Welcome to the Rusk Thermal STR8-Dallas Website This site is owned and operated by Marie Echelmeyer,hairstylist and healthy hair expert in far North Dallas. I have been in the salon industry, working behind a chair for 17 years. I specialize in color and in thick,curly hair. I own my own business, Hair By Marie and have been certified in the Rusk Thermal STR8 Thermal Reconditioning process. This process is also known as Japanese Hair Straightening. I'm so pleased to be able to offer this new thermal reconditioning service to  curly-heads in Dallas/Ft. Worth! I was certified back in August 2001 and since then have done successful TR's. My goal for this site is to educate you on the process of Rusk Thermal Str8,Thermal Reconditioning,Japanese Hair Straightening. If you have wavy/curly/frizzy hair then this is THE service for you!

What Is It? RUSK Thermal STR8 is an Internal Restructuring System and is the best choice for performance in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area because it permanently straightens 100% of excessively curly/wavy hair. Thermal STR8 uses the  patented RUSK "Processing Control Technology" (P.C.T.) which actively manages the chemical reaction for predictable results.Your hair will be left in extraordinary hair condition! RUSK Thermal Str8 is a unique system. The proteins, conditioners, and protectants are used throughout the service to optimize results. Rusk Thermal STR8 comes in two formulas to ensure perfect results on different hair types. Today's style trend is straight, smooth, and silky looking hair.Are you unhappy with daily straightening? Not only is it time consuming the results are never completely straight, humidity, and rain can cause hair to revert back to curl.You won't believe the look, and feel after havig the Rusk Thermal STR8.Stop wasting your time styling your hair straight! If you think you may be a candidate for Thermal Reconditioning using the Japanese Hair Straightening system called Rusk Thermal STR8, then I invite you for a free consultation in my salon. Contact me at salongirl@hotmail.com or 972-733-1143. If I'm with a client the voice mail will come on,please leave a message and i'll return your call shortly. The Consultation: The consultation serves 3 purposes. It allows you to get a chance to know me and my personality, which will be important because you will be spending an afternoon with me. The second is to see if you are a good candidate for Rusk Thermal STR8.The third is to give you a more accurate price estimate based on your curl pattern and porosity in your hair. First I will go over a brief question and answer dialogue. At this point i'm trying to determine past chemical services done on your hair. It's is especially important to let me know any and all chemicals you have on your hair for the past 3 years because those chemicals will still be on your ends. Second I will shampoo your hair. After shampooing I will be able to see how strong your curl pattern is or if we are going to be concentrating on frizz control. I then will dry your hair. The fun begins! if you have been using flat irons, you know how amazing they are and I will then flat iron your hair. This gives me a chance to again see how strong the wave pattern in your hair. If you have not been using flat irons then you will be in for a treat! I will flat iron the hair meticulously which will leave it super straight and shiny. This will also give YOU a better chance to see how it would be permanently. After every single consultation I've ever done, the client has booked for the service. I have not had 1 person say to me "Marie this is too straight!" Any hair designer who is charging the prices they are now charging for Thermal Reconditioning ( US$400-US$1500 ) should offer a free preliminary consultation. This is one of the most important steps to the entire procedure. Why? The complete Thermal Reconditioning service takes about 4-8 hours. If you arrive at the salon only to find that your hair is not suitable for the service you not only waste your time but possibly the whole afternoon schedule of the hair designer. No one will be happy to cancel a Thermal Reconditioning service at the last minute. Some hair types are not usually suitable for Thermal Reconditioning, such as: lightened hair(with bleach), some colored hair,(very experienced stylists can work with colored and lightened hair)strong African type hair or hair that has previously had a sodium relaxor. Henna'ed hair is also not a good candidate for TR.. What hair can or cannot have Thermal Reconditioning is not a black and white issue, there is a lot of gray area that requires the expertise of the professional. The hair designer needs to look at your specific hair and make a judgment based on their knowledge and experience. Some colored hair can have the treatment others cannot. You need to know, what problems could occur on your hair and then what you will need to do to keep your hair healthy and looking good after the service. The Procedure: I will start by clarifying your hair to get rid of any sort of buildup,strengthening your hair with protein and conditioning it. The protein and conditoner will remain on the hair during the entire process. The reconditioner is then added to your hair and processing begins. This takes time,usually about 45minutes to an hour. After constant strand tests to determine readiness and it's achievment I will then rinse the reconditioner out.. After another round of protein and conditoner I then dry your hair. When the drying is completed I then will flat iron your hair with a ceramic iron, 1/4" by 1/4",carefully, meticulously. After flat ironing the neutralizing begins. Another solution is applied over the flat ironed hair and then left on for 5 minutes. This is rinsed out and again protein and moisturizers are added. A final blow dry and flat iron process is completed and you are done! Welcome to the world of Jennifer Anniston and Julianne Moore! To schedule your free consultation call or email me at: salongirl@hotmail.com or my salon at 972-733-1143.Plan on spending about an hour with me for the consultation. Before&After Pictures#1 Before&After Pictues Page1 Before&After Pictures Page3 Before & After Pictures page4 Before & After Pictures Page5 Before&After Pictures Page6 Before&After Pictures Page7 Before&After Pictures Page8 FAQ's Links Page The Rusk website and a link to find a certified Rusk Thermal STR8 salon in YOUR zipcode Get Driving Directions To My Salon Email Me!

"M", done Nov. 2004, had had the CHI process on his hair 2 years ago.(When CHI 1st came out the misprinted the technical manual and it said to apply product DIRECTLY on the scalp...consequently many stylists did their 1st CHI straightenings and broke clients hair off all over the nation. This client was 1 of those 1st straightenings. He had an incredible amount of breakage from that 1st straightening. Luckily with his this Native American hair you really couldn't tell. Thank god he wasn't a woman  with normal hair! The breakage would have been devasting to us! His procedure took 4 hours.

Wow! What a change for both of these clients! (top and bottom) Each client took about 4.5hours with lovely results.  Both of these clients will not have to do their hair again for about a year. Price: $450.00

This client was done on May 20th...her hair was not very curly, more wavy and she just wanted to get some control over it. She took 4.5 hours. After straightening it, we saw how bad her last haircut was. She had gone to a very popular,nationally recognized salon and recieved this terrible cut...I won't name names,but she paid $50.00 for it! So, the chop marks you see in her after pictures were not from me. Unfortunatley,it will have to grow out more before it can be evened out.This is something I see quite regularly after straightening curly hair. You see just how uneven your stylist has been cutting your hair,because curly hair is very forgiving of uneven haircuts. Check out the uneven cut below.I just had to take a picture of this! Her price:$450.00

I did "MBC" last year in June 2003 and at that time she was 9months pregnant and due at any minute. (She actually was dilated when having the Rusk Thermal STR8 done and gave birth 5 hours later, YIKES!) She wanted easy to care for hair due to upcoming mommy-hood. She got just that and the procedure lasted 1 year! We did her retouch June 2004 and guess what? She's with child again! She really needs that easy to care for hair now with 2 little ones! Her initial procedure took 4.5hours, her retouch took 3.5 and it looks great! Notice the length she gained as well! Great girl, great hair! Thanks MB! By the way, ANOTHER bad haircut only seen after we straighten the curl...it was done at the same nationally known salon chain which I will keep quiet on, but shame on them!

"Supatra" was magically transformed June 2004. What a difference! Her procedure took 4.5hours and looked great!

Steph was done in June 2004. A busy mom, she was tired of blowdrying this hair only to have it frizz again outside in Texas! She took 5 hours and just look at her results! Wow! She was kind enough to send me an email and this is what it said, "Thursday, June 17, 2004 8:20 AM To :  "Marie E" <salongirl@hotmail.com> Subject :  Hair looks great!    |  |  | Inbox  Hi Marie, Just wanted to drop you a quick email to let you know that I washed my hair after the 72 hours.  I used all the products that you gave me and my hair looks great!  I let it air dry for about 30 minutes while I was doing other things.  It took 5 minutes to blow dry it and 5 minutes to flat-iron it. It's so soft and shiny!  We're having professional pictures done tomorrow with my sister and the kids.  Now, I won't have to spend hours on my hair! Thanks so much!! Take care and see you in about 4 weeks! Stephanie" Steph's procedure took 5 hours and she'll need to have it retouched in about 7-8months.

"AP" was done in June2004. Amazingly,her procedure only took 3.5 hours, even with all her hair!  She had color treated hair which cuts down on the processing time, saving money. She was so pleased! She won't have to have this redone untill June 2005.She came to me because her sister "RP" had Rusk Thermal STR8 done last year and loved her hair so much! Price $340.00 (move your mouse over each of her pictures to see the side views)

AK, done in November 2004...her procedure took 4.5hours and looked incredible! She's enjoying her new hair currently.

EV came to see me from Italy...she's1/2japanese& 1/2 african-american. This beautiful lady had some crazy curls! her procedure took 5.5 hours, what a remarkable change! Thanks EV and good luck!

This innovative jewelry designer came to see me in October...she had some wild curls! No longer! Welcome to the world of straight hair...her procedure took 5 hours.

Move your mouse just over each of these 2 pictures to see the side views of "KB"s hair."KB" was done May 30th...her hair was very tight curls, to the scalp in the back. A new mom, she didn't have the time to blowdry and straighten every day. This was the service for her! She,amazingly,only took 3 hours & 20minutes.. What a pretty change! We trimmed about 2" off the back on the ends only.This will last her about a year and a half. Price: $320.00

Move your mouse on top of the picture above."StMc" was done May 23rd...wow! She took 4.5 hours...incredible! Price:$450.00

This sweet Indian client drove down from Ardmore to get her hair done. Absolutely stunning results! Thanks Keerti! (took 4.5 hours)

Annamarie, a great nurse from S.Africa will have her straight hair for a good 9months again. Ahhh, straight hair. Previous she had the Chi done, didn't like it, that's when I met her. Thanks Annamarie! (She took 4 hours)

Danielle drove all the way from Texarkana to get her thermal reconditioning! Thanks Danielle! She took 4 hours.