A Board Certified Haircolorist is an individual who has passed a stringent testing mechanism established by a committee of his/her peers. The test mechanism is established to measure the competence of the applicant’s haircoloring skills.

The purpose of establishing certification is to recognize those individuals with a greater degree of competency vs. those who have not yet reached a higher level. Clearly, there are various levels of competency in haircoloring. Our goal is to recognize those individuals who have gone the extra mile to become the best in their craft. To the consumer, the term "Board Certified" is recognized as a higher level of competency.

Establishing oneself as a Board Certified Haircolorist will give potential clients the ability to select those haircolorists that have reached a higher level of competency. It also will give the haircolor professional more esteem and professionalism in the consumer's eyes – a goal that every haircolorist should want to reach. To become board certified is first to become educated.

The test mechanism has been developed and refined over the past several years. The BCH Board of Directors and the first team of evaluators determined what should constitute a Board Certified Haircolorist. It is a double-edged sword – if the examination is too easy, the certification process becomes an exercise in futility.

On the other hand, if it is too difficult, you will have many disgruntled candidates. Adjustments have been made since the first examination, where 50% of the candidates failed the examination. Our goal is to certify 70% of the candidates who take the examination. The key to passing the examination will be studying the materials and practicing all of the various tasks. It was determined that those who failed the examination were those who failed to prepare for the examination. The study portfolio is a 250-page ebook defining the entire examination process.

We have actually made the test more difficult, but at the same time, we are suggesting the candidate prepare for the examination. The tasks are more defined, and the scoring procedure is thoroughly explained.

To assist in raising the passing score, we now offer pre-requisite coaching through a self-study-guided learning path with an assigned coach to assist in accountability and questions.  Participation is mandatory in this 10-week process before the Certification Assessment.  This will help us ascertain the candidate's level of commitment and communication.  Failure to participate will automatically disqualify the candidate from participating in the Certification Assessment.

There will be three parts to the certification assessment:

1. The written assessment consists of 250 true/false and multiple-choice questions, where some of the questions are directly from the study portfolio. These are things the committee felt a certified haircolorist should know and will test the cognitive skill of the candidate.
2. The performance assessment portion will require the candidate to perform specific tasks on a mannequin that will test the psychomotor skills of the candidate. The performance examination is the most challenging and the most subjective.
3.  The interactive assessment will test the effective skills of the candidate by posing randomized model scenarios to the candidates and having them solve these challenges using non-manufacturer BCH language.

The candidate must pass all three portions of the examination to become board certified.

No, you only need to take that portion of the exam that you failed.

The Board of Directors has ruled out any prerequisites for taking the certification assessment other than a current cosmetology/hairdesign license or journeymen certificate.

Experience is not necessarily a standard that constitutes excellence, as oftentimes, an experience is a bad experience. The certification assessment will be the standard on which one will be evaluated. 

The beautiful thing about this certification assessment is that the assessors do not read the candidates’ press kits. It does not matter to them the size of their clientele or how much money they earn, whether they work alone or in the largest salon in their community. They do not care if there are no other certified haircolorists in their community or if there are fifty other certified haircolorists in their community. The only assessment that is made of the candidate is how well they perform in the certification assessment.

No, only haircoloring.

No system is perfect – the certification process will only determine that the haircolorist knows the subject matter. Even a champion professional golfer picks up the wrong club to take a shot now and then. No assessment can guarantee the individual who passes will perform a color the client will be happy with. It is much like a driver’s licensing test: just because a person passes the driver’s test does not mean they will not make improper judgments.

There is no single manufacturer involved in the development of the curriculum. The curriculum has been developed from a number of sources, including manufacturers who have had the opportunity to comment on the curriculum during development and before it is made available for the certification assessment. It is the opinion of the Board of Directors that haircolor education should not come from the same individuals who are attempting to sell you haircolor. A standard curriculum needs to be established to clear up the fragmented foundation that now exists. The BCH curriculum is written by haircolorists and strives to eliminate many old wives' tales in favor of solid, truthful education.

The price of $2300 has been established. The price will include the pre-requisite 10-week coaching learning path. If the certification assessment is passed and the candidate is certified, they also receive a beautiful glass etched certificate containing a unique certification number.