Scope check
Who may lawfully perform this, in this state?
Checked against the rule the state actually wrote down — quoted, cited, and linked at source. This compares a procedure against a published limit; it is not a judgement about what a treatment does to skin, and it is not legal advice.
Our scope corpus holds rules read at source for 51 states across 9 service categories. Coverage is uneven and we show you which you are in on every answer. Where we have not read a rule we say so — we never treat our silence as the state's permission.
Colorado · Chemical peel · Rule on record
We have read and cited this state's own rule for chemical peel. The verdict below rests on that text, linked at source so you can verify it.
CO gates on peel depth, which was not supplied.
Colorado prohibits any service, implement, device, product, machine, tool or technique that penetrates, destroys or alters the skin beyond the epidermis — a depth rule rather than a percentage. Additional training unlocks independent use of resurfacing exfoliating substances.
- CO permits up to "Superficial" for Esthetician. Supply the product's own depth designation — we will not infer depth from a percentage.
The rule this rests on
Licensees are prohibited from performing a service and/or using an implement, device, product, machine, tool, or technique, or combination of the same that: a. Penetrates, destroys or alters the clients skin beyond the epidermis; b. Is banned or deemed unsafe by local, state or federal governmental agencies responsible for making such determinations: or, c. Has a reasonable likelihood of causing harm or injury to the client.
4 Colo. Code Regs. § 731-1, Rule 1.8(A)(1) · verified 2026-08-31 · read at source
Upon successful completion of the training requirements described in Rule 1.9, the scope of practice for an esthetician expands to include: (1) The independent use of cosmetic resurfacing exfoliating substances and equipment; (2) The performance of microdermabrasion; and, (3) The performance of pigment implantation (Semi and permanent).
4 Colo. Code Regs. § 731-1, Rule 1.8(E)(2) · verified 2026-08-31 · read at source
MedSpaRadar is regulatory monitoring and reference: it summarizes public laws, regulations and agency actions and links each to its source. It is not legal, medical, or compliance advice, and using it creates no attorney-client relationship. A summary can lag its source or leave out detail, and monitoring itself can be interrupted — so an absence of alerts means nothing reached you, not that nothing happened. Read the cited source, check its effective date, and confirm any change to your operations or clinical practice with qualified health-law counsel and your medical director.
Where the corpus is deep, and where it isn’t
Read this before you rely on a quiet answer. A category with few states behind it is a category where we will more often tell you we don’t know — which is the correct answer, and not the same as a green light.
| Procedure | States with a rule on record |
|---|---|
| Injectable (neuromodulator, dermal filler) | 46 |
| Energy device (laser, IPL, RF, plasma, ultrasound) | 39 |
| Microneedling / collagen induction | 38 |
| Hair removal (laser / IPL) | 35 |
| Chemical peel | 34 |
| Micropigmentation / permanent makeup | 34 |
| Mechanical exfoliation (dermaplaning, microdermabrasion) | 33 |
| Sclerotherapy | 29 |
| Body contouring (cryolipolysis, RF, ultrasound) | 17 |
Every rule behind these answers is read at an official source and cited. The wider cited corpus — supervision, good-faith exams, ownership and CPOM, advertising — lives on the state pages, and how we decide what to publish is written down in the methodology.
Get regulatory changes as they publish
We scan all 50 state legislatures daily, plus the FDA and the Federal Register. Free weekly Brief — what changed, in plain language, with the source.
Free · unsubscribe in one click · we never sell your address