Opening a nail salon in Texas: the salon license

License types and fees

Three types: Establishment $78, Specialty Establishment (one service line, for example nails only) $78, Mini-Establishment $70. Fees are non-refundable. A mini-establishment must be located inside a licensed full-service or specialty establishment.

Source: TDLR Texas - Apply for a barbering and cosmetology establishment license · Checked September 7, 2026

Requirements

Submit a completed application with the fee. All requirements must be met within one year of the date the application is received, or it is void. Owners must comply with the Health and Safety Standards and the Responsibilities of Establishments rules. Licensed premises may not be used for living or sleeping.

Source: TDLR Texas - Apply for a barbering and cosmetology establishment license · Checked September 7, 2026

License term

Establishment licenses are valid for two years from the date of issue. TDLR recommends applying online: online applications go straight to the Licensing Division.

Source: TDLR Texas - Apply for a barbering and cosmetology establishment license · Checked September 7, 2026

Renewal

Renewal: full-service $78, specialty $78, mini $70. Expired 90 days or less: one and a half times the renewal fee. Expired more than 90 days but less than 18 months: twice the fee. Expired at least 18 months but less than three years: twice the fee, with the executive director's approval.

Source: TDLR Texas - Renew an establishment license · Checked September 30, 2026

Inspections: who turns up, how to check they are real, and who gets penalized

TDLR's inspections guide describes an inspection like this. The inspector arrives, introduces themself, and presents a State ID and a business card; that ID carries the inspector's employee number. Here is the part most worth remembering, especially for anyone worried about being conned: if you want to confirm that the person is really an inspector, the page says to call TDLR's customer service division on 800-803-9202, and a representative will verify the inspector's name and employee number. Read the scope of that sentence carefully: the page gives you a number to verify an identity, it does NOT give you a right to hold someone at the door while you verify. The very next sentence on the same page says the owner, manager or representative must cooperate, and that non-cooperation becomes a direct-to-enforcement violation reported to a prosecutor. So use the number to check, not to delay the inspection. The inspector will ask to speak to the owner or manager. If neither is available, the page says the inspector will notify the person in charge that the inspection will proceed. The owner, manager or representative must cooperate, and the page states plainly that non-cooperation results in a direct-to-enforcement violation reported to a prosecutor. One thing many employees do not know: the page says inspectors may report violations against any licensee, including establishment owners, school owners and individual practitioners. In its own words, a violation of a single health and safety requirement may result in an enforcement action against an individual practitioner as well as the establishment or school owner. So sanitation is not only the owner's problem. The page also carries a separate list, per license type, of what the inspector will check, including one for Manicurist establishments, so before an inspection open the list for your own type of shop. There are also virtual inspections for some qualifying businesses: you speak with an inspector, gather images of the business, do a video walkthrough and send documents electronically, needing a reasonably modern iOS or Android device on a reliable connection able to make a video call over Google Meet, Apple FaceTime or another approved platform; the page says these are only for businesses meeting the department's requirements and are performed at the discretion of the "instructor", which is the word on the page and is almost certainly TDLR's typo for "inspector". At the end, the page says the inspector goes over the results with the owner or representative and asks for a signature confirming the inspection is complete, that side receives an electronic copy of the report, and any deficiencies that have been explained must be corrected within 10 days. Ten days is the deadline to put in the diary on the day itself.

Source: Texas TDLR, Inspections Guide for Barbering and Cosmetology · Checked September 30, 2026

The ten violations inspectors write up most, per TDLR itself

TDLR publishes its own list of the ten violations written up most often in establishment inspections, each with its rule number. It is a list to read before an inspection, not after. The ones that bite a nail salon hardest: - Disinfectant that implements are immersed in must be prepared fresh daily, and more often if the solution becomes diluted or soiled (rule 83.101(a)(3)). A current photograph attached to the front of the license, at least 1.5 by 1.5 inches, or displayed digitally alongside an image of the license, and it may not obscure any information on it (rule 83.70(f)). Clean implements stored clean, dry and debris-free, kept separate from soiled ones, with non-cosmetology supplies in separate drawers; a UV sanitiser counts as dry storage (rules 83.71(g)(5) and 83.102(f)). Every product used in the business labeled in compliance with OSHA requirements (rule 83.102(n)). A restroom on or near the licensed premises, and NO chemicals stored in it (rule 83.114(e)). Floors, walls, ceilings, shelves, furniture, furnishings and fixtures clean and in good repair; cracks or holes that are not easy to clean must be filled to a smooth washable surface (rule 83.114(a)). If you rent out chairs, keep a list of renters with each person's name and license number, and produce it when an inspector asks (rule 83.71(c)); a list of independent contractors and mini-establishment licensees must also be produced on request (rule 83.50(b)). Display, where clients can see it, a notice that the most recent inspection report is available on request (rule 83.71(l)).

Source: Texas TDLR, Ten Most Common Code Violations in Establishment Inspections · Checked September 30, 2026

Foot spas: TDLR publishes the procedure and the log IN VIETNAMESE

This is the most useful thing on this page: TDLR produces its whirlpool foot spa cleaning procedure and its disinfection log in three languages, and one of the three is Vietnamese. The page carries a "Tiếng Việt" section with a video titled "Phương pháp làm sạch sau mỗi khách hang", spelled as the page has it, TDLR having dropped a diacritic and a downloadable cleaning log, also in Vietnamese. This is the regulator's own material, not somebody else's translation. The Vietnamese log states the following. You must keep a separate log for EACH chair or foot spa, not one sheet for the whole shop. The header takes the business or school name, the establishment license number, the address, and the chair number. Each numbered row is one cleaning and disinfection, recording the date, the time, and the name of the employee who did it. On a working day when no pedicure was performed with that spa, you still fill in the date and tick the "not used" box, so empty days get recorded too. The tick columns are three frequencies, after each client, at the end of the day, and every two weeks, plus a separate column for a portable jet having been used and cleaned. And one line at the foot of the sheet that an inspector will ask about: the log must be kept at the establishment or school for at least sixty days. One limit worth stating plainly: the page says these videos cover WHIRLPOOL foot spas only. Portable jets, foot spa liners and non-whirlpool basins follow rule 83.108 instead, not this video. The page also adds a small line inspectors notice: use a CLEAN sponge, brush or cloth when cleaning the spa.

Source: Texas TDLR, whirlpool foot spa cleaning, with a Vietnamese edition · Checked September 30, 2026

Every line carries its own check date, because a page is only as trustworthy as its oldest line.

The oldest line on this page was checked September 7, 2026