Illustrated study guides for licensing exams
Licensing exams, made simple.
Illustrated study guides for the exams that start careers. One idea per page, drawn so you remember it on exam day, and built from your exam's published outline.
Study areas
Seven exams, one way of studying
Esthetics
- Esthetician exam guide
- Free practice test
- Glossary of key terms
- The kit: 76-page illustrated theory book, 60 cards, 100 terms
Cosmetology
- The written exam at a glance
- The look-alikes that cost points
- The kit: 120-page illustrated theory book, 60 cards, 100 terms
Real Estate
- The national portion at a glance
- Contracts, agency and the math
- The kit: 131-page concepts book, math book, 100 terms
Barbering
- What the barber exam covers
- What we're building
- Join the launch list
Project Management
- The July 2026 exam outline
- What we're building
- Join the waitlist
Nail Technology
- Texas nail tech license, step by step
- Which exam your state uses
- Join the waitlist
Life & Health Insurance
- How the licensing exam is built
- Pass rates with sources
- Join the waitlist
Next up
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Request an examWho it's for
Three ways in, one problem
Too much to read, too little time, and terms that look alike under pressure. Whichever exam you're facing, that's the part we fix.
Finishing a program
You're in beauty school
Esthetics, cosmetology, barbering or nails. Your program ends with a board exam, between clinic hours, work and everything else.
Changing careers
You're starting something new
Real estate or insurance. Studying after work, without a classroom, in language that reads like a contract.
Moving up
You already do the job
Project management. You know the work. You need to see how the exam thinks, organized and easy to review.
Where we fit
Keep your textbook. Make it stick.
Made Simple isn't a course or a question bank. It sits next to whatever you're already using and turns the hard parts into pictures you can review in five minutes.
Your textbook
Covers everything, in a lot of words.
Your course or school
Walks you through it, on its schedule.
Made Simple
One idea per page, drawn, tagged to the outline. On your phone, in the gaps.
Five layers of the epidermis
New cells are made at the bottom and shed from the top.
How every guide works
The drawing does the explaining
Every Made Simple guide follows the same rules, whatever the exam. You learn the method once and it works in every subject.
One idea per page
Short text, one picture. Study in five-minute gaps on your phone.
Exam Traps and Memory Hooks
The look-alike terms that cost points, named in plain words, with a hook to keep them apart.
Mapped to the outline
Each page carries its outline tag, so you know why it is there and nothing is padding.
Honest about state rules
Where a rule changes by state, the page says so right where you are studying it.
Free resources
Start studying before you buy anything
Practice tests, state-by-state exam guides and illustrated glossaries for every study area. Free, no sign-up to read.
Practice tests
Free practice questions with explanations
Every answer explains why the other three are wrong.
State guides
Your state's exam, step by step
Hours, fees, exam format, languages and retake rules.
Glossaries
The words of every exam, drawn
Look-alike terms side by side, so you stop mixing them up.
Data
Licensing exam pass rates by state
Pass rates from state reports, with the source and year on every number.
How we make our guides
Built from the outline, checked twice
No shortcuts and no padding. Here is the process every guide and every free page goes through.
Start from the published outline
Each exam publishes what it tests. We build from that outline, section by section, and tag every page to it.
Use primary sources
Candidate bulletins, state laws and rules, and the agencies that set the standards. Every free page lists its sources and the date we checked them.
Fact-check separately
A separate review checks every page against those sources before anything is published or sold. The writer never checks their own work.
Say when it varies
Where states disagree, the page flags it instead of guessing. State-specific rules live in state guides and state packs.
Stay independent
We are not affiliated with any board, testing company or professional body. We just make the material easier to see.
Questions
Frequently asked
What is Made Simple?
A family of illustrated study guides for licensing exams. Each study area has its own guide, written to that exam's published outline, with one idea and one drawing per page.
What format are the guides?
Digital PDFs sized for a phone screen. You download them right after purchase and keep them. Each guide is a one-time payment, not a subscription.
Are you connected to my state board or the testing company?
No. Made Simple is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by any state board, testing vendor or professional body.
Will a guide make sure I pass?
Made Simple guides are independent study aids. No guide can guarantee a passing score. What they do is make the material clear, visual and easier to remember.
Can I get a refund?
Each guide's refund terms are shown on its page and at checkout, before you pay.
Stay in the loop
One email when your exam is ready
Pick your exam. We'll email you when a new guide or free practice set for it is ready. No spam, and you can unsubscribe any time.