INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Central Indiana Salon owners are pushing back over recent guidance from a state board about a widely used chemical in beauty products.

Some beauty professionals told News 8 a compliance officer to the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency advised them that the scope of licenses has changed regarding the use of ammonium thioglycolate.

It’s a chemical found in hair relaxers. Cosmetologists use products containing the chemicals for perms. Meanwhile, estheticians use the products for lash lifts, tinting, and brow lamination.

Licensed esthetician Jessi Rice owns Opal Esthetics. She says in October, a compliance officer suggested she remove services using those products from her menu.

“It’s wildly frustrating,” Rice said. “There’s not really a rule that’s been changed, necessarily. It’s more of the gray area that we’re trying to get down to business and figure out.”

Rice has been providing the services for eight years at her business. As a result, she says she’s had to cut about 30% of her services.

“That was a big hit to my business,” Rice said. “I am a solo esthetician. So, this is what I do full time.”

Certified educator and licensed cosmetologist Jessica Warrix owns Mane Society Salon and Spa.

Warrix says her in-house esthetician has decided not to offer services using ammonium thioglycolate, while they seek clarification. Warrix says it accounts for about 7% of her sales.

“As an esthetician within your 700 hours [of education], you are also being taught [about the chemicals],” Warrix said. “You are learning that skill, you are learning the ingredients, you are learning that process.”

It’s a problem that’s generated some buzz online for other local beauty professionals. More than 250 people have joined a Facebook group started by Warrix to discuss similar issues facing the industry in central Indiana.

Warrix says it’s been a source of empowerment over the last month and a half.

“Seeing like-minded other individuals really caring about not only just their patrons, but their livelihood and also just their branding, I think speaks volumes,” Warrix said.

The two business owners are rallying a group of others impacted by the change in scope to the next Indiana PLA Board meeting on Monday at 10 a.m.

Both business owners say they’re seeking transparency about how and why the changes were made.

“We don’t want to fight with them,” Rice said. “We want to band together, and we want to figure this out for the greater good of our entire industry.”

The board meeting will be in room W064 of the Indiana Government Center South, located at 402 W. Washington St. in Indianapolis.

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