Tennessee Aesthetician Practice Theory Test Online

A quarter of Tennessee's aesthetician theory test is the state's own law, and these 64 questions practice it.

How old must an applicant be for a Tennessee aesthetician license, by the Board's own page?

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Unofficial practice questions, not affiliated with the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners or PSI. Bank checked October 16, 2026.

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All 64 questions

Safety and infection control 16

  • A comedone extractor draws blood during an extraction in a Tennessee shop. The disinfectant used on it afterward must be effective against which two viruses? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(2)(b)
  • A disposable razor blade has been used on one patron in a Tennessee shop. What does the sanitation rule require for the next patron? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(11)
  • A pair of tweezers has been washed with soap and water after a brow service in Tennessee and has touched no blood. How must the disinfectant then reach it? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(2)(a)
  • A setting powder goes on at the end of a makeup service in a Tennessee shop. What does the rule require of the applicator? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(8)(a)
  • A Tennessee aesthetician has washed her hands with soap and water. What else does the sanitation rule require before she begins work on a patron? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(1)
  • A Tennessee aesthetician's hands touch a patron's blood during a waxing service. After washing with soap and water, what does the rule have her use? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(9)
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Safety and infection control, continued

  • After immersion, a Tennessee aesthetician dries her extractors and leaves them in an open tray on the counter. Where does the dry disinfection standard put them? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(3)(a)
  • How does a Tennessee aesthetician take a massage cream out of its jar? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(8)(b)
  • How is the headrest of a facial chair prepared for each patron under Tennessee's sanitation rule? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(6)(b)
  • In Tennessee's wet disinfection standard, what is done to a tool that touched body fluids before it goes into the hospital grade disinfectant? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(2)(b)
  • In what kind of room may aesthetics be practiced in Tennessee? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.06(1)
  • Tennessee has each licensee keep antiseptic or styptic on hand for skin that is accidentally broken. In which form does the rule name the styptic? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(2)(c)
  • What does Tennessee's equipment rule require of every container that holds a cosmetic or other product in a shop? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(5)(b)
  • When must a facial table be disinfected in a Tennessee shop? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(10)
  • Which agency's registration must the wet disinfectant of a Tennessee shop carry? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(2)
  • Which hot towel practice does Tennessee's sanitation rule prohibit outright? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.13(6)(c)

Skin care, peels, products and hair removal 15

  • A patron arrives for a facial in Tennessee showing symptoms of a contagious disorder of the skin. When may the shop serve her? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.12(1)
  • A Tennessee aesthetician wants to use a lawful product in a way the Food and Drug Administration disapproves. What does the rule say? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.17(1)
  • By the Tennessee Board's Aesthetician page, which lash service is part of what an aesthetician does? Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Aesthetician page
  • For what purpose alone does Tennessee's skin peeling rule let facial skin be removed? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(1)
  • Tennessee's rules define aesthetics to include removing superfluous hair by all customary means but one. Which means is left out? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.01(1)(d)
  • Tennessee's sanitary rules define aesthetics to include massage of which parts of the body? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.01(1)(d)
  • Tennessee's skin peeling rule says what the pH of an aesthetician's alphahydroxy acid exfoliation product should be. Which is it? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(4)
  • What does Tennessee's skin peeling rule say about high frequency electric current? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(6)
  • What is the highest concentration of alphahydroxy acid salon exfoliation product a licensed aesthetician may use in Tennessee? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(4)
  • What may a Tennessee skin care shop not even have on its premises under the hazardous substances rule? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.17(1)
  • When may two skin removal products be mixed or combined in a Tennessee shop? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(3)
  • Which facials and masks does Tennessee's definition of aesthetics cover? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.01(1)(d)
  • Which products may a Tennessee shop use to remove facial skin? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(3)
  • Which skin may a Tennessee licensee remove, by any method or means, under the skin peeling rule? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(1)
  • Which use of electricity does Tennessee's skin peeling rule list among the invasive procedures that shall not be used? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.16(5)(a)

Sanitary rules: shops, equipment, diseases 11

  • A Board inspector arrives at a Tennessee skin care shop. What does the inspections rule give the inspector? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.05(1)
  • A Tennessee shop holds a waiver of some equipment for limited services, then adds new services. What must the applicant do? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.18(1)
  • A Tennessee shop offers only brow and lash services and has no use for a facial steamer. Who may waive an equipment requirement for it? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.18(1)
  • A Tennessee skin care shop is run from a house. Besides an entrance of its own, what must it provide? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(6)
  • A Tennessee skin care shop opens inside a shopping mall with no restroom of its own. When may the Board approve it? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(9)
  • A Tennessee skin care shop wants a massage therapist to work on the premises. What does the facilities rule require? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.06(3)
  • Outside a mall, a strip shopping center or other commercial property the Board approves, what must a Tennessee skin care shop have in relation to any other business? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(8)
  • What must the wax depilatory heater pot of a Tennessee skin care shop carry? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(2)(m)
  • Which lamp must every Tennessee skin care shop be equipped with? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(2)(b)
  • Which pair of appliances is on Tennessee's equipment list for a skin care shop and on no other shop's list? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07(2)(k)-(l)
  • Which safety item does Tennessee's equipment rule put on the list of every kind of shop? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.07

Rights and responsibilities 6

  • A licensed aesthetician manages a Tennessee manicure/skin care shop. Whom may she manage? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.03(3)
  • A Tennessee shop takes part in an apprenticeship curriculum. Where must the sign that announces it be posted? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.16
  • How large must the apprenticeship sign of a Tennessee shop be, at the least? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.16
  • The manager of a Tennessee skin care shop is away for one of the periods the rule allows, and a violation occurs. Who answers for compliance during that time? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.03(2)(b)
  • What must a Tennessee shop make known about its manager? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.03(2)(b)
  • Where does the holder of a Tennessee shop license display it? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-02-.04(1)

Licensure requirements 16

  • A payment to the Tennessee Board is returned for insufficient funds. Besides an added $20, what does the fee rule say of how the amount due is then paid? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.13(11)
  • A Tennessee graduate passes the theory test but does not pass the rest in the time the examinations rule allows. What happens to the scores already earned? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.09(3)
  • A Tennessee mobile shop operates under the license of a primary shop. What does the rule say of who owns the two? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.19(2)(b)
  • A Tennessee skin care shop moves to a new address. What does the fee rule charge for the inspection of a relocated shop? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.13(5)(a)
  • A violation of the Tennessee Board's rules continues for five days. How may the civil penalty rule count it? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.14(1)
  • An aesthetician licensed in another state trained for fewer hours than Tennessee requires. What work history does the Board's reciprocity page accept? Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Renewal, Reciprocity, & Other Resources page
  • The Board approves an application to license a new Tennessee skin care shop. How long is the application valid for getting the inspection passed? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.13(12)
  • The Board's page sets the length of the aesthetics course a Tennessee applicant must complete at a school of cosmetology. How long is it? Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Aesthetician page
  • The Board's staff ask where a Tennessee mobile shop is today. What does the mobile shop rule require of its owner or manager? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.19(7)
  • How does the Tennessee Board's renewal page say late renewal penalties are treated? Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Renewal, Reciprocity, & Other Resources page
  • How often, at the least, is a Tennessee mobile shop inspected? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.19(13)
  • How old must an applicant be for a Tennessee aesthetician license, by the Board's own page? Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Aesthetician page
  • What contact details must every Tennessee license renewal include? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.17(1)
  • What fee must arrive with a reciprocity application to the Tennessee Board for it to be considered? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.13(9)
  • What penalty does Tennessee's fee rule set for the late renewal of an aesthetician license? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.13(4)
  • When may the Tennessee Board waive the retest that activating a retired license otherwise takes? Tenn. Comp. R. & Regs. 0440-01-.10(2)(b)

How this list was compiled: Outline: the Tennessee Esthetician Test Taker Guide of the Board's test administrator (version 1.2, effective 10/1/2026; https://test-takers.psiexams.com/api/content/bulletin/587): a theory test of 100 scored and 15 non-scored questions in 150 minutes, 70 percent to pass, nine topic areas of which Licensure Requirements (15 percent), Rights and Responsibilities (3 percent) and Sanitary Rules (7 percent) are Tennessee's own law. Facts: Rules of the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners, Chapter 0440-01 (Licensing) and Chapter 0440-02 (Sanitary Rules), each as revised December 2025, in the Secretary of State's official compilation (https://publications.tnsosfiles.com/rules/0440/0440.htm), and the Board's own Aesthetician and Renewal, Reciprocity, & Other Resources pages on tn.gov. Each question names its rule or page and links to it. Read 2026-10-16. Licence: Own work. Every question, wrong choice and explanation was written for this site from the public texts named. Nothing comes from a real examination, a sample question, a practice product, a textbook or a prep course.

How it works

This unofficial Tennessee aesthetician practice theory test asks what the Board's licensing and sanitary rules say. It is not affiliated with the Tennessee Board of Cosmetology and Barber Examiners or its test administrator, PSI.

Read the full guide

Where Tennessee law sits on the theory test

The Test Taker Guide (version 1.2, effective October 1, 2026) lists nine topics. Three are Tennessee law: licensure requirements 15 percent, rights and responsibilities 3, sanitary rules 7. Safety and infection control is the largest at 30 percent.

How the 64 questions divide

Sixteen are on sanitation and disinfection and 15 on skin peeling, products and the scope of aesthetics, nearly all from Chapter 0440-02. Eleven cover the sanitary rules for shops, 6 rights and responsibilities, 16 licensure. Skin analysis, disorders and massage are not asked.

  • A tool that touched blood needs a hospital grade disinfectant effective against HIV-1 and Hepatitis B (Rule 0440-02-.13(2)(b)).
  • Alphahydroxy acid products stop at 30 percent, with a pH of 3.0 or above (Rule 0440-02-.16(4)).
  • Never dip a used towel into hot water and put it on a patron (Rule 0440-02-.13(6)(c)).

Questions and answers

How many questions are on the Tennessee aesthetician theory test?

The Test Taker Guide gives 100 scored questions and 15 unscored experimental ones, with 150 minutes. Test takers must score at least 70 percent, the minimum Rule 0440-01-.09 sets for every Board examination.

Can the Tennessee aesthetician theory test be taken online?

The Board's exam page says the options include remote proctoring for the theory exam, and that candidates may test at a center if their computer does not support the camera or the required technology.

Is this practice theory test free, and are the questions real?

It is free and runs in the browser with no account. The questions are this site's own, written from Chapters 0440-01 and 0440-02 of the Board's rules and two Board pages. None comes from the test.

What does the Tennessee aesthetician practical test cover?

The guide lists workstation preparation, a basic facial, eyebrow waxing and tweezing, makeup application and preparation for the next client, about 85 minutes in all. The theory test must be passed before the practical is scheduled.

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