A Greenville esthetician who spent more than $15,000 gutting and renovating an RV into a luxury mobile beauty studio is suing the state of South Carolina, arguing its requirement that estheticians and cosmetologists work only out of permanent buildings is unconstitutional. Brandi Rosemond, who owns Ayaba of Beauty, filed the federal lawsuit against the South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation on Tuesday, challenging the state's mobile and portable esthetics ban under the Fourteenth Amendment.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, challenges South Carolina's fixed-location requirements for beauty salons, according to the Institute for Justice, the national public-interest law firm representing Rosemond. As reported by FOX Carolina News, Rosemond and her attorneys announced the suit at a press conference at Unity Park in Greenville.
Rosemond graduated with honors from the Paul Mitchell School in Greenville in January and posted photos of her renovated RV on Instagram, according to the FOX Carolina report. The South Carolina Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation subsequently sent her a letter alleging she was unlicensed and operating an unlicensed mobile cosmetology salon, warning that mobile beauty services remain illegal under South Carolina law. LLR closed the complaint only after Rosemond clarified she was marketing a future business plan rather than currently operating, per the same report.
A Business Plan Left Idling
Rosemond had planned to travel to weddings, events and homebound oncology patients, offering skincare, makeup and facial services directly at those locations, the FOX Carolina report states. Instead, her $15,000 mobile investment has sat unused, and she rented a static booth in a brick-and-mortar salon to protect her license, the outlet reports. Rosemond said her training, education and professional standards do not change between a fixed spa and a mobile studio.
“Bonkers” is how Institute for Justice attorney Katrin Marquez described South Carolina's ban on mobile beauty salons, per FOX Carolina's account of the press conference. Rosemond's attorneys argued the restrictions violate her economic liberty, and the lawsuit challenges the state's mobile-services restrictions under the Fourteenth Amendment, according to the Institute for Justice.
Barbers Got a Green Light, Estheticians Did Not
The core of the legal argument rests on an existing carve-out: in 2021, the South Carolina General Assembly passed a law, later codified at S.C. Code § 40-7-355, authorizing the State Board of Barber Examiners to permit mobile barbershops and portable barbering operations at homes, offices and venues, per the Institute for Justice. South Carolina law permits mobile and portable barbering, allowing barbers to serve clients at homes, workplaces and venues. Estheticians and cosmetologists perform skin and grooming services that overlap with those performed by barbers, and the two groups follow nearly identical health and sanitation standards, according to the lawsuit's framing described by FOX Carolina.
Policy analysis published by the Palmetto Promise Institute in April 2024 noted that the 2021 mobile deregulation law applied to a barbering workforce where 77% of practitioners were men, while the remaining mobile ban directly limits cosmetologists and estheticians, who are predominantly women. Free-market advocates have argued the disparity creates an arbitrary hurdle for female beauty entrepreneurs, according to the same analysis.
Lawmakers Have Tried and Failed Before
South Carolina lawmakers have considered proposals addressing portable operations for cosmetologists, estheticians and nail technicians. Palmetto Promise reported that Senate Bill 857 had passed the Senate and was pending in 2024; proposed portable-operation provisions also appear in House Bill 4580. The proposals addressed portable operations. The FOX Carolina report introduces an LLR response but provides no substantive response.
South Carolina requires estheticians to complete hundreds of hours of accredited school instruction and pass national practical and theory examinations to earn a license. The Institute for Justice says barbering and esthetics follow nearly identical technical and sanitation standards. LLR is the state licensing department named in the lawsuit. According to the South Carolina Board of Cosmetology, applicants for cosmetology, nail technology and esthetics licenses must score 75% on the applicable NIC examination. According to the South Carolina Board of Cosmetology, all new and reinstated salons must pass a mandatory inspection for health, safety and sanitation compliance before legally beginning operations.
Wedding Season Demand and a National Legal Pattern
Rosemond planned to offer services at weddings and events, rather than limiting them to a fixed salon location, according to the FOX Carolina report. Wedding-venue services can offer convenience for bridal parties.
The Institute for Justice is representing Rosemond in a Fourteenth Amendment economic-liberty lawsuit challenging a licensing barrier for a beauty provider. Other regulatory approaches are not detailed here.
