2.3 Renewal, Continuing Education, Fees, and Restoration

A license that is not renewed is not a minor paperwork problem. 1175.725(f) says practicing or operating on a license that has expired is unlicensed activity and is grounds for discipline under Section 4-7 of the Act. The renewal rules, CE split, fee table, and restoration path are high-yield Illinois law because they are specific numbers the national NIC outline will not teach you.

Expiration Dates — Do Not Mix the Cycles

68 Ill. Adm. Code 1175.725(a) sets two different clocks:

You may renew during the month preceding the expiration date—that is, in September of the expiration year. Do not wait until October 1. If the online portal closes after the window, IDFPR’s profession page states you cannot renew there; you must request a reinstatement/restoration application.

Teacher and school even-year dates are a common distractor. This exam is for profession 131. Your license dies on odd-year September 30s. A coworker who is an esthetics teacher is on a different cycle.

1175.725(e) and 1175.175 put the address duty on you. Provide a valid address of record and email address of record, and tell the Department of any change within 14 days. Failure to receive a renewal form is not an excuse for failing to renew.

Profession-Specific CE: 10 Hours, With a First-Renewal Waiver

1175.725(b)(2) requires an esthetician renewal applicant to certify successful completion of a minimum of 10 hours of continuing education from a sponsor registered with the Division under 1175.1200, within the 2 years prior to the expiration date. Also certify compliance with 1175.1220 (domestic violence and sexual assault awareness education).

1175.725(c) is the first-renewal rule: a renewal applicant is not required to comply with CE for the first renewal after issuance of the original license. IDFPR’s Continuing Education Fact Sheet (6/26) clarifies what that waiver covers. The waiver is for profession-specific CE. It is not a waiver of sexual harassment prevention training.

Read the two rules together the way IDFPR now teaches them:

• Profession-specific 10-hour CE: waived on the first renewal after the original license.
• 1 hour Sexual Harassment Prevention (SHP): required of every licensee beginning with the first renewal (Civil Administrative Code 20 ILCS 2105/2105-15.5).
• Domestic violence and sexual assault awareness (1175.1220 / the Act): for the initial renewal after original licensure (estheticians are not in the barber exception), one hour of CE shall include this course. For every subsequent renewal, one hour may include it.

After that first renewal, the Fact Sheet’s profession math for estheticians is:

1 hour SHP + 9 hours in approved subject areas = 10 hours.

Teachers complete extra hours; that is the 132 path, not this exam. Do not quote the cosmetologist 14-hour total as if it were yours. Cosmetologists complete 1 hour SHP plus 13 subject-area hours. Estheticians complete 10.

Approved Subject Areas After the First Renewal

The June 2026 Fact Sheet lists the subject areas that count toward the 9 non-SHP hours:

• Advanced product chemistry and chemical interaction
• The use of machines and implements
• Sanitary procedures
• Hazardous chemicals
• Exposure minimization
• Updated use of implements as they relate to applicable services under the Act
• Advanced knowledge of the anatomy of the skin, scalp, hair, and/or nails
• Human relations/communication skills
• Management and marketing

Training outside those areas may not be accepted. CE in a prohibited practice (for example, a microneedling or laser “esthetics” class) is a bad bet; the Fact Sheet points readers to the Statement on Prohibited Practices and warns that the published list is not exhaustive. 1175.1210 allows the total hours to be earned in person or online through individual study from an approved sponsor. One CE hour is at least 50 minutes of actual class time.

If you hold more than one BCENT license, qualifying hours in a shared subject such as sanitation may satisfy both professions for that renewal period; you do not have to sit the same sanitation class twice.

Abnormal Skin Growth Education: “Skinny on Skin”

68 Ill. Adm. Code 1175.1225, added in the October 6, 2025 rules amendment, implements 225 ILCS 410/1-7.10 (Public Act 103-0851). The Division approves the 1-hour program “Skinny on Skin” by Impact Melanoma, Inc. as the course that fulfills abnormal skin growth education.

Who must complete it:

• All new applicants for original licensure on or after January 1, 2026
• A person licensed before January 1, 2026, when filing that person’s first renewal or restoration application on or after January 1, 2026

The statute makes this a one-time transition requirement, not a course repeated at every renewal. Rule 1175.1225 refers broadly to renewal and restoration applicants “under 225 ILCS 410/1-7.10,” so the statute supplies the limiting first-application trigger. The 1-hour course covers basic facts about abnormal skin growths, salon awareness, and tools to support a client and connect the client to medical resources—not to diagnose or treat. Instructors for Division-approved programs are licensed physicians and surgeons, and APRNs.

IDFPR posted an August 21, 2025 statement regarding P.A. 103-0851 on the esthetician page. For candidates sitting after January 1, 2026, treat “Skinny on Skin” as part of original licensure, not as optional extra credit.

Fees in 1175.100

The exam fee paid to CTS is separate from the $30 license fee. IDFPR’s language-exam notice lists a $175 esthetician exam fee effective October 1, 2026 when additional language versions become available; until that notice’s effective date, use the testing vendor’s published computerized fee. Do not mix the $30 license fee with the exam fee in a single answer.

Random Audit, Certificates, and Waivers

1175.725(d) lets the Division demand certificates of attendance or completion. It is your duty to retain evidence. The Fact Sheet repeats that evidence is required in a random audit. Keep every SHP, DV/SA, Skinny on Skin, and subject-area certificate until you are safely past the cycle—longer is wiser.

Good-cause CE waivers exist (military service, incapacitating illness, defined hardship), but a waiver is only for that renewal period, is not automatic, and cannot be used when restoring a license from another status. Filing a waiver request lets you continue while the Division reviews it; it is not an approval.

Restoration If the License Lapses

1175.730 splits restoration by how long the license has been expired:

• Less than 5 years: application, restoration fee, and evidence of 10 hours of CE earned within the 2 years immediately preceding restoration.
• 5 years or more: lawful practice in another jurisdiction for at least 24 months within the last 5 years (with certifications) plus 10 hours of CE and the fee, or, if you cannot meet the out-of-state practice proof, a 125-hour esthetics refresher course or passing the esthetics exam within the allowed window. Completing the refresher or the exam substitutes for the 10-hour CE in that scenario.

Active military restoration uses a DD-214 and the current renewal fee. If you sit the restoration exam and fail, the license is not restored until you pass.

The practical lesson is cheaper than the legal one: a timely $50 biennial renewal beats a $50 + lapsed renewals (capped at $200) restoration, plus CE scramble, plus a possible 125-hour refresher. And none of those restoration steps legalizes the days you already worked after September 30. Those days were unlicensed practice.