Home / West Virginia / Lash Studio
How to Start a Lash Studio in West Virginia
West Virginia answers the lash question in a single line of its definitions. There is no eyelash license in article 27, no certificate and no registration, because the definition of aesthetics at section 30-27-3 lists applying artificial eyelashes and eyebrows among the acts of the aesthetics practice, and cosmetology is defined to include aesthetics. Lash work in West Virginia is therefore licensed work on someone else's credential: the aesthetician license at 600 hours, which names the service directly, or the cosmetologist license at 1,800 hours above it. The studio around the lash bed opens as an aesthetic salon on the board's $90 application, 20 days ahead of opening, renews every July 1 while its practitioners renew every January 1 at $35, and sits on the shared state stack of a $30 business registration certificate, a $100 LLC with a $25 annual report due June 30, and a sales tax that leaves personal services alone.
West Virginia sources last reviewed: November 3, 2026
Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Fees and state rules below come from the official sources cited on this page.
Who licenses lash studios in West Virginia
Lash studios answer to the West Virginia Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists, the single board for the salon trades under chapter 30, article 27 of the West Virginia Code, with its fee schedule at Title 3, Series 6 of the Code of State Rules. The board's connection to lashes is definitional: article 27 licenses cosmetologists, barbers, hair stylists, aestheticians and nail technicians, and licenses salons, and the aesthetics definition at section 30-27-3(a) ends its list of the practice's acts with item (6), applying artificial eyelashes and eyebrows. A lash studio is therefore an aesthetics business in the eyes of the state, staffed by aestheticians or cosmetologists and housed in a licensed salon, and the board's fee schedule prices the aesthetic salon as one of its standard premises types.
What the board does not offer is just as important: there is no lash technician license to apply for, no lash endorsement to add, and no provision under which a private lash course certificate substitutes for the aesthetician license. The rest of the opening belongs to the general agencies, the Secretary of State for the entity and the trade name, the Tax Division for the business registration certificate under section 11-12-3 and the sales tax account, WorkForce West Virginia for employer registration, and the city for zoning, its business license and the municipal business and occupation tax. Brow and skin services stay inside the same framework, while permanent makeup leaves it entirely for the tattoo studio system.
West Virginia lash studio at a glance
| Item | West Virginia requirement |
|---|---|
| Lash credential | None of its own. Applying artificial eyelashes and eyebrows is item (6) of the aesthetics definition at section 30-27-3; the work is performed on the aesthetician or cosmetologist license |
| Training | Aesthetician 600 clock hours; cosmetologist 1,800 clock hours, both set in section 30-27-3 |
| Examination and entry | Section 30-27-8: at least 18 years old, good moral character, high school diploma, GED or the federal ability to benefit test, a certificate of health from a licensed physician, and an examination meeting national standards. Examination fees are paid to the NIC sponsored examiner, capped at $114 in the board's fee rule. License issuance $35 |
| License renewal | Annual, on or before January 1, at $35 under section 30-27-10, which states no continuing education requirement. Grace through January, then a $10 monthly late fee from February 1, capped at $205 in total |
| The studio itself | An aesthetic salon license under section 30-27-17: board approval of the location, written notice at least 20 days before opening, and inspection. The opening application fee is $90, the $40 initial salon license plus the $50 opening inspection fee. Renewal $40 a year on or before July 1 |
| Room rental | Booth or chair rental registration under section 30-27-19, $15 and $15 a year, renewing July 1. The renter must show Tax Division registration to the board, and the salon notifies the board within 10 days of the rental's start |
| Entity filing | Articles of Organization, Form LLD-1, $100 with the Secretary of State. The annual report is $25, due on or before June 30, with a $50 late fee |
| Business name | Trade name registered with the Secretary of State: no filing fee for an individual, $25 for an LLC, corporation or other registered entity |
| Business registration certificate | $30 per fixed location from the Tax Division, required before engaging in business under section 11-12-3, and permanent with no renewal since July 1, 2010 |
| Sales tax | Lash application is a personal service rendered to the person and is not taxed. Retail product sales are taxed at the 6 percent state rate, plus a 1 percent municipal tax where imposed. The studio pays tax on its own supplies |
The license behind the lash bed, step by step
Start with the sentence the whole trade hangs on. Section 30-27-3(a) defines aesthetics as a set of services performed on the skin and body, its list including, at item (6), applying artificial eyelashes and eyebrows. The aesthetician is the practitioner licensed for that scope at 600 clock hours, and cosmetology is defined to include performing aesthetics, which puts lash application inside the 1,800 hour cosmetologist's scope as well. There is no third door: no provision of article 27 licenses lash work on a shorter course, a specialty certificate or a registration, so the staffing plan is a choice between two licenses, and every lash artist on the floor holds one of them.
| License | Training | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Aesthetician | 600 clock hours | The aesthetics scope by name, including applying artificial eyelashes and eyebrows (see the esthetics guide) |
| Cosmetologist | 1,800 clock hours | The full salon scope; cosmetology includes performing aesthetics (see the hair salon guide) |
| Waxing specialist certification | 100 hours of instruction plus 25 supervised clinic hours | Removal of superfluous hair under section 30-27-8b; it does not cover applying lashes |
| Private lash course certificate | Varies | Training evidence only; it is not a West Virginia credential and authorizes no practice |
For most lash studios the aesthetician license is the working credential: a third of the cosmetology course, aimed at exactly the skin and lash menu the studio sells. Entry runs through section 30-27-8, at least 18, good moral character, a diploma, GED or ability to benefit test, graduation from a licensed school, a certificate of health, work eligibility, and an examination meeting national standards, with examination fees paid to the NIC sponsored examiner under the board rule's $114 cap and the license issuing at $35. A practitioner licensed in another state applies by reciprocity at $100. The boundary to police in hiring is the unlicensed applicant with excellent private training: the portfolio may justify the hire, but the license justifies the work, and it has to exist before the first paying client.
Renewal follows the article's standard clock. Section 30-27-10 renews professional licenses annually on or before January 1 at $35 and states no continuing education requirement, so a lash artist's West Virginia renewal is a fee and a form, with the board's window running November 1 through January 31, a grace period through January and a $10 monthly late fee from February 1, capped at $205 in total. Studios feel the split calendar: practitioners renew in January, the salon in July, and a studio with three artists has four board deadlines a year before the state's business deadlines are counted.
The aesthetic salon license for the studio
The studio's premises license is the article's salon license in its aesthetic form. The board's fee schedule sets the initial salon license at $40 across its salon types, aesthetic salons expressly included, plus a $50 opening inspection fee, and the board's combined Shop Opening and License Application presents the two as one $90 application fee filed with a signed Electrical Certification Statement. Section 30-27-17 supplies the procedure: the owner obtains the board's approval of the place of business before opening, notifies the board in writing at least 20 days before the proposed opening date, and pays all applicable fees. The board issues an opening letter that serves as a temporary license, inspects, and mails the salon license on approval.
A slow inspection does not stall the opening. If no inspection is made within 10 days of opening, or the license is neither granted nor refused, the salon may open provisionally, subject to later inspection, and the section's sanitation terms apply from the first client either way: clean, sanitary, well lighted and ventilated rooms, hand washing before serving patrons, fresh laundered linen, and the standing prohibitions on chunk alum, powder puffs and styptic pencils. The license must be permanently displayed, with a sign at the main entrance indicating the type of salon, and section 30-27-18 requires the studio to be operated under the supervision and management of a professional licensee or certificate holder, which a solo lash artist satisfies with their own aesthetician license and an investor owner satisfies by employing a licensed manager.
Renewal runs on the premises clock, annually on or before July 1 at $40, with the board's grace period through July and $10 monthly late fees from August 1, and a late salon renewal priced in the fee rule at $40 plus $10 per 30 days late, with no cap stated for salons. The same premises license accommodates growth inside the article: section 30-27-18 allows any services in the article to be conducted within the same salon, so brows, facials and waxing join the menu on the matching practitioner licenses without a second premises filing. The line the license cannot cross is the skin line: the moment the studio offers permanent makeup, it has left article 27 for the tattoo framework and its $200 operating permit.
Forming your business entity
Most West Virginia lash studios form as a limited liability company with the Secretary of State. The formation document is the Articles of Organization, Form LLD-1, at $100 under section 59-1-2(a)(1)(C), filed online through the West Virginia One Stop Business Portal at business4.wv.gov or by mail or in person. The One Stop application is the efficient route: one session can carry the formation, the Tax Division's business registration and the WorkForce West Virginia employer registration.
The entity's upkeep is a single annual report. Section 59-1-2a sets the fee at $25, due with the report on or before 11:59 PM on June 30 each year after formation, with a $50 administrative late fee that makes a late filing $75 in total. Five consecutive timely reports earn the option of biennial reporting at a $50 fee under amendments effective July 1, 2026, and veteran owned businesses are exempt from the annual report fee for their first four years. The deadline matters beyond its size: an entity more than 30 days delinquent is reported to the Tax Commissioner, who may suspend, cancel or withhold the business registration certificate, and operating without that certificate runs against section 11-12-3. A sole proprietor skips the articles and the report, at the price of holding the studio's liabilities personally.
Business names and the West Virginia trade name
West Virginia registers the name on the door at the state level as a trade name, under chapter 47, article 8, filed with the Secretary of State through the One Stop Business Portal or the Secretary of State's own filing pages. An individual registers with no filing fee; a corporation, limited liability company, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, voluntary association or business trust pays $25, the figure section 59-1-2(a)(1)(K) sets for registration of a trade name. A studio trading under any name other than its legal entity name files before it trades under that name.
The registration is a notice record, not an exclusive grant. The Secretary of State requires the trade name to be distinguishable from other active registered names with no likelihood of confusion with a registered name, so clear the name in the Secretary of State's database and the federal trademark database before it goes on the signage. Lash brands are name sensitive, built on search and social handles, and the discipline is to reconcile the stack early: entity name on the articles, trade name on the registration, the name on the salon license application, and the name on the business registration certificate, four records the bank, the board and clients will each read as the same studio.
Federal tax ID and business banking
Apply for an Employer Identification Number on IRS.gov. It is free, it issues online in one session, and any site charging for an EIN is selling a form you can file yourself. The number keys everything that follows in West Virginia: the Tax Division's business registration on Form BUS-APP or through the One Stop Portal, which also opens the sales tax account for the retail products lash studios sell, the WorkForce West Virginia employer account, payroll, and the business bank account.
Open the business bank account as soon as the entity and the EIN exist, and run every fee, product order, rent payment and payroll deposit through it. A lash studio's compliance calendar stacks practitioner renewals in January, the LLC report in June, the salon renewal in July and quarterly unemployment reports, and clean separate books are what keep it manageable. The account also draws the line that matters if a room renter's classification is ever questioned: the studio's money and each renter's money should never share a ledger, and the board reports its registered renters to the Tax Commissioner every quarter, so the paper trail should match the arrangement the studio claims.
Sales tax in West Virginia: lash services are personal services, products are taxed
West Virginia's consumers sales and service tax reaches services by default, so the lash studio's position rests on the personal services exemption, and lash application sits squarely inside it. The tax rule at Title 110, Series 15, section 35 states that the tax does not apply to the charge for personal services rendered by barbers, beauticians, manicurists and others, meaning services rendered to the person of an individual, and Publication TSD-300 describes the same per se exemption, naming barbering, hairstyling, manicuring and massaging. A lash application, performed on the person by a licensed aesthetician or cosmetologist, is that kind of service: the full set, the fill and the removal carry no West Virginia sales tax.
Aftercare kits, lash cleansers, cosmetics and other products sold to clients are retail sales, collected at the 6 percent state rate under section 11-15-3, plus a 1 percent municipal tax where one applies, and filed on Form WV/CST-200CU through the Tax Division's MyTaxes system. The mirror rule makes the studio the consumer of what it uses in rendering services, adhesive, lashes, disposables and equipment, so tax applies to the studio's own purchases, while products bought for resale may be bought without tax. An itemized point of sale that separates services from retail keeps the exempt service revenue and the taxable shelf from mixing on a return.
Room rent and worker classification
A lash artist renting a room or a bed inside a West Virginia salon registers with the licensing board. Section 30-27-19 requires a licensee renting a booth or chair to register with the board, to be registered with the state Tax Division and present that registration to the board, to pay the $15 registration fee, and to state the length of the rental agreement, the name of the person or salon, and the effective date. The salon owner or operator must notify the board in writing within 10 days of the rental's start. The registration renews at $15 a year on or before July 1, late fees capped at $100, a move to another salon requires a new registration, and the board reports every renter's name, salon and lease length to the Tax Commissioner quarterly.
The classification the registration points at is the renter's own business status. The board's guidance treats anyone whose taxes the salon does not withhold, booth renters and commission artists alike, as booth renters who must hold the certificate, and a true renter sets their own prices, hours and client list, collects their own money and holds their own business registration certificate. An artist whose schedule, pricing, products and booking the salon controls reads as an employee whatever the agreement calls them. For the artist, the working rule is to paper the arrangement as it actually runs, because the board's registry and the Tax Division's records are built to be compared.
Hiring employees in West Virginia
The first hire registers the studio as a West Virginia employer. WorkForce West Virginia runs the unemployment insurance account: register through the One Stop Business Portal or file the Employer's Initial Statement directly. Liability begins at $1,500 or more in gross wages in a quarter, one employee during twenty different weeks in a calendar year, or FUTA liability with at least one West Virginia employee. A Tax Division withholding account for state income tax rides on the same business registration, and new hires are reported to the state New Hire Reporting Center within 14 days under section 48-18-125, which also reaches independent contractor engagements paying $2,500 or more in a year.
The numbers are statutory. A new employer pays unemployment contributions at 2.7 percent under section 21A-5-5(b) until it has been an employer for 36 consecutive months, then at an experience based rate, and the tax applies to the first $9,500 of each employee's wages in a calendar year under section 21A-1A-28. Quarterly Wage and Contribution Reports are due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31, and the minimum wage is $8.75 an hour under section 21-5C-2. Workers compensation coverage is mandatory for West Virginia employers and is bought from a private carrier; an employer in default risks fines and action against its licenses and certificates. For a lash studio the hiring checklist has one trade specific line at the top: verify the aesthetician or cosmetologist license itself, because in this trade the license, not the training certificate, is the legal permission to touch a client.
Local rules for a West Virginia lash studio
The state licenses do not finish the opening. Zoning has to allow the studio at the address before the board's 20 day opening notice is worth filing, because the salon license is written to the approved location. Small footprint studios feel this more than large salons, because a lash room inside a mixed use building, a converted office or a home based space raises use questions a storefront salon never meets. Make the zoning call before the lease, and get the city's answer on the specific unit.
The municipal layer then prices itself. The city issues its own business license and sets signage rules, and under section 8-13-5 a West Virginia municipality holds plenary power to impose a business and occupation or privilege tax on business carried on inside its limits, measured on gross income, which many cities levy on service businesses with quarterly returns. Ask the city clerk what the business license costs for an aesthetics studio and what business and occupation classification and rate apply to personal services. The state figures are uniform across West Virginia; the local stack is set city by city, and the municipal business and occupation tax is routinely the local line most likely to be missed in a first year budget.
Insurance for a West Virginia lash studio
Article 27 writes no insurance minimum into the salon license: the application rests on the board's approval of the premises, the sanitation terms in section 30-27-17 and the licensed management requirement in section 30-27-18, and no coverage figure appears in the article or the board's fee rule. The lease usually sets the number, and landlords routinely write general liability limits and additional insured requirements into it. The one coverage the state itself mandates is workers compensation for employees, bought from a private carrier and covered in the hiring section.
Professional liability is the core policy in this trade, because lash work concentrates risk in a small area: adhesive reactions, eye injuries and infection claims are the cases the policy exists for, and an insurer will ask the question the board asks, which license the artist holds. A studio with room renters has to map the overlap deliberately: the studio's policy, each registered renter's policy and the rental agreement covering the same room and the same clients. General liability and property coverage for the build out, beds, equipment and retail stock complete the standard stack. Treat any figure quoted to you as a state requirement as a sales line, and price the coverage the lease and the risk actually call for.
Your West Virginia renewal calendar
| Item | Cycle | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Aesthetician, cosmetologist and other practitioner licenses | Every year, on or before January 1; renewal window November 1 through January 31, grace through January, then $10 a month late from February 1 | $35 renewal; late totals capped at $205 |
| Aesthetic salon license | Every year, on or before July 1; grace through July, then $10 a month late from August 1 | $90 opening application ($40 license plus $50 inspection); $40 renewal; late renewal $40 plus $10 per 30 days |
| Booth or chair rental registration | Every year, on or before July 1; register again on moving salons | $15 registration and $15 renewal; late capped at $100 |
| LLC annual report | Every year, on or before June 30; biennial election available after five consecutive timely reports, under amendments effective July 1, 2026 | $100 formation; $25 annual report; $50 late fee; $50 biennial fee if elected |
| Business registration certificate | No cycle: permanent since July 1, 2010, one per fixed location, until the business ceases or the certificate is suspended, revoked or canceled | $30 on issuance, reissuance or reinstatement |
| Trade name registration | Filed once with the Secretary of State; no annual report attaches to it | No fee for individuals; $25 for entities |
| Sales tax returns | Filed with the Tax Division on Form WV/CST-200CU, on the schedule the account sets | 6 percent state rate, plus 1 percent municipal where imposed, on retail sales only; lash services are exempt personal services |
| Unemployment insurance reports | Quarterly, due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31 | New employer rate 2.7 percent on the first $9,500 of wages per employee |
Official sources
- Board of Barbers and Cosmetologists: how to open a salon, license services, fees and the renewal FAQ
- Section 30-27-3: the definitions, the aesthetics scope naming lash application at item (6), and the 600 hour aesthetician
- Section 30-27-8: professional license requirements, age, education, health certificate and examination
- Section 30-27-8b: certifications, including the waxing specialist and its hair removal scope
- Section 30-27-17: the salon license, the 20 day notice, inspection and the July 1 renewal
- Section 30-27-19: booth or chair rental registration
- West Virginia One Stop Business Portal: entity, tax and employer registration in one application
- Secretary of State: file a trade name (DBA) registration
- Tax Division: the business registration certificate and Publication TSD-300 on sales and use tax exemptions
- WorkForce West Virginia: employer registration, liability and quarterly due dates
- IRS: apply for an Employer Identification Number online, free
West Virginia lash studio FAQ
Is there an eyelash license in West Virginia?
No. Article 27 creates no eyelash license, certificate or registration. Instead, the definition of aesthetics at section 30-27-3 lists applying artificial eyelashes and eyebrows as one of the acts that make up aesthetics, item (6) of the definition, and cosmetology is defined to include performing aesthetics. Lash application is therefore licensed work in West Virginia, performed under the aesthetician license or the cosmetologist license, and a short lash course certificate by itself authorizes nothing.
Who can legally apply lash extensions in West Virginia?
A licensed aesthetician, trained 600 hours, or a licensed cosmetologist, trained 1,800 hours, working in a licensed salon. The aesthetician license is the usual lash studio credential because its scope names lash application directly. A waxing specialist cannot do lashes: that certification under section 30-27-8b covers removal of superfluous hair, not applying artificial lashes. An unlicensed person applying lashes for pay is performing aesthetics without a license.
How much does it cost to license a West Virginia lash studio?
The studio opens as an aesthetic salon on the board's Shop Opening and License Application with a $90 application fee, the $40 initial salon license, which the board's fee schedule lists for aesthetic salons, plus the $50 opening inspection fee, with board approval of the location and written notice at least 20 days before opening under section 30-27-17. The salon license renews at $40 a year on or before July 1, and each practitioner's license renews at $35 a year on or before January 1.
Are lash services taxed in West Virginia?
Lash application is a personal service rendered to the person of an individual by a licensed beautician, and the consumers sales and service tax does not apply to charges for personal services under the tax rule at Title 110, Series 15, section 35, the same exemption the Tax Division's Publication TSD-300 describes for barbering, hairstyling, manicuring and massaging. Retail products, aftercare kits and cosmetics sold to clients, are taxed at the 6 percent state rate, plus 1 percent municipal where imposed, and the studio pays tax on the supplies it consumes.
Can a lash artist rent a room in a West Virginia salon?
Yes, as a registered booth or chair renter. Section 30-27-19 requires the renter to hold their practitioner license, register with the board, show registration with the state Tax Division, pay the $15 registration fee and report the rental term, salon and start date, and the salon must notify the board in writing within 10 days. The registration renews at $15 a year on or before July 1. A lash artist working as an employee of the salon needs no rental registration, only the aesthetician or cosmetologist license.