Texas Esthetician &
Nail Technician
Exam Guide

An esthetician license requires 750 hours of training, versus 1,500 for a full cosmetology license — a shorter, more specialized path if your goal is skincare, waxing, and lash/brow services rather than hair cutting or chemical hair services.[1]

Like every other Texas barbering-and-cosmetology license, the esthetician exam is two parts — written and practical — both administered by PSI on behalf of TDLR. The written portion covers skin analysis, sanitation and safety, and the theory behind facial and hair-removal treatments; the practical portion has you demonstrate real technique on a model or mannequin under a proctor.

For the full comparison of esthetician vs. cosmetologist scope of practice, application steps, renewal cycle, and continuing education — all of which work the same way across both licenses — see our Texas Barber & Cosmetology License Requirements guide. This page focuses specifically on the exam itself.

A manicurist license — what most people mean by "nail tech license" — is its own distinct TDLR credential, separate from both cosmetology and esthetics. It covers manicures, pedicures, and artificial nail services, and follows the same TDLR structure as every other license on this page: school hours, a student permit, then a written and practical exam administered by PSI.[2]

The written exam covers nail structure and disorders, sanitation and infection control specific to nail services, and product/chemical safety (acrylics, gels, and the solvents used with them). The practical exam has you perform real manicure/pedicure and artificial-nail procedures under a proctor, the same way the practical portions of the barber, cosmetology, and esthetician exams work.

You must pass the written exam before you can sit for the practical. They are not interchangeable and cannot be taken out of order.

Once TDLR approves your eligibility, that eligibility is good for five years, and you may test an unlimited number of times within that window. There is no cap on attempts and no mandatory waiting period written into the bulletin — but each attempt carries its own fee, so retakes are limited by cost rather than by rule.

If you fail the written exam, the emailed score report includes a diagnostic breakdown of your strengths and weaknesses by exam topic. That report maps onto the content outline above, which makes it the most efficient thing to study from before a retake.

Because PSI administers the same exam format across every Texas barbering-and-cosmetology license, the most reliable prep strategy is the same regardless of which license you're testing for: study directly from your school's curriculum (it's built to the same content outline TDLR and PSI use), request PSI's current Candidate Information Bulletin for your specific license type before test day, and treat the practical exam with the same seriousness as the written — a strong written score doesn't offset a failed practical.

Our esthetician and manicurist practice questions cover the Licensing and Regulation and Infection Control domains — 45% of the esthetician written exam and 54% of the manicurist exam — because for those topics the Candidate Information Bulletin itself is the source, and every answer is verifiable against the bulletins linked on this page.

We deliberately do not publish skin-science, product-chemistry, or nail-anatomy practice questions. PSI builds those from Milady Standard Esthetics Fundamentals, Milady Standard Foundations, and Pivot Point Fundamentals: Esthetics — texts we don't hold. Writing questions and attaching textbook citations we haven't verified would be worse than publishing nothing, so for those domains we still point you to your school's curriculum. Our full decks for barber and cosmetology are Milady-sourced end to end.