Salt Strands

Salt Strands is a hair salon in Dana Point, California, run as a team of independent stylists. Each stylist books their own appointments, so clients contact the stylist they want directly. The salon focuses on dimensional color, including sunkissed and lived-in looks, and on extensions.

The salon says its goal is for clients to feel pampered, relaxed and at their best, and it describes its hair services as luxury. Its extension line, Salt Strands Hair Co., was created by owner Val Plunk. The wefts are single drawn with tapered ends and a lightweight build, made from fine Asian-textured hair with no filler, and colored to match the salon's signature shades in 15 custom tones across warm, neutral and cool. The salon claims the weft is the finest and most lightweight available and that its extensions look more natural than any others; those are its own claims. The line is kept exclusive to protect quality control.

New clients booking color or extensions with Val Plunk fill out the color and extension form, and the salon says it contacts these clients within 48 hours and offers a complimentary phone consultation. Returning Val Plunk clients schedule by emailing contact@saltstrands.com. Color appointments require a $100 retainer and extension appointments a $500 deposit. All new clients place a non-refundable retainer, which is applied to the service on the day of the appointment and can move to a rescheduled appointment if 72 hours notice is given.

Services are priced a la carte with starting prices: haircut with service from $200, gloss from $450, face frame highlight from $475, partial highlight from $550, lowlights from $600 and full dimensional color from $700. Extension installation starts at $300 per row. A one-row installation uses about 3-6 wefts on average and a two-row installation about 7-12. Hair Co. wefts cost $170 each in 18-inch length and $270 each in 22-inch length, plus tax.

Rescheduling or cancelling requires 72 hours notice. Appointments cancelled more than 72 hours ahead are rescheduled at no extra charge. Cancelling with less than 72 hours notice incurs a charge of 50% of the scheduled service, and cancelling with 24 hours or less notice, or not showing up, incurs 100%. Arriving more than 15 minutes late means the appointment is rescheduled and cancellation charges apply. Front desk staff collect cancellation fees, and no further booking is allowed until they are paid.

The stated goal is for clients to leave feeling pampered, relaxed and at their best.