1.6 Michigan Prohibitions, Blood Spills, Renewal & Enforcement
Key Takeaways
- R 338.2179g prohibits methyl methacrylate monomers, nail white pencils, lump alum and styptic pencils, carrying tools in a uniform pocket, reusing powder puffs, makeup brushes or cosmetic pencils on more than one patron, and using an ultraviolet sanitizer to disinfect.
- A blade may not be used or possessed in the practice of manicuring or pedicuring under R 338.2179g(1)(h), while dermaplaning with a blade on the face remains expressly authorised by MCL 339.1210(2)(e).
- R 338.2179e requires a licensee to suspend the service, provide first aid supplies, sterilise contacted implements, immediately discard porous items, clean surfaces with sodium hypochlorite or a hospital grade disinfectant, and dispose of blood spill waste in labelled containers.
- Michigan esthetician licences renew on a 2-year cycle for $48, with a 60-day grace period carrying a $20 late fee; relicensure after a lapse of more than 3 years requires re-examination within the preceding year or an active out-of-state licence.
- MCL 339.602 authorises limitation, suspension, denial, revocation, censure, probation, restitution, and an administrative fine of not more than $10,000.
Michigan Prohibitions, Blood Spills, Renewal & Enforcement
Quick Summary: Michigan lists its outright bans in one place — R 338.2179g — and its blood spill procedure in another — R 338.2179e. Learn them as written, because several are narrower or broader than the industry folklore around them. Then keep the licence alive: a 2-year cycle, $48 to renew, a 60-day grace period with a $20 late fee, and MCL 339.602 penalties reaching an administrative fine of not more than $10,000.
1. The Express Prohibitions — R 338.2179g(1)
A student, apprentice or licensee shall not do any of the following, and a licensee shall not allow another to do any of them:
| § | Prohibition | Practical reading |
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Use or possess methyl methacrylate monomers | The MMA ban is on use or possession; having it in a drawer is the violation |
| (b) | Abrade, roughen, buff or file the nail plate to expose the nail bed or create deep trenches | Nail-service rule; relevant if you also hold a manicurist licence |
| (c) | Use a nail white pencil | |
| (d) | Use lump alum or a styptic pencil to stop bleeding | The ban is on the solid multi-use form; liquid or powder on a single-use applicator is the alternative |
| (e) | Carry any equipment, tools, implements or supplies in the pocket of a uniform | Frequently cited at inspection |
| (f) | Use the same powder puffs, makeup brushes, or cosmetic pencils on more than 1 patron | Direct authority for the makeup hygiene rules in this guide |
| (g) | Use an ultraviolet ray electrical sanitizer to disinfect or sterilize items | UV cabinets are storage only — items already disinfected or sterilised under R 338.2171a may be stored in one |
| (h) | Use or possess a blade in the practice of manicuring or pedicuring | Scope-limited to nail services |
| (i) | Perform services limited to a licensed health profession under article 15 of the Public Health Code | Unless delegated under MCL 333.16215 |
| (j) | Fail to provide photo identification at inspection when a department representative requests it | |
| (k) | Allow the public to drink from a water source used for mixing chemicals |
R 338.2179g(2) adds the esthetics-specific rule: "An esthetician shall not use razors, scissors, or clippers on the scalp of a patron."
Exam Note — the blade rule is narrower than you may have been told. R 338.2101(1)(c) defines a "blade" broadly, expressly including razors, callus shavers, graters and credo blades. But R 338.2179g(1)(h) forbids using or possessing one in the practice of manicuring or pedicuring — that is where the ban bites. It does not ban blades from the premises for every purpose: MCL 339.1210(2)(e) names dermaplaning as a permitted esthetician service, and dermaplaning uses a blade on the face. The correct statement is: no blades for nail and foot services, and any blade used elsewhere stays within the stratum corneum limit of MCL 339.1210(3).
Exam Note — the UV rule cuts one way only. A UV cabinet cannot be the disinfection step. It can be the storage step for something already disinfected. Both halves of R 338.2179g(1)(g) are testable.
2. Blood Spill Procedure — R 338.2179e
If a blood spill occurs, the licensee or owner shall:
- Temporarily suspend the service being performed.
- Provide the bleeding person with adequate first aid supplies so that person can stop the bleeding and cover the wound.
- Sterilize any equipment, tool or implement that came into contact with blood.
- Immediately discard porous materials — the rule names abrasive boards, blocks and buffers, orangewood sticks, and pumice stones — if involved in a blood spill.
- Immediately clean floors and other durable surfaces soiled with blood using a sodium hypochlorite solution such as household bleach, or another approved hospital grade disinfectant.
- Dispose of blood spill waste in clearly labeled containers or bags.
Subrule (2) adds two duties that outlast the incident: a licensee shall not perform services until all bleeding has ceased and the wound is covered, and shall keep an open sore, cut, burn or other wound covered while performing services — the practitioner's own wounds included.
Exam Note: Notice the verbs. Contacted implements are sterilized, not merely disinfected — which lines up with R 338.2171a(3) for anything that has been beneath the top layer of skin. Porous items are discarded, not cleaned, because porous surfaces cannot be reliably decontaminated. This is also the Michigan mirror of the PSI practical expectation that you know "how we deal with the situation without contaminating ourselves and others" when body fluids appear.
3. Keeping the Licence — Renewal, Grace and Relicensure
From LARA's Michigan Esthetician Licensing Guide (rev. 2026-01-26) and MCL 339.411:
| Event | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Renewal cycle | 2 years |
| Renewal fee | $48.00, paid in MiPLUS |
| Renewal window | Opens no sooner than 90 days before the expiration date printed on the licence; LARA sends notice to the mailing and email addresses on record about 90 days out |
| Continuing education | Michigan does not require CE hours for esthetician renewal |
| Grace period | 60 days after expiration, renewing with the fee plus a $20.00 late fee (MCL 339.411(2)) |
| Practising after expiry | Prohibited — MCL 339.411(1): the licence lapses the day after the expiration date |
| Relicensure ≤ 3 years lapsed | Application and fee ($83.00), under MCL 339.411(3) and R 338.2121c(1) |
| Relicensure > 3 years lapsed | R 338.2121c(2): either pass the required examinations within the 1-year period immediately preceding relicensure, or show an active licence in good standing in another state within the preceding 3 years |
Exam Note: The expiration date is the one printed on your licence. Michigan publishes the cycle (two years) and the notice window (90 days), not a single statewide calendar date. Missing the renewal notice is expressly not an excuse — LARA's guide says failure to receive the postcard, the email, or to report an address change "does not exempt you from renewing your license on time." Address and name changes are made through a MiPLUS modification.
4. Inspection and Discipline
Inspection authority flows from MCL 339.1203(1), which directs the department to "arrange for any inspections that the department considers necessary to safeguard the public health," and from MCL 339.1204(1)(c) and MCL 339.1205(1)(e), which condition an establishment or school licence on passing a departmental inspection. R 338.2179g(1)(j) makes it a violation to fail to produce photo identification to a department representative performing an inspection when asked.
Penalties are set by MCL 339.602. A person, school or institution that violates the act, or a rule or order under it, "shall be assessed 1 or more of the following":
- Placement of a limitation on a licence or certificate of registration.
- Suspension of a licence or certificate.
- Denial of a licence, certificate, or renewal.
- Revocation of a licence or certificate.
- An administrative fine paid to the department of not more than $10,000.00.
- Censure.
- Probation.
- Restitution, based on proofs submitted to and findings made by the hearing examiner after a contested case.
A contested case proceeds under the Administrative Procedures Act of 1969 (1969 PA 306), and MCL 339.411(5) sets out the petition-and-review route for reinstatement.
Real-World Scenario: A Deficiency Notice in Grand Rapids
Scenario: An inspector visits a two-room esthetics studio unannounced during business hours and writes up three findings.
Analysis of each finding:
- A credo-style blade in the pedicure drawer. This is a clean violation of R 338.2179g(1)(h) — use or possession of a blade in the practice of manicuring or pedicuring. The blade is discarded. Note what is not cited: the dermaplaning blades in the facial room, which MCL 339.1210(2)(e) permits.
- Tweezers in a UV cabinet, never immersed. R 338.2179g(1)(g) — a UV sanitizer may not be used to disinfect. The corrective action is to run the R 338.2171a(1) sequence (debris off, 10 minutes in an EPA-registered wet sanitizer or a wipe/spray scrub, fully dry) and then, if desired, store them in the UV cabinet.
- A brush kit carried in the practitioner's apron pocket. R 338.2179g(1)(e) — no equipment, tools, implements or supplies in a uniform pocket. Tools move to a covered clean-tool container per R 338.2171b(d).
- Exposure. Each finding is a rule violation reachable under MCL 339.602, where the available penalties run from censure and probation through limitation, suspension, denial and revocation, with an administrative fine of up to $10,000. Studios generally resolve first-time sanitation findings by documenting corrective action rather than by contested hearing.
Key Takeaways
- R 338.2179g bans: MMA (use or possession), nail white pencils, solid styptic pencils and lump alum, tools in uniform pockets, reusing puffs/brushes/cosmetic pencils across patrons, UV cabinets as disinfection, blades in manicuring or pedicuring, unlicensed health-profession services, refusing photo ID at inspection, and public drinking from a chemical-mixing water source. Estheticians may not use razors, scissors or clippers on the scalp.
- Blood spill: suspend → first aid supplies → sterilise contacted tools → discard porous items → clean surfaces with bleach or hospital grade disinfectant → dispose of waste in clearly labelled containers. No service until bleeding stops and the wound is covered.
- Renewal: 2-year cycle, $48, 90-day window, no CE required, 60-day grace with a $20 late fee; relicensure $83, and re-examination if lapsed more than 3 years.
- Discipline: MCL 339.602 — limitation, suspension, denial, revocation, fine ≤ $10,000, censure, probation, restitution.
Which statement correctly describes Michigan’s rule on ultraviolet ray electrical sanitizers?
A client’s skin bleeds slightly during a service. Which sequence does R 338.2179e require?
A Michigan esthetician’s licence expired 4 years ago and she has not been licensed elsewhere since. What does R 338.2121c(2) require for relicensure?