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England to Ban Unqualified Cosmetic Practitioners
21 Oct
Summary
- High-risk cosmetic procedures will require trained professionals.
- New rules ban high-risk treatments for individuals under 18.
- Rogue providers face criminal offenses and fixed fines up to £4,000.
Beginning in 2027, England will enforce stricter regulations on high-risk cosmetic procedures. Only qualified professionals will be permitted to perform treatments such as liquid Brazilian butt lifts, vampire facials, and deep chemical peels. These high-risk procedures will be prohibited for individuals under 18 years old, aligning with existing bans on lip fillers and Botox for minors.
The government plans to "drive cosmetic cowboys out of the market" by introducing new criminal offenses and fixed fines of up to £4,000 for non-compliant providers. This initiative follows years of calls for stricter oversight, spurred by incidents where procedures were performed in unsafe environments and led to severe complications.
Fillers injected into non-facial areas will be legally classified as surgical procedures, necessitating performance by doctors. Other high-risk non-surgical treatments will be restricted to trained doctors, dentists, nurses, midwives, and pharmacists. The draft rules will undergo public and expert consultation before parliamentary review in spring 2027.
Similar measures are already in place in Scotland, where non-surgical procedures are banned for under-18s, and procedures must occur in registered settings. Wales and Northern Ireland currently lack comparable dedicated regulations for cosmetic procedures.
