Montana: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Regulation

Verified against official sources, 2026-07-16.

How can you check Nano Brows providers in Montana?

No online lookup located: As of 2026-07-16, we did not locate a public online lookup. You may ask the provider for the credential's name and issuing agency.

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

Montana DPHHS, Food and Consumer Safety Section (EHFS) — ESTABLISHMENT-level licensing (no individual state credential); ARM Title 37 ch. 112 'Body Art and Cosmetics' COMPREHENSIVELY REWRITTEN eff. 2025-04-26 (2025 MAR 37-1072, current); Yellowstone and Gallatin counties run independent local programs 'in lieu of' the state's (§50-48-203)

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

Named at BOTH levels: statute names permanent makeup/lip coloring/eyeliner inside 'tattooing'; ARM's 'permanent cosmetics' definition names microblading + micropigmentation expressly; Cascade County (official): "Traditional tattoos, permanent makeup, and microblading are all forms of tattooing and require the same license." Cosmetology board disclaims jurisdiction (own FAQ Q13 verbatim: regulation "fall[s] under the jurisdiction of the Department of Public Health and Human Services Food and Consumer Safety Section as opposed to the Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists"). Exemption: physician OR 'medical professional' licensed in MT using pigments to obscure scar tissue/impart color (§50-48-102(9)(b)(ii)) — 'medical professional' scope UNRESOLVED.

Artist requirements

License required	No individual artist license at this level
Training	no individual state credential — body artists at a licensed establishment must complete formal training in general sanitation (Montana-specific DPHHS quiz), first aid, and OSHA-compliant BBP/universal precautions BEFORE licensure (ARM 37.112.147); no apprenticeship-hours, portfolio, or competency exam (confirmed absence — complete current ARM chapter read). EXCEPTION: Yellowstone County licenses individual body artists (RiverStone Health, independent program)
Exam	Montana-specific General Sanitation Quiz only (no artistic/competency exam)
Bloodborne pathogen	yes — 29 CFR 1910.1030-compliant training (incorporated by reference, ARM 37.112.129)
Minimum age	18+ all body artists (ARM 37.112.151(2)); CLIENTS: NO absolute age floor — purely consent-based (§45-5-623(1)(g) verbatim: tattooing a child without "the explicit in-person consent of the child's parent or guardian" is a misdemeanor; "Failure to adequately verify the identity of a parent or guardian is not an excuse"); ARM adds the parent/guardian MUST accompany the client THROUGHOUT the procedure (37.112.158(2)) and sign in person (.144(1)); fines ≤$500 first/$1,000 repeat
Fee	none at state level (establishment fees only)
Renewal	n/a (training certificates per certifying-org cycles)

Facility requirements

License required	Yes
Inspection regime	pre-licensure plan review ($200 DPHHS; local boards may set own) + inspection; ≥1 inspection/yr (§50-48-206; ARM 37.112.157); 3rd+ follow-up visit $150; separate tattoo and body-piercing licenses required for multi-type shops (§50-48-201(3)); per-premises, non-transferable; temporary establishments ≤14 days/location/yr (ARM .103(39), .121); inspection reports public ON REQUEST (copying costs), not self-service
Fee	$185/yr tattoo license (+$185 piercing if applicable; $125 ear-lobe-only), expires Dec 31 (ARM 37.112.152)
Renewal	annual (Dec 31)

Local variation

County-level variation: Yes

Two counties run independent in-lieu programs at least as stringent as the state's (§50-48-203): Yellowstone (RiverStone Health — licenses establishments AND individual artists; explicitly rejects other counties'/states' licenses) and Gallatin (establishment licensing; individual-artist question UNRESOLVED). Other counties checked (Cascade, Missoula) inspect as DPHHS delegates with DPHHS retaining licensure; Lewis & Clark operational role UNRESOLVED.

Reciprocity

NONE — establishment licenses are premises-bound and non-transferable; no individual credential to endorse; Yellowstone County affirmatively rejects out-of-county/out-of-state licenses (official, verbatim: "A license issued in another Montana county or another state is not valid within Yellowstone County"); First-aid/BBP certificates are portable but the MT sanitation quiz is not.

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

Biennial legislature — 2025 session concluded, no tattoo/body-art bill found; next regular session Jan 2027. The ARM rewrite (37-1072) is CURRENT (eff. 2025-04-26), not pending. 2017-era DPHHS FAQ's 60-day guest-artist allowance NOT found in current ARM — possibly stale, unresolved. MAR archive unqueryable via fetch (JS) — margins caveat.

What this means before you book

Montana licenses the studio, not the artist: PMU and microblading studios hold an annual state (or, in Billings and Bozeman areas, county) body-art establishment license with yearly inspections, and each artist must complete sanitation, first-aid, and bloodborne-pathogen training — but there's no individual artist license to look up, and no public register of establishments either; verification means asking the studio for its license and the health department for its inspection record. Minors may only receive PMU with a parent physically present throughout and giving in-person consent — Montana sets no absolute age floor.

Statutes & sources cited

Mont. Code Ann. tit. 50 ch. 48 (§§50-48-101 to -209, Licensure and Regulation of Tattooing and Body-Piercing Establishments; 2005, def. am. 2007): §50-48-102(9)(a) verbatim: "'Tattooing'... includes imparting permanent makeup on the skin such as permanent lip coloring and permanent eyeliner"; §50-48-201 license required/per-premises/non-transferable; §50-48-203 local in-lieu programs
ARM 37.112.102-.167 (current PDF, eff. 2025-04-26): .103(27) verbatim: "'Permanent cosmetics' means a tattoo... includes procedures commonly referred to as permanent makeup, micropigmentation, micropigment implantation, microblading, dermagraphics, cosmetic tattooing..."; .147 training; .150-.152 licensing/fees; .157 inspections; .158 minors
Mont. Code Ann. §45-5-623(1)(g) (minors — unlawful transactions with children; DPHHS's own page cites it as controlling)