New Hampshire: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Regulation

How can you check Nano Brows providers in New Hampshire?

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

Official lookup for New Hampshire

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

NH Office of Professional Licensure and Certification (OPLC), Executive Director (advisory Board of Body Art Practitioners, RSA 314-A:14, advises only) — individual 'Body Art Practitioner' licensing (classifications: body piercing, branding, tattooing; PMU rides the tattooing classification) PLUS a separate hand-tool-only MICROBLADING CERTIFICATE for licensed estheticians/cosmetologists. STALE-RULE TRAP: current rules are chapter Plc 600 (eff. 2022 renumbering); superseded He-P 1100 and Plc 400 still resolve online and pollute search results

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

Plc 601.02(k), verbatim: "'Cosmetic tattoo' means any process using a needle, scalpel, or bladed instrument to cut, inject underneath, or otherwise abrade the surface of the skin for the purposes of replicating makeup or cosmetics, with or without pigment. The term includes 'permanent makeup', 'micropigmentation', and 'microblading'." Not a separate license class — falls under the tattooing classification. KEY CONSUMER SPLIT: machine PMU (nano brows, machine eyeliner/lip) requires the FULL Body Art Practitioner license; the esthetician/cosmetologist microblading certificate (RSA 314-A:2 IV; Plc 605) authorizes HAND-TOOL EYEBROW work ONLY — Plc 605.07(b) verbatim: certificate holders shall "(1) Use a handheld microblading tool to perform services; and (2) Not use a tattoo machine unless also licensed as a body art tattoo practitioner." Exemption: physicians + OPLC licensees within scope (RSA 314-A:4, 2024).

Artist requirements

Facility requirements

Local variation

County-level variation: Yes

State practitioner licensing + facility approval expressly delegated to towns/cities — municipal variation is structural (example: Salem NH Code ch. 433 'TATTOOING, BODY PIERCING, BRANDING AND PERMANENT MAKEUP' — PMU named in a local ordinance title; full text unretrieved). No county layer (NH regulates at town level).

Reciprocity

TWO pathways: (1) ordinary out-of-state route (≥3 yrs licensed practice, folded into the standard application); (2) HB 594 universal recognition (eff. 2024-05-03, Plc 313.19) — Body Art Practitioner qualifying jurisdictions, verbatim list: AK, AR, CT, DC, FL, KS, KY, MA (Gardner), MN, MS, MO, NM, OK, OR, RI, TN, VT, VA. Microblading-certificate portability: no endorsement rule found (UNRESOLVED-ABSENCE — likely must satisfy Plc 605 independently).

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

2026 regular session adjourned sine die; no RSA 314-A/PMU bill found (LegiScan + gc.nh.gov sweeps). Context: HB 70 (2021, microblading certificate) and 2024, 327:31-35 are ENACTED current law. Watch: Plc 601.03 exemption rule-lag vs 2024 statute (rulemaking to conform may appear).

What this means before you book

New Hampshire licenses body art practitioners individually — PMU falls under the tattooing classification, reached through a roughly 1,500-hour apprenticeship — and separately lets licensed estheticians and cosmetologists earn a microblading certificate after 100 hours of accredited training. The certificate covers hand-tool eyebrow work only: machine nano brows, eyeliner, or lip color require the full body art license. Tattooing and PMU on anyone under 18 is banned outright, with no parental-consent exception. Studios are approved by your town or city rather than the state, so local rules vary; practitioner licenses can be verified through OPLC's lookup.

Statutes & sources cited

• RSA ch. 314-A (Body Art; current incl. 2024, 327:31-35 eff. 2024-07-01): 314-A:1 definitions; 314-A:2 licensing incl. III (apprenticeship/experience) and IV (microblading certificate authorization, 2021, 60:1); 314-A:4 exemptions (2024 text: board-of-medicine + OPLC licensees within scope per RSA 328-D/329/329-C); 314-A:5 biennial renewal + 3-hr CE; 314-A:8 minors; 314-A:12 penalties (class A misdemeanor person/felony entity); 314-A:14 advisory board
• Plc 600 Body Art Rules (CURRENT; Doc #13337 renumbering eff. 2022-01-27): Plc 601.02(k) cosmetic-tattoo definition; 601.04-.09 licensing/fees; 602 duties/fines; 605 microblading certificate. RULE-LAG FLAG: Plc 601.03 exemptions text (2018) still names only board-of-medicine licensees — narrower than the 2024 statute; statute controls
• Plc 313.19 (HB 594 universal recognition, eff. 2024-05-03): Body Art Practitioner qualifying jurisdictions list

Sources

• https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXX/314-A/314-A-mrg.htm
• https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XXX/314-A/314-A-8.htm
• https://gc.nh.gov/rules/state_agencies/plc600.html
• https://www.oplc.nh.gov/new-changes-reciprocity-new-hampshire
• https://www.oplc.nh.gov/license-lookup