I've been compiling resources as I study for my ABA - American Barber Association Certified certification and figured I'd share what I've found. All free unless noted.
Practice Tests:
- PracticeTestGeeks — most comprehensive collection I've found, good question explanations, covers ABA - American Barber Association Certified, Beauty Business, and CCP - Certified Cosmetology Professional. Free.
- Official practice materials from the certifying body — usually 1 free sample exam, worth doing even though it's short
Study Materials:
- The official ABA exam handbook / candidate guide (PDF, free from the certifying body's website)
- YouTube — search for "ABA exam prep" — there are surprisingly good free video reviews for most cosmetology & beauty certifications
- Reddit r/certifications — people post their exam experiences and tips regularly
Paid (worth it if budget allows):
- Official study guides run $30-80 for most cosmetology & beauty certifications — worth it if your exam has lots of specific factual content
- Some certifying bodies offer prep courses — check if your employer covers it (many do for required certifications)
What resources have others found useful for cosmetology & beauty exams? I'll add them to this list.
The official candidate guide is something a lot of people skip but it literally tells you the topic weighting and domain breakdown. It's the roadmap for your study plan. Never skip it.
For ABA - American Barber Association Certified specifically, I found the PracticeTestGeeks explanations were detailed enough that I didn't need to buy a separate study guide. The combination of doing the practice questions + reading every explanation (for both right and wrong answers) covered most of the content I needed.
Great list. I'd add: LinkedIn Learning has some cosmetology & beauty-related courses that overlap with cert content, and if you have a library card many libraries give free access to it. Also check if your local library has access to O'Reilly or similar — tons of technical content there.
Honestly I almost didn't bother finishing my prep halfway through because nothing was clicking. The practice tests on PracticeTestGeeks were what finally made things stick for me, especially the aba aba beard mustache grooming section which I thought I knew cold but definitely didn't. Short sessions, like 20 questions at a time, worked way better than grinding for hours.
If you're feeling stuck just keep going. I failed two practice rounds before I passed the real thing and it wasn't pretty, but the explanations on those tests actually taught me where I was going wrong instead of just telling me I was wrong. You've got this.
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