May an esthetician or laser technician perform microneedling in South Carolina?
Oversight · part of The Practice Perimeter
Short answer
The cited rules do not settle this — South Carolina's esthetician license covers skin care for the sole purpose of beautifying the skin, and neither that definition nor the cosmetology list names microneedling or any act that punctures the skin.
⚠️ South Carolina defines the esthetician by purpose, and the purpose is the surface of the skin. "Esthetician" means a person including, but not limited to, an independent contractor, who is licensed to practice skin care, make-up, or similar work. Skin care is for the sole purpose of beautifying the skin. Nothing in that definition reaches puncturing the skin, and microneedling is not named anywhere in Chapter 13. An operator should read this as the limit of the COSMETOLOGY license, not as a statewide ban — the medical side of the line is §40-47-20(36).
S.C. Code §40-13-20(5) (definition of “Esthetician” — skin care for the SOLE PURPOSE of beautifying the skin) · verified Sep 7, 2026 · regulatory monitoring, not legal advice
Related South Carolina rules
"Cosmetology" means engaging in any of these practices or a combination of these practices when done for compensation either directly or indirectly: (a) arranging, styling, thermal curling, chemical waving, pressing, shampooing, cutting, shaping, chemical bleaching, chemical coloring, chemical relaxing, or similar work, upon the hair, wig, or hairpiece of any person, by any means, with hands or mechanical or electrical apparatus or appliances; (b) using cosmetic preparations, make-up, antiseptics, lotions, creams, chemical preparations on, or otherwise, or waxing, tweezing, cleansing, stimulating, manipulating, beautifying, or similar work on the scalp, legs, feet, face, neck, arms, hands; or (c) manicuring or pedicuring the nails of a person or similar work.
S.C. Code §40-13-20(2) (definition of “Cosmetology” — an enumerated list, every limb of it worked ON a surface) · verified Sep 7, 2026
Misconduct that constitutes grounds for disciplinary action is a showing to the board by the preponderance of evidence that a licensee has knowingly performed an act that in any way assists an unlicensed person to practice.
S.C. Code §40-47-110(B)(7) · verified Sep 3, 2026
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← All South Carolina rules and changes · 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. Legislative data via LegiScan (CC BY 4.0).