Merria Dearman

Merria Dearman represents a unique combination of hairstylist, wigmaker, and designer. She started her training in Sonoma County, California, at the well-known salon Elle Lui under the instruction of master hairstylist Shireen Samii, along with mother-and-son owners Bobby and Fati Sariaslani. Merria went on to win national awards for her talent. Her training also includes classes from Vidal Sassoon, Bumble
and Bumble, Jacques Dessange, Sonya and Christopher Dove, and Frederic Fekkai, along with in-house education from L'Oréal and Wella artists.

Merria's passions have also expanded to hair and makeup for film and television. After a successful career as a stylist, she attended Vancouver Film School, graduating with honors after studying with Emmy Award-winning makeup artists and hairstylists. Her talent for wig work was recognized and encouraged by her prestigious instructors.

When Merria was almost finished with her schooling, her aunt was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly, Merria's life took an unexpected turn. She realized that she could use the same skills she employed in making realistic wigs for film, television, and theater to create undetectable hairpieces for members of the general public, such as cancer patients, who are suffering from hair loss. Although many master wigmakers were reluctant to share their secrets, Merria received encouragement and opportunities from Jeanna Hurd (ACT), Amanda Miller (Saturday Night Live, the Metropolitan Opera, the Juilliard School), and Maggi Yule (Berkeley Repertory Theater). While Merria was working full time at California's diPietro Todd Salon, Kim and Andrew Todd helped make her unique skills accessible to the public, thus creating a new service in a high-end salon: a wigmaker, designer, and stylist all in one.

Merria continues to provide these special services to her clients alongside her film and theater work, which now also includes makeup. Her performing arts clients include the History Channel, Berkeley Repertory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater, and many others.

Eventually, Merria turned her sights on New York City, with several goals in mind: to reach a larger demographic, to work more with hair loss in the general public, to feel a closer connection with her clients, and to find a more personally fulfilling path. She has achieved all of these objectives and more.

Seven years after beginning her career in wigmaking design, Merria is opening the doors to her eponymous salon with an expertise unrivaled by anyone in the industry today. Her focus is on personal attention and the special physical and emotional care surrounding hair loss in all its stages, along with educating the public on options in the world of hairpieces. Merria possesses exceptional compassion for people undergoing this kind of trauma, be it hair loss due to cancer, alopecia, or other reasons, and she is prepared to do whatever it takes to make the journey they are on with her a positive, life-changing experience.