Hair and makeup artists sue Cosmetology Board.

Byline: Kevin Featherly

A group of hairstyle and makeup artists is suing the State Board of Cosmetology, charging that its regulatory clampdown on brides-to-be receiving on-site updos is not a good look.

The suit, backed by the civil libertarian Institute for Justice, was filed in Ramsey County District Court on Oct. 22.

It names Minnesota hair and makeup artists Cristina Ziemer, Ellyn Shun, Debra Carlson and Melanie Rivers as plaintiffs. Minneapolis post-secondary hair-and-makeup school Faces Etc. of MN, L.L.C., also is a listed plaintiff.

Their complaint charges the Cosmetology Board with violating the artists' constitutional due process and equal protection rights.

It does that, plaintiffs contend, by threatening freelance artists with cease-and-desist orders, misdemeanor prosecution and weighty fines if they offer hairdos or makeup at weddings, proms or other special events, without first becoming fully licensed cosmetologists and salon managers.

The artists say that most of the 10,000-plus hours of training the state wants them to take is pointless. They don't cut hair, do nails or work with chemicals, plaintiffs say. They don't want to work in or run salons. Their passion, the suit says, is doing hair and makeup at the events where clients mostly women demand to have them performed.

The existing regulations aren't even applied uniformly, the artists claim: Identical services are not regulated when offered to models headed to the runway, guests preparing for TV appearances or fake brides posing for magazine covers.

They're even OK if performed on-site at weddings and proms for free, according to their complaint.

The suit, signed by defense attorneys John Ella and David Asp, names the Board of Cosmetology, all its members and its executive director as respondents. Repeated attempts to reach board members and Executive Director Gina Fast Wednesday were unsuccessful.

"Is it truly necessary to make them get a salon-manager license to have a very simple startup business, where you help people on-site at weddings or proms?" Ella said in an interview Wednesday. "The answer is no."

About face

The artists' complaint suggests that, until recently, the board itself took that view. Then in 2016, a Stillwater hair-and-makeup artist, Mindie Streich, received a public complaint that she was running her business, Makeup by Mindie, without a cosmetology license.

Streich did the same services as the plaintiffs, the suit contends. The Cosmetology Board...