The provincial government has been promising to re-regulate the beauty industry since 2005. But despite a rise in complaints and injuries, there have been no new laws.

Without training standards, some cities have shouldered the burden of checking training documents from the third world. But they say it's very difficult to tell a legitimate document from a forgery.

And health officials say that without a training standard, they're issuing more critical violations than they have to.

For the consumer, it means that some salons may be dodgier -- and if something happens, there's no guarantee a complaint will be followed up.

Alaya Sinkovits says a perm solution used on her hair also burned her face. Her experience at a Port Coquitlam salon left her so traumatized she decided to take action.

She sent a letter to B.C.'s Solicitor-General. But no one wrote back.

"You don't think that when you get your hair done you're going to have problems with your face and your hair is going to be completely ruined," she said.

"But nobody wrote back," she said. "I don't even know if they received my letter."

There was a time four years ago when beauticians had to pass a government exam before they could set up shop. Not any more.

The Cosmetology Industry Association used to have the power to inspect and fine unscrupulous salons. But since deregulation, they're not watching the people who use sharp tools and dangerous chemicals.

The government got out of the beauty business essentially to cut down on red tape and give more choice to the consumer. The assumption was that an employer would take care of hiring qualified workers.

But with complaints to the Cosmetology Industry Association up three times and complaints to the Better Business Bureau up six times, that doesn't appear to be happening.

Sometimes, other agencies have stepped in to fill the gap -- and they say they'd be doing a lot less work if there was a consistent standard for beauty salons.

One of the few cities in the Lower Mainland to check the qualifications of salon owners before they open is Vancouver.

But licensing manager Rosemary Hagiwara says that responsibility means her staff spend hours checking out whether a qualification from a foreign country is real or not, and sometimes they just aren't sure.

Hagiwara says the licensing office can't verify whether a certificate from Iran, Korean, Vietnam, or Syria is real.

"That's one of the problems we're facing," she said. "But it is our job since the province deregulated."

And Inderjeet Gill of Fraser Health says there's no doubt he'd list fewer salons as "High-Risk" if there was a single training standard. By comparison, restaurant workers all have to take the Foodsafe course, he said.

B.C. Solicitor General John Van Dongen says his government does monitor the industry.

"It is regulated by the health authorities as an agency that does personal care," he said.

But the health authorities only check salons regularly in the Lower Mainland. Outside of that zone, on Vancouver Island, the authority there doesn't do regular checks.

And nowhere in the province do health inspectors check training.

Van Dongen's predecessor, John Les, mused about reregulating the industry as early as 2005, and again promised a resolution in 2007.

But there hasn't been any re-regulation yet. That means it's up to customers to check their standards, such as the ones the Cosmetology Industry Association creates.

"Our certificate shows they've been examined on knowledge and skills," said Martin Constable of the Cosmetology Industry Association. If you don't see the certificate, he said, then "it's a crapshoot."

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Renu Bakshi and Jon Woodward