8.2 Contraindications for Hair Services
Key Takeaways
- N.J.A.C. 13:28-3.3(d) requires you not to serve a patron you know, or have reasonable grounds to believe, has a communicable, contagious, or infectious disease that could reasonably be transmitted during the service; 13:28-3.3(c) is the same rule for the practitioner.
- Open scalp abrasions, sores, and weeping lesions are contraindications for oxidative color, lightener, perm, and relaxer even when you are not naming a disease.
- Metallic or progressive dyes and compound henna contraindicate hydrogen peroxide services until an incompatibility test shows the hair is clear.
- Hydroxide-relaxed hair is not thio-permed: lanthionine bonds will not rebuild a lasting wrap on that fiber, and a wedding date does not change the chemistry.
- N.J.A.C. 13:28-2.15(b)6 still bans disease-cure claims; refusing a contraindicated hair service is not a medical diagnosis.
Why a hair service stops before the bowl
Quick Answer: A contraindication is a reason not to perform a planned hair service, or to modify it. On this exam that includes contagious findings you refuse under N.J.A.C. 13:28-3.3, open scalp, incompatible chemicals (metallic dyes; hydroxide relaxer then thio perm), and product allergies. N.J.A.C. 13:28-2.15(b)6 still forbids cure claims: refusing a service is not diagnosing, and a tonic is not a treatment plan.
Chapter 5 taught you to recognize tinea, lice, and alopecia patterns. This section is the service decision at the consultation: given this head, this history, and this request, do you color, relax, perm, cut, or send the client home?
N.J.A.C. 13:28-3.3(d) is not optional courtesy. No practitioner shall serve a patron whom the practitioner knows, or has reasonable grounds to believe, has a communicable, contagious, or infectious disease that could reasonably be expected to be transmitted during cosmetology and hairstyling services. 13:28-3.3(c) is the mirror: you do not work if you have such a disease. Reasonable grounds are enough. You do not wait for a laboratory culture.
13:28-3.3(e) requires safe technique and manufacturers' instructions for chemical preparations, with current Safety Data Sheets (SDS) available in the shop, labeled containers, and disposal per the label. A do-not-use-on-broken-skin line on the bottle is a Board-backed stop, not a suggestion you can waive because the book is full.
Contagious conditions and broken skin
If you see signs of tinea capitis, pediculosis capitis, scabies, or another condition that could spread on combs, capes, or the shampoo bowl, stop. Refer to a physician. Do not pick nits as a billed treatment. Do not sell a fungus-cure oil. That last sentence is 13:28-2.15(b)6 as well as infection control.
Scalp abrasions, scratches, open sores, and undiagnosed weeping lesions are chemical stops even when they are not obviously contagious. Oxidative color, lightener, perm solution, and relaxer on broken skin can burn, sensitize, and put product into living tissue you are not licensed to treat. A dry haircut that never contacts the wound may be possible if the rest of the scalp is healthy and you can drape and comb without smearing serum — or you reschedule. Do not just apply petroleum around it and run a virgin bleach if the manufacturer says not to use the product on irritated or broken scalp.
Inflamed, pustular, or honey-crusted skin at the hairline is not sensitive-scalp shampoo. It is a stop and refer. Ordinary intact-scalp dandruff without open sores is a caution from Chapter 5, not a free pass to ignore abrasions from last week's tight braids.
Metallic dyes and home progressive color
Metallic (progressive, gradual) dyes deposit metallic salts — classic textbook lists include lead acetate, silver, copper, and bismuth — that darken with repeated use. Clients buy them in drugstores as gradual gray coverage and may not call them haircolor. On the card, ask about any daily darkening product, any henna that was not a pure plant powder, and any color that built up over weeks.
Metallic-treated hair is a contraindication for hydrogen peroxide services: permanent and demi oxidative color, lightener, perm, and relaxer. Peroxide plus metal can heat, smoke, discolor (green, black, muddy), and break the hair. You do not use 10-volume instead of 20 as a workaround. You test (Section 8.3) and you refuse the incompatible chemical if the test is positive.
Compound henna (henna plus metallic salts) is the same trap. Pure vegetable color is a different product; you still strand-test before peroxide because you cannot see the metal with the naked eye.
Chemical texture stacking: relaxer then perm
Hydroxide relaxers (sodium, lithium, potassium, guanidine) convert disulfide bonds to lanthionine. Those bonds do not rebuild the way a thio perm's disulfide bonds rebuild after neutralization. A thio permanent wave on hydroxide-relaxed hair is a textbook contraindication: the wrap will not hold as a true perm, and the fiber is already compromised. The wedding is Saturday does not create new disulfide bonds.
A client in Trenton who had a relaxer ten days ago and wants a body wave needs an honest analysis. New virgin growth might be discussed only with manufacturer guidance and a strand test, and many heads should simply wait and choose a thermal or wet style instead. Do not perm the relaxed lengths. Do not stack a thio relaxer and a hydroxide relaxer as if they were the same chemistry. Soft-curl (thio) reformation is its own procedure in the chemical-texture chapter; it is not a loophole for hydroxide hair.
Recent keratin smoothing, leftover silicone or mineral buildup, and well-water coating can also block or distort color and perm. Clarify or strand-test. Do not assume the next bottle will cut through.
Allergies, labels, and what you must not claim
A known allergy to a colorant, fragrance, or latex cape is a contraindication to that product, not a dare. Offer an alternative the manufacturer supports, or decline. A positive predisposition test (next section) is a hard stop for that oxidative formula.
Clients may disclose pregnancy, nursing, chemotherapy, or a physician's scalp treatment. You follow the product label and refer medical questions. You do not tell them a chemical is doctor-safe unless you are repeating the manufacturer's published restriction, and you do not claim the salon service will cure hair loss, psoriasis, or eczema (13:28-2.15(b)6).
| Finding or history | Why it is a hair-service problem | Typical decision |
|---|---|---|
| Signs of contagious scalp disease (tinea, lice, scabies) | Transmission on tools and contact; 13:28-3.3(d) | Refuse service; refer; no cure products |
| Open abrasion, sore, or weeping scalp | Chemicals on broken skin; manufacturer do-not-use-on-irritated-skin | Postpone chemical services; cut only if you can avoid the site |
| Metallic or progressive dye or compound henna | Peroxide plus metal: heat, breakage, odd color | No oxidative color, lightener, perm, or relaxer until tests clear it |
| Hydroxide relaxer already on the fiber | Lanthionine bonds will not perm like disulfide | No thio perm on relaxed hair; style instead |
| Recent thio perm, then hydroxide on the same lengths | Overprocessed, incompatible stacking | Refuse or wait for sufficient new growth; strand-test |
| Known product allergy or positive patch | Risk of allergic reaction | Do not use that formula |
| Client wants a disease-cure tint or tonic | 13:28-2.15(b)6 | Refuse the claim; cosmetic service only if otherwise safe |
An Atlantic City walk-in with a healing braid abrasion who wants a retouch: photograph the intact areas, write chemical postponed — open scalp at nape, offer a trim, book color after the skin is closed. That card protects the client, the shop, and your license.
Exam traps
- Trap: A waiver lets you color over lice or ringworm. 13:28-3.3(d) is about not serving, not improvising consent.
- Trap: Ten-volume developer makes metallic hair safe. Metal plus any peroxide service is the contraindication.
- Trap: A relaxer and a perm in the same month will restore bounce. Hydroxide hair does not take a thio wrap as virgin disulfide hair would.
A Toms River client has used a drugstore gradual gray product for a year and now wants a peroxide lightener and toner. What is the correct contraindication reading?
Under N.J.A.C. 13:28-3.3(d), when must a New Jersey practitioner refuse to serve a patron?
Ten days after a sodium hydroxide relaxer, a Trenton client wants an alkaline thio permanent wave on the same lengths for a wedding. What is the correct decision?