Bill Name: Senate Bill 539 (S 539)

Primary Sponsor: Sen. Ronnie Cromer

Status: 04/03/2025 Referred to Committee on Labor, Commerce and Industry

AmSpa’s Take: There has been a strong national trend to expand esthetician scopes of practice to include more invasive cosmetic procedures. These bills often face significant debate over the exact scope of the additional treatments. As a result, many bills of this type can become stuck in committee and fail to pass.

Analysis: Currently, in South Carolina, as in most states, estheticians can provide a number of skin care services but are unable to provide treatments that qualify as the practice of medicine. For example, they can exfoliate dead skin cells but may not penetrate past the stratum germinativum layer of skin and may not use invasive treatments. If passed, S 539 will create an advanced esthetician license with an expanded scope to include a number of cosmetic procedures that are currently restricted to the practice of medicine and nursing.

Under S 539, advanced estheticians, in addition to the current esthetics scope of practice, would be able to perform treatments using high frequency, microcurrent or galvanic, microneedling or dermaplaning, and chemical peels with a pH between 2 and 3. In order to qualify for an advanced esthetician license, a person would need to be at least 16 years old with a 10th grade or higher education, pay a fee, complete a 600-hour course in skin care in a board-approved school, and pass a board exam.

These types of bills often get changed and amended significantly as they move through the process; that will likely be the case here, as well.If you would like additional information, to read the language of this bill, or to contact the sponsors or committee, you can find the information you need here.