I cant claim to know the justification in every state. The justification government claims here is that there is no such thing as a “hair cutter”. While modern barbers don’t do surgery, present day “cosmetologists” do work with blades and chemicals. Supposedly it is within the realm of possibility, small chance but theoretically possible, for someone to get badly cut or seriously burned by the treatments and having someone trained makes it all safer.
I agree with you that a “hair cutter” probably shouldn’t need a license. At the same time though, those using other processes, like formaldehyde generating “Brazillians” or high concentration peroxide bleaches, should probably have some idea of what they are doing.
(Peroxide: I, not a hair dresser, was once horsing around with some highly concentrated peroxide. I wasn’t wearing gloves and I accidentally spilled a bunch on the back of my left hand and it ran down my fingers. It foamed like one might expect if it had been put on a wound and stung as it ran down. I reflexively shook my hand but none of it came off. I immediately went to wash it off but the “foam” wouldn’t come off, the portion of my hand it had run down was burned into something like a flexible porkie rind.)
*** “a flexible pork rind” ***
so now you have a hand that is a flexible pork rind?
That almost describes my liver, cheers!
So do the guys who stock shelves in the big box stores.
They do it all without a license.