The Strand Hair Studio

After seeing my hair and/or feeling my scalp, I have been asked by more than one person to provide a review of my experience.

I went to The Strand to Dottie Thornley for numerous haircuts prior to this experience. I enjoyed chatting with her, and I felt that she always did a nice job of cutting my hair. I have short, fine hair styled in a pixie cut.

I wanted to try something new and asked about extensions. I admitted that I knew nothing about them, and asked her opinion if a pixie cut to a bob was possible. I showed her a picture, and she said - sure. No problem.

I was charged $922.83. This included the hair, labor, hair cut and style, bottles of shampoo and conditioner, a used hair brush, gratuity and extra toner that she told me to apply to my roots of my hair for 10 minutes at home because my hair was "ashy."

She applied the extensions to the sides and the back of my head, not to the top as I thought she would. I expressed immediate concerns about the result, and she told me the hair would lay flat and look better after washing it the next morning at home. I tried to keep an open mind, and did my usual wash and dry the following morning. It was a mullet. When I told her I was being called Garth/Joe Dirt by my friends (what can I say, they have a sense of humor), she said I could come in and she would take some length off before she left for vacation, which she did. It wasn't as mullet-like, but it still felt awful. My head looked like a doll's head of hair with clumps of hair poking out.

The extensions became increasingly painful. I couldn't sleep because it hurt to put my head on a pillow with all the glue quills poking my head and the tension on my scalp. It felt like 120 overly tight, tiny pony tails on the back and sides of my head. I asked her about removing them when I went in for the mullet corrective cut, but she said she didn't recommend removing them. They hurt so badly that my husband and I cut each piece out. Now, I have 100+ tiny bald spots on my head.

She offered to give me haircut credits on future haircuts to help me. She also said she doesn't offer refunds, and has mentioned something about signing receipts implies customer agreement to her no refund policy. She has also mentioned she keeps her costs low to help people.

That is my hair extension experience from my perspective.

I get my hair cut and colored here and have never left unhappy. Sheila is great about giving me her professional opinion and will tell me if I am making a bad choice. She will do exactly as asked even if I don't take her advice. Although I ALWAYS take her advice because she has proven she's right!! Thanks to Sheila and The Strand for making me beautiful.