Kentucky: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Regulation

Verified against official sources, 2026-07-14.

How can you check Nano Brows providers in Kentucky?

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

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

Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), Dept for Public Health — statewide rule (902 KAR 45:065, current eff. 2024-01-18) with registration/certification/inspection ADMINISTERED BY LOCAL health departments; PMU/microblading regulated AS TATTOOING (CHFS's own FAQ, verbatim: 'permanent makeup services including microblading are regulated as tattooing'). LEAD CORRECTION: 902 KAR 45:075 is TANNING FACILITIES, not permanent cosmetics — no separate PMU rule exists

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

CHFS official FAQ, verbatim: "Yes, permanent makeup services including microblading are regulated as tattooing. Permanent makeup artists are required to apply for a tattoo artist registration with the local health department..."; licensed estheticians doing microblading ALSO need the tattoo registration, and the salon/spa needs a tattoo studio certificate. CHFS Body Art page: registration covers tattooing 'including microblading and cosmetic tattooing.' Medical boundary: the statute's catchline limits it to 'nonmedical personnel' — the precise medical carve-out scope is UNRESOLVED (primary text blocker).

Artist requirements

License required	Yes
Training	no hour/apprenticeship requirement — requirements are age 18+ (§2(5)), bloodborne pathogen training per 29 CFR 1910.1030 (proof maintained at studio; annual per CHFS/Louisville guidance), and working under the authority of a Kentucky certified studio (§2(2))
Exam	none
Bloodborne pathogen	yes — 29 CFR 1910.1030-compliant training; online accepted for BBP only
Minimum age	18+ artist; CLIENTS: under 16 BANNED outright; 16-17 require WRITTEN NOTARIZED custodial-parent/legal-guardian consent with prescribed content (IDs, DOBs, signatures — 902 KAR 45:065 §7, fetched verbatim); parent/guardian + minor attestations in studio records (§8), records 2 yrs
Fee	$100/yr registration (state-set, uniform); $50 late after Jan 31; registration NON-TRANSFERABLE between persons OR between districts/counties; expires Dec 31
Renewal	annual (calendar year)

Facility requirements

License required	Yes
Inspection regime	studio certificate from local health dept; pre-issuance inspection + WEIGHTED SCORED inspections (§14: <70 = notice of intent to suspend; 3/4-point violations = 10-day correction); suspension/revocation with 902 KAR 1:400 conference rights (§§15-16); standards: 60 sq ft/station, 4-ft walls between stations, 100 foot-candles, dedicated hand sinks, no living quarters (§4); mobile studios separately certified, valid statewide (§12); temporary events ≤7 days, $100/station + $100/artist
Fee	$400/yr (1-4 workstations) + $50/added station; $100 late
Renewal	annual (Dec 31)

Local variation

County-level variation: Yes

Fees and standards are STATE-SET and uniform (verified: KAR text = CHFS fee sheet = Louisville's published figures); local health departments vary only in administration — plus local non-health overlays (Louisville Metro requires C2 zoning for new studios).

Reciprocity

NONE — official-confirmed absence: full text of 902 KAR 45:065 searched (zero matches for reciprocity/other-state terms); every applicant registers fresh with the local health department. (KBC's cosmetology endorsement pathway is irrelevant — cosmetology licenses don't authorize PMU.)

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

HB 885 (2026 RS, cosmetology) would have codified in KRS 317A that cosmetology licensees may not perform services 'including but not limited to permanent makeup, microblading, or piercing' without the appropriate separate licensure — passed House 64-18 (2026-03-27, w/ HFA1 adding the PMU naming), referred Senate Committee on Committees, NO further action before sine die 2026-04-15 — DIED (inference from official tracker + adjournment; watch for refile). The substance is already current practice via 201 KAR 12:280 §8 (eff. 2025-12-02) + CHFS FAQ.

What this means before you book

Kentucky regulates permanent makeup and microblading as tattooing: the artist must hold a tattoo-artist registration from the local health department ($100/year, bloodborne-pathogen trained, 18+) and work in a certified studio that passes scored health inspections — an esthetician's license alone doesn't cover PMU, and registrations don't transfer between counties. Clients under 16 cannot receive PMU at all; 16- and 17-year-olds need notarized parental consent. There's no statewide public register; Louisville publishes an open-data list of its permitted studios.

Statutes & sources cited

KRS 211.760 (tattooing and body piercing by nonmedical personnel — registration — administrative regulations — compliance checks — hearings; catchline verified via official chapter index. CAVEAT: verbatim subsection text UNVERIFIED against primary — LRC serves KRS pages as unparsable binary PDFs; the secondary-mirrored definition string 'tattooing... including the application of permanent makeup' is SECONDARY-ONLY; primary-text read queued)
902 KAR 45:065 (Tattooing; full current text fetched: §2 artist registration, §3 studio certification, §4 studio standards, §7 minors, §8 records, §§14-16 scored inspections/suspension/revocation, §12 mobile studios)
201 KAR 12:280 §8 (cosmetology esthetic restrictions, eff. 2025-12-02, fetched verbatim: licensees may not penetrate 'beyond the stratum germinativum layer' — cosmetology licenses affirmatively exclude PMU depth work)