Studio RAW (Feat. outtakes from my next #OOTD, coming soon!)
If you are familiar with my blog or follow me on Instgram, you are aware my hair doesn't stay the same for very long and is hardly ever a natural color. This being said, I'm not going to lie, doing my hair myself was quite the task and very hard to maintain. That's why this past October (you know, when I decided to become a mermaid) I began letting my friend Chris, a stylist at Studio RAW, begin styling my hair. It is honestly the best decision I've ever made beauty wise, I mean how can you argue with theses results from my last appointment?!
However, enough about my fabulous dye job for now, and let's talk about how awesome the salon Studio RAW really is!
The Backstory
The owners of Studio RAW were originally Dan Burda, his partner Rohn Neugebaure and Dan's mum, Laraine. However, Dan's partner passed away two years ago and ever since it has just been Dan and his mum running the salon, since its grand reopening in 2013.
Owner Dan Burda
Though Studio RAW has been in business for 6 years, two of those years are as the revamped version of "Studio RAW 2.0" which is probably the one my Pittsburgh readers are familiar with today. The 2.0 version came about after a devastating fire that the company had back in 2012. To read more about it you can feel free to click here.
Studio RAW 2.0 is located in the same building that the original salon was, however it is much larger. When Dan and his mum Laraine remodeled they had bigger and better things in mind for their new salon. For instance originally their salon space was only 2,700 square feet, however since they now had the entire building to work with and had no other tenants, they expanded their salon to a luxurious 8,000 square foot one of a kind space. Honestly, I'm telling you, I've never seen anything like it! The other awesome thing about Studio RAW is not only do you get a kick-ass hair style out of the deal, but you also get complementary food (think finger foods and a peanut butter and jelly bar) as well as a well stocked, self serve bar, including spirits, wine, and beer!
Not to mention you can't help but love their sense of humor:
My Stylist
Lastly, of course I have to mention my friend and amazing stylist, Chris Angelo! Chris and I met back in 2012 when we were both in college, we had a digital printing class together and we were both high achieving, artistic, and each had a fascination with the darker things, such as making illustrations depicting the effects of abuse or mental disorders. Needless to say we hit it off right away after sharing a printer.
In 2013 Chris started working at Studio RAW as a front desk boy. Then in August of last year he began attending Empire Beauty School for hair styling. Naturally, of course he's moved into being a stylist at RAW. Chris comes by his talent naturally, due to the fact his grandfather was a barber and his cousin, Taylor, is also a stylist at Studio RAW. So I guess you can say a love of styling hair runs in the family!
Chris and his cousin Taylor outside of Studio RAW
The last thing I asked Chris in my brief (okay who am I kidding my hair takes 4 hours to style) time with him is what he loves most about styling hair and his response is as follows:
"I love being able to be creative and see it come to life right in front of me. Also through styling I've had the opportunity to meet so many fantastic people! I also just love making friends, family, and strangers feel good about themselves, that's the best part!" -Chris Angelo
In the Pittsburgh area and looking for a new salon?
Studio RAW is located at:
3185 Babcock Blvd, Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Their hours are:
Monday: 12:00PM-8:00PM
Tuesday: 9:00AM-9:00PM
Wednesday: 9:00AM-9:00PM
Thursday: 9:00AM-9:00PM
Friday: 7:00AM-7:00PM
Saturday: 7:00AM-7:00PM
Sunday: CLOSED
To book your appointment today call: (412) 367-2444
Have a Studio RAW experience you would like to share? Tell me all about it in the comments below!!