OLYMPIA, Wash. (aiexpress) — The city of Olympia, Washington, is making headlines with its latest initiative. The city council has unanimously passed a new policy that aims to reduce plastic waste and promote sustainability.
Under the new policy, businesses in Olympia will be required to provide customers with plastic alternatives for single-use items such as straws, utensils, and takeout containers. This move is part of the city’s broader efforts to become more environmentally friendly and combat the detrimental effects of plastic pollution.
By encouraging the use of sustainable alternatives, Olympia hopes to set an example for other cities and inspire individuals to make more eco-conscious choices in their daily lives.
At present, permanent cosmetic technicians in Washington are required to have a license, but there is no specific educational training provided for this technique.
To obtain that license, you will be required to pay a $275 application fee and complete eight hours of blood-borne pathogen training and testing.
HB2109 sponsors, along with a collective of permanent cosmetic technicians, are once again raising concerns and striving to enact new legislation.
Rep. Cindy Ryu, a Democrat representing District 32, is leading the sponsorship of the bill. According to Ryu, the current requirement for obtaining a permanent cosmetic license in Washington is zero hours of training and zero hours of apprenticeship.
It’s literally the wild wild west out there right now,” said Rep. Ryu while in Olympia Monday at the state capitol.
Ryu has dedicated years to addressing this issue. At first, she attempted to establish requirements within the state’s tattooing statute. However, this time, she is pursuing a different approach. If approved, the new education requirements would be incorporated into the state’s cosmetology license regulations.
The representative is suggesting a range of 100 to 200 hours of training, depending on the procedure, and up to 300 hours for technicians performing corrective procedures.
She emphasizes that this is not a strict guideline, but rather a starting point. She hopes that, given the dynamic nature of laws, this measure can be reviewed and improved in the future to include even more hours of training requirements.
We have cosmetologists who work with chemicals and dyes for hair and permanents, and they are required to have 1600 hours of training. So, 1600 of training versus eight hours for just bloodborne pathogen [training], those eight hours seems awfully skimpy,” said Ryu.
According to her, when there is a demand from consumers, the market always finds a way to meet that demand. However, the problem is that the market lacks any sort of regulation.
She emphasizes that while some companies are making positive contributions, others are solely focused on maximizing profits without considering the impact of their fees.
Penny Rudy, the proud owner of the Chrysalis Clinic in Arlington, Washington, is a highly experienced and certified permanent cosmetics professional. With an impressive 25 years of practice in the field, Penny not only offers her expertise to clients but also shares her knowledge by teaching others.
At her clinic, she caters to a diverse clientele, treating a minimum of three clients per week who seek to enhance their features through permanent cosmetics.
From adding lip color and eyeliner to enhancing their eyebrows or adding color to their eyelids, clients trust Penny for her exceptional skills in creating lasting beauty transformations.
When it comes to eyebrows, her clients often opt for microblading, a technique that involves creating hair-like strokes on the skin and adding pigment to match their hair color.
Rudy frequently encounters the task of correcting errors, particularly when it comes to improperly done eyebrows that often end up being mismatched.
This unfortunate situation sometimes leads to more serious consequences such as allergic reactions, infections, and even the need for corrective plastic surgery. One of Rudy’s recent clients sought her help after another cosmetic technician mistakenly darkened her brows, resulting in two eyebrows on one eye – one gray and the other matching her hair color.
So as a professional, permanent cosmetic artist, I see many, many women who have had terrible botched jobs, and they come to me to see what I can do about it,” Rudy explained. “Sometimes I can fix these things. And other times, I cannot. And then they’re led to go ahead and have laser removal, which is very expensive. But if we had proper training, we wouldn’t have to have so much of this that would absolutely take care of a lot of the issues that come up with the public consumer.
Rudy has chosen to undergo training in the field of permanent cosmetics, although it is not a mandatory requirement. She took the initiative to educate herself and received part of her training from the Society of Permanent Cosmetic Professionals.
Currently, education requirements are only present in 10 states, but the organization aims to see them implemented in every state.
Supporters of the measure are optimistic that its passage will result in a reduction of procedures that can have negative outcomes, such as botched brows, mismatched brows, scarring, infection, and poorly executed design work on various body parts, including the lips, eyelids, and breasts.
