While there are many quality hair loss solutions available, unfortunately, there are also those in the hair loss industry who take advantage of people’s vulnerability. Many of my clients come to me with stories of how they were convinced to spend thousands of dollars on hair loss solutions that were low quality and ultimately didn’t work for them. At Refined Hair, we pride ourselves on offering the highest quality hair solutions and approaching every conversation with a potential client with openness and honesty.

It breaks our heart to hear these stories from people, and we are grateful to be able to share with you our client Arianna Smith’s story of her struggle to find a quality salon that offered a hair loss solution that would work for her. We hope her story educates you on the importance of doing your research prior to purchasing a solution and gives you hope knowing that there ARE people in the hair industry that just want to help find what’s best for you.

Read About Arianna’s Hair Loss Journey:

I started to notice my hair was thinning on top when I was in college. I began using a powder to cover up some of the sparseness, but that got all over my bathroom and face. I also used Rogaine for a long time, but only a few hairs actually grew from that.

Finally one day my mom and I decided we would check out extensions. We flew to NYC for a girl’s weekend and went to a fancy, expensive salon. They gave me the most beautiful extensions. However, there were so many that I felt like I was sleeping on a brillo pad every night. Eventually, the extensions started to fall out, and I had to find a new solution.

From there, I tried three salons for extensions. All of the salons either ripped us off or didn’t work out. At the end of that journey, my mom and I realized my hair was still getting thinner. Right before a 3-month trip to the UK, we found another woman who glued a top piece and did extensions. For the time, it seemed like it would be a good option. However, while I was on my trip, the extensions started to get really sticky and soon it felt like someone stuck hundreds of pieces of bubblegum in my hair – it was awful! My mom and I somehow found a woman in Oxford (where I was taking classes at the time), and she spent over 5 hours trying to help me.

When I returned home, we knew I needed something different. So, we found a hair replacement center in Dallas. They told me that I didn’t have enough hair and they shaved it all off. At this point, I was so upset that I didn’t care anymore. For almost 3 years I let them shave all my hair and put me in a full-cap wig. I was in law school in Waco at the time, so I had to drive home every 3 weeks to get it done because the hair wasn’t good quality.

After law school, I moved to Austin, and my mom and I searched for hair replacement places here. We found a woman who had a salon in her home. She charged hourly for the service and so she would take HOURS to do everything. 5 hours later and $500 later we realized it was time to find someone else. We found a place that I thought would be the last one. I went there for almost 2 years. Luckily, this place said that I did have enough hair and it was crazy that the other place was shaving it off, so we started to grow my own hair back out. But over time, I found that the hairpieces were terrible quality again, and I was having to replace them more often than the two times a year they said I would need to.

I was about to give up. I didn’t know what to do anymore other than cry to my mom. I obsessed over my hair – all I’ve ever wanted was to feel normal, to not itch all the time, to not worry about it looking like a wig, etc. My mom and I tried another place where they did weave-in extensions on top and bottom. That only lasted 2 weeks. This was the moment I broke down. Totally hopeless. And then in that moment of despair, we found [Refined Hair]. The 10th place (and last) of my hair journey.

As you can see, Arianna has traveled a difficult road to finding the right hair loss solution for her. She is currently in a stock piece while we wait for her CNC system to arrive – which will be any day now! We are so excited to have been able to find a system that worked for her. We hope that her story will encourage you to do your research when looking for a solution as well as show you that there is a light at the end of the tunnel – so don’t give up and keep searching until you find the right solution for you!