewal	all body artist licenses expire April 15 of even-numbered years; 6 CE credits per cycle (2 health/safety + 4 general; waived at first renewal)

Facility requirements

License required	Yes
Inspection regime	UNRESOLVED IMPLEMENTATION: statute prohibits operating without a body art establishment license (§47-2853.76b(d)(1)) and 25-G DCMR (eff. 2017) provides application/inspection/enforcement chapters, but DC Health's Community Hygiene pages list no body-art program or application channel, the BBL open-data feed shows no body-art category (tattoo-named businesses hold General Business Licenses), and the dedicated BBL provision §47-2809.01 was repealed eff. 2025-10-01. Statutory duties that ARE clear: posted FDA pigment disclosure, 3-year pigment supplier/recall records, calibrated autoclave, single-use disposables (§47-2853.76b(c)).
Fee	unknown — 25-G11 fee schedule text not retrievable (Word-only)
Renewal	unknown

Local variation

County-level variation: No

n/a — single jurisdiction (state-equivalent city).

Reciprocity

License by endorsement: current out-of-state license + Letter of Certification sent directly from the other jurisdiction's board to the DC Board (17 DCMR 3711; DLCP Board page); applicants with body-art discipline elsewhere are ineligible (§47-2853.76c(a)(4)).

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

No pending standalone body-art bill found for the 26th Council (2025-26) — caveat: LIMS is JS-only and could not be queried directly (search-trail negative, not an officially confirmed absence). Recently ENACTED churn is documented in regulating_body/statute_citations (Law 26-55 §5232, eff. 2025-12-06; DLCP 17 DCMR ch. 37 reform eff. 2026-05-22). Establishment-side implementation (see facility field) is the item to watch.

What this means before you book

In Washington, DC, permanent makeup — including microblading and machine nano brows — is legally tattooing ('micro-pigmentation or cosmetic tattooing'), and the person working on you must hold a DC Body Artist license (Micropigmentation or Tattooist category) from DLCP's Board of Barber and Cosmetology. You can verify an artist by name in DLCP's occupational license search, and DC law also requires single-use needles and pigments, written aftercare instructions, and a posted FDA pigment disclosure wherever tattooing is offered. DC has no separate 'PMU certificate' shortcut — if a studio can't show a DC body artist license, that's a red flag.

Statutes & sources cited

Regulation of Body Artists and Body Art Establishments Act of 2012, D.C. Law 19-193
DC Code §§47-2853.76–47-2853.76e (Part D-i, Body Artists)
25-G DCMR (Body Art Establishment Regulations, eff. 2017-12-29)
17 DCMR ch. 37 (Barber and Cosmetology licensing rules; amended by 'Barber and Cosmetology Licensing Reform', 73 DCR 007846, eff. 2026-05-22)