North Dakota’s personal appearance industry is beginning to be recognized on a national level, with Elle Magazine putting Fargo’s Hair Success Salon and Medi Spa on their list of top 100 salons across the United States. Hair Success Salon offers the whole package with salon, spa, and medical spa services. They have hairstylists, manicurists, and skin care specialists who offer haircutting and styling, massages, facials, body treatments, laser services, injection services and more.
 | Steps to Become a North Dakota Cosmetologist |
| How to Become a Manicurist in North Dakota |
| Qualifications for North Dakota Estheticians |
| How to Become a Barber in North Dakota |
Minot is home to The Men’s Room Barber Shop, which offers a relaxed, sophisticated, yet laid-back atmosphere just for men. Men of all ages can go in and enjoy the men’s reading material, leather barber chairs, and an expert cut and shave at a reasonable cost.
Whether you’re looking to become a cosmetologist, manicurist, esthetician, or barber, now is the time to begin your career in the personal care industry in North Dakota. Your cosmetologist, manicurist, or esthetician career will start by becoming licensed with the North Dakota Board of Cosmetology, while a barbering career starts by becoming licensed through the North Dakota Barbers Association.
Steps to Become a North Dakota Cosmetologist
As a cosmetologist in North Dakota, you will get to provide a comprehensive list of beauty services, including hairstyling, makeup application, and nail care. This will allow you to stay on the cutting-edge of the latest beauty and fashion trends.
Education Requirements
Your career as a cosmetologist in North Dakota starts by enrolling in a 1800-hour cosmetology program. Cosmetology school is a great way to learn all the different facets of working as a stylist in North Dakota, and you will take training courses, including the following:
- Hair Shaping – 250 hours
- Hairstyling – 250 hours
- Nails – 100 hours
- Facials and Skin Care – 100 hours
- Chemical Services – 250 hours
- Study of Theory, Law, and Sanitation – 400 hours
- Related Subjects – 450 hours
Examination Requirements
After completing cosmetology school, you will be eligible to take the North Dakota cosmetology licensing exams. The exams consist of two written and one practical exam, including the following:
- Cosmetology Theory Examination through PSI Services
- State Law Examination through PSI Services
- Practical Cosmetology Examination given by North Dakota Board of Cosmetology
Cosmetology Job Opportunities
As a cosmetologist, you can expect to rent a chair in an established salon and essentially work for yourself, make a base hourly pay or be paid on commission, depending on where you work. If you are working off of commission, you will want to hone your personal marketing and sales skills, allowing yourself to build a strong clientele.
Heather AnnZ Salon is another great salon in the Fargo area. Heather AnnZ offers expert hair color services, such as double and triple hair color, balayage highlights, and ombre hair color. Along with this, she offers facial waxing, airbrush makeup, and man’s hair services, all at an affordable rate. All of these services combined makes Heather AnnZ Salon one of the best in the Fargo area. Along with this salon and Hair Success Salon, some other notable salons throughout North Dakota include the following:
- Jo Jo’s Hair Boutique – Grand Forks
- Identity Salon – Bismarck
- Ultimate Look – Grand Forks
- Scissor’s Edge Hair Styling – Minot
How to Become a Manicurist in North Dakota
Manicurists are the beauty professionals who specialize in the care of nails. As a manicurist, you get to keep your client’s hard-working hands and feet healthy, rejuvenated, and beautiful.
Education Requirements
You will start your career by enrolling in a 350-hour manicurist training program at a general beauty college. Oftentimes, cosmetology schools will offer these specialized training programs. Your course of instruction will include the following manicurist subject areas:
- Sterilization, Sanitation, and Safety – 45 hours
- Manicuring, Pedicuring, and Application of Artificial Nails – 200 hours
- Study of Theory, Law, and Sanitation – 45 hours
- Related Subjects – 35 hours
- Unassigned – 25 hours
Examination Requirements
After completing your manicurist training program at a cosmetology or general beauty school, you will be able to take the manicurist licensing exams, which include the following:
- Manicurist Theory Examination given by PSI Services
- State Law Examination given by PSI Services
- Practical Manicurist Exam given by North Dakota Board of Cosmetology
Manicurist Employment Opportunities
As a manicurist, you will be able to look for nail technician jobs in salons, spas, or nail salons. Oftentimes, you, like a cosmetologist, will work for either a base hourly pay or off of commission. If you decide to find a job that offers commission pay, you will want to make sure that you have or can build a strong clientele quickly.
Image Makers Salon in Bismarck provides, like many other salons throughout North Dakota, full-spa services, including hairstyling, skin care services, and nail care. The manicurists at Image Makers specialize in more than just the typical mani/pedi; they are committed to offering the latest hand and foot services, such as paraffin treatments, sculptured nails, and nail art. Another great nail salon, The Nail Bar in Fargo, has the tagline “Nails are fashion, like shows and handbags.” Committed to nail fashion, The Nail Bar offers a mani-bar, a pedi-bar, nail enhancements, and even gel lacquers. Other great nail salons throughout the state include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Foxy Nails – Bismarck
- Polished Nail Spa – Fargo
- Fantasy Nails – Fargo
- Angel Nails & Spa – Grand Forks
Qualifications for North Dakota Estheticians
Estheticians are the beauty professionals who specialize in skin care. They are dedicated to giving their clients the glowing, radiant, and healthy skin they’ve always dreamed of, which can be a tough job in the a cold, dry climate of North Dakota.
Education Requirements
Your esthetician career will begin by enrolling in a 600-hour esthetician training course. Like manicurist training courses, these are often offered as specialized programs at cosmetology schools. Your esthetician training course will teach you the science behind skin anatomy and skin care products, including courses such as the following:
- Sterilization, Sanitation, and Safety – 75 hours
- Body Treatments, Facials, Hair Removal, and Makeup – 340 hours
- Study of Theory, Law, and Sanitation – 75 hours
- Related Subjects – 60 hours
- Unassigned -50 hours
Examination Requirements
Once your esthetician training program is completed, you’ll be eligible to take the licensing exams. To obtain your North Dakota esthetician license, simply pass the following examinations:
- Esthetician Theory Examination given by PSI Services
- State Law Examination given by PSI Services
- Practical Esthetician Examination given by North Dakota Board of Cosmetology
North Dakota Esthetician Job Opportunities
As an esthetician, you may look for jobs such as waxing specialist, skin care specialist, beauty advisor, or makeup artist. Even further, you will be able to look for jobs at salons, day spas, or even hotels with spas. Estheticians, similar to cosmetologists, will be able to find jobs that offer an hourly rate or commission-based pay.
Along with Hair Success Salon, Fargo is home to other top-notch salons like West 13th Salon and Spa. West 13th, like Hair Success, is a full service salon, offering services from cosmetologists, massage therapists, and estheticians. As an esthetician at West 13th, you would be working with natural, sustainable products to provide services such as essential oil, paraffin, and hot stone massages, body wraps, airbrush makeup application, chemical peel facials, and unwanted hair removal.
As an esthetician at salons like West 13th, you would join a culture of commitment to the latest natural skin care trends, shown through constant continuing education. West 13th offers a base pay or commission, whichever is higher, as well as great benefits such as pay increases, advanced education, tools and supplies, and being closed on Sundays. Other great spas around North Dakota include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Avant Hair and Skin Care Studio – Grand Forks
- Glance Spa & Salon – Bismarck
- Rhapsody Salon & Day Spa – Grand Forks
- Creative Salon/Spa – Minot
- Fabyoulous – AVEDA Salonspa – Bismarck
How to Become a Barber in North Dakota
Barbers are the hairstylists who specialize in men’s hair services. Although barbers do specialize in men’s hair and facial hair, they are able to cut, color, style, and design both men’s and women’s hair if they wish.
Education Requirements
Your career as a barber starts by enrolling in a 1550-hour barber training program. As a minimum, the North Dakota Barber Association requires that your barber training program provide courses in the following barber subject areas:
- Scientific Fundamentals of Barbering
- Hygiene
- Bacteriology
- Histology of the Hair, Skin, Muscles, and Nerves
- Structure of the Head, Face, and Neck
- Elementary Chemistry relating to Sterilization and Antiseptics
- Diseases of the Skin, Glands, and Nails
- Massaging and Manipulating the Muscles of the Upper Body
- Hair Cutting
- Shaving
- Arranging, Dressing, Coloring, Bleaching, Perming, and Tinting the hair
Examination Requirements
After completing your barber training program, you will be eligible to take the following examination:
- Apprentice Barber Examination given by North Dakota Barbers Association
After you pass the apprentice barber exam, you will work as an apprentice barber for 12 months. After working for a year, you can take and pass the following registered barber examination:
- Registered Barber Examination given by North Dakota Barbers Association
Barber Job Opportunities in North Dakota
Once you are a licensed barber in North Dakota, you can look for jobs that pay a base hourly rate or pay based off of commission. You will most likely want to find a job that pays an hourly rate until you have a strong clientele. Once you have a strong clientele, you will be able to excel as a barber being paid off of commission. Some barbers who are extremely successful will even venture to rent a chair from within a barbershop, running their own mini-business, or they will even venture to open their own barbershop.
Rather than reigniting the vintage past, Skillz Cutz Barbershop in Fargo brings the art barbering into a modern-day look. With a metallic look and large-screen TV, clients will be able to book haircuts, simple designs, specialty designs, or specialty services from some of the best barbers in Fargo. Along with the modern, specialty designs and services, Skillz also offers the basic, traditional straight-edge razor shave. Along with Skillz, some other notable barbershops throughout North Dakota include the following:
- Town and Country Barber Shop – Grand Forks
- New Image Barber Shop – Minot
- Big Sky Barber Shop – Dickinson
- Everett’s Barbershop – Fargo