Vermont: Permanent Makeup & Nano Brows Regulation

Verified against official sources, 2026-07-16.

How can you check Nano Brows providers in Vermont?

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

Vermont Secretary of State, Office of Professional Regulation (OPR) — director-and-advisors model (no board): individual licensing under 26 V.S.A. ch. 79 with a NAMED STATUTORY 'practice of permanent cosmetics' category and a dedicated 'Permanent Cosmetic Tattooist' license (code 102), its own advisor seat (a 2024 change replaced the Health Dept advisor with a permanent-cosmetic licensee), and the statute itself referencing SPCP guidelines

Does it cover permanent makeup / nano brows?

Coverage: explicitly-covered

PMU is a NAMED STATUTORY CATEGORY with its own license — joins the dedicated-PMU-category list (ME/NM/VA/DC/NE/MS) for the owner's display-badge decision; enum stays body-art per the framework rule (ch. 79 covers tattooing + piercing + PMU). Machine-vs-hand not distinguished ('permanent eyebrows' covers nano brows; microblading named). PHYSICIAN-EXEMPTION AMBIGUITY flagged: §4101(7) exempts physician-directed 'anatomical reproduction' from the TATTOOING definition, but §4101(6) lists anatomical reproduction inside PERMANENT COSMETICS with no parallel carve-out — the two definitions are unharmonized (e.g., post-mastectomy areola work); UNRESOLVED, no OPR guidance found. Tattoo REMOVAL is medical (Board of Medical Practice), outside OPR licensure. Terminology drift: statute heading says 'permanent cosmetologists'; OPR's operative label is 'Permanent Cosmetic Tattooist' (code 102) — same license.

Artist requirements

License required	Yes
Training	60-hour OPR-APPROVED course (must be pre-approved — consult OPR's approved list BEFORE training) + 40 hours practical under direct supervision of a 3+-yr licensed tattooist/permanent cosmetologist (within 2 calendar yrs pre-application; may be completed out of state under an active VT apprentice license; blocks may not overlap) + 3-hour OSHA- or Red-Cross-approved universal precautions/BBP course; register with OPR BEFORE starting training (§4105(c)); out-of-state training/experience may substitute case-by-case (Rule 2.3D)
Exam	no state exam for the standard pathway; Fast Track Endorsement applicants complete a VT jurisprudence exam answer sheet
Bloodborne pathogen	yes — 3-hr universal precautions/infectious diseases upfront + 3 hrs CE each biennial renewal (§4106(c))
Minimum age	18+ practice (§4102(b) covers all three practices); CLIENTS: §4102(c) verbatim: 'A tattooist shall not tattoo a minor without the written consent of the parent or guardian of the minor' — TEXTUAL-SCOPE FLAG: the consent clause says 'tattooist' (not the broader 'operator'); extension to PMU practitioners is the reasonable reading (PMU = 'a specific type of tattoo') but is an INTERPRETIVE INFERENCE, flagged not asserted; tattooing minors is discretionary (OPR FAQ); parent-performed earlobe piercing exempt
Fee	$100 application / $275 biennial renewal (OPR schedule upd. 2025-07-01; apprentice $50, no renewal)
Renewal	biennial (Sept 30, even years) + 3 hrs BBP CE

Facility requirements

License required	Yes
Inspection regime	shop registration $115 application / $275 biennial (3 V.S.A. §125(b) supersedes §4105(d)'s stale $100); PMU may ALSO be practiced in a licensed cosmetology shop WITHOUT dual shop licensure (§4105(d)(5), eff. 2021-07-01 — shop must meet tattoo-shop sanitation + OPR inspection), in tattoo shops, on licensed health-professional premises, or in a standalone Permanent Cosmetic Tattooist Shop (code 177, created 2024); initial inspections free, $100 reinspection (waivable); autoclave spore tests ≤30 days (biological indicator only); 48-hr notice of location change; ~43 inspections/yr statewide (FY2024)
Fee	$115 / $275 biennial
Renewal	biennial

Local variation

County-level variation: No

Fully state-centralized OPR scheme; Dillon's Rule + no located municipal body-art ordinance (Burlington checked — generic permitting only) → local layer UNRESOLVED-ABSENCE but structurally unlikely. Scale datum: 39 active Permanent Cosmetic Tattooists + 9 apprentices statewide (OPR FY2024 report).

Reciprocity

STRONG: Fast Track Endorsement (3 V.S.A. §136a) — ≤3 years' licensed practice in good standing in ANY US jurisdiction regardless of similarity + prior-state verification + VT jurisprudence exam; Permanent Cosmetic Tattooist IS eligible (only apprentices are excluded from Fast Track). Corroborates VT's presence on NH's HB 594 and NM's expedited lists (from VT's side). No temporary license exists — visiting artists must fully license.

Pending / recent changes

Active changes: None identified

No 2025-26 tattoo/PMU/body-art bill found (H.79 checked — perinatal doulas, false positive discarded; VT lacks a fetchable full-text bill search — margins caveat). 2023 Act 158 (PMU shop license + advisor seat) is ENACTED current law. Watch: the 2004 administrative rules' eventual PMU-conforming update.

What this means before you book

Vermont writes permanent cosmetics into its statute by name and licenses PMU artists under a dedicated 'Permanent Cosmetic Tattooist' credential — a 60-hour approved course plus 40 supervised practical hours and bloodborne-pathogen training, renewed every two years with continuing education — practicing in registered, state-inspected shops (including licensed cosmetology salons that meet tattoo-shop sanitation standards). Artists licensed three years elsewhere can transfer in on Vermont's fast-track. Minors need written parental consent for tattooing, and artists may decline minors entirely. Licenses are checkable through OPR's public lookup and downloadable profession rosters.

Statutes & sources cited

26 V.S.A. ch. 79 (§§4101-4109, Tattooists and Body Piercers; current through 2025 session): §4101(6) verbatim: "'Practice of permanent cosmetics' means microblading and other practices involving placement of a specific type of tattoo that includes permanent eyeliner, permanent lip color, permanent eyebrows, anatomical reproduction, and permanent eye shadow as well as other specific procedures that may be identified by rule by the Director consistent with the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals' or its successor group's guidelines"; §4102(b) practice 18+; §4105(c) PMU licensure prerequisites; §4105(d) shops; 2023 Act 158 (eff. 2024-06-06) created the standalone PMU shop license + PMU advisor seat
3 V.S.A. §136a (uniform endorsement: ≤3 yrs practice in ANY other US jurisdiction 'regardless of whether that jurisdiction has licensing requirements substantially similar') + 3 V.S.A. §125(b) (fee authority — SUPERSEDES the stale $100 shop fee printed in §4105(d))
STALE-RULE FLAG: the published Administrative Rules PDF is eff. 2004-07-01 and contains ZERO occurrences of 'permanent cosmetics' or 'microblading' — it predates the PMU category (2021 Act 69/2023 Act 158) and has not been comprehensively updated; OPR administers PMU under it in practice