Cowboy Clientele: Lawrence Stylist Doing Hair Extensions for Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders

By Sasha Roe
Lawrence Journal-World

Christina Frazier doesn’t have the typical hair salon clientele.

Frazier, Lawrence resident and owner of Connections for Hair in Overland Park, travels to Dallas every month to work with some of the most recognized women in Texas — the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Frazier visits each month to apply and maintain PerfecTress hair extensions. She also worked with the women during the filming of the makeover episode of CMT’s “Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making the Team 3.” The show follows the cheerleaders through the selection process, from their first tryout to their first performance in the Cowboys Stadium. Frazier may be featured on an episode.

Frazier joined the team because of her work with Miss USA pageants. Micaela Johnson, Miss Nebraska 2008, received Frazier’s hair extensions as part of her prize package.

At first, Johnson was strongly opposed to the extensions. As a former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader, Johnson remembered how many cheerleaders’ extensions constantly fell out or ruined their hair. Johnson decided to try the extensions and was so pleasantly surprised she recommended Frazier be a hair extension sponsor for the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

“The job isn’t something you just recommend anyone for,” Johnson says. “But the extensions stayed in so well and were such good quality I knew they’d help the girls maintain their look much easier.”

Johnson said the cheerleaders needed extensions that could endure their rigorous schedule and last the entire season with little maintenance. Cheerleaders are required to maintain full hair and makeup all the time — through workouts, rehearsals, appearances and even going to school. Johnson says sometimes she would do her hair and makeup five times a day. Frazier’s extensions were perfect because they are made of human hair, reusable and applied in small sections — not big sections that are glued in and make a mess of the woman’s hair.

Frazier usually stays in Dallas for a week, applying new extensions and maintaining ones she has already done. Being around the filming for the show and experiencing the women’s lives firsthand, Frazier quickly learned that the public’s idea of a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader was completely off-base.

“When I first got the job I thought, ‘Oh great, diva-land,’” Frazier says. “But it’s not like that at all. It’s such an honor and so competitive to be on the team that there’s really no room for the egos and drama.”

Rainer Schneck, of Salon Atelier in Dallas, has done the cheerleaders’ hair for the past 12 years. He says working with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders can be intimidating at first. Schneck says he’s been impressed with Frazier’s professionalism and commitment to the cheerleaders.

“I think anybody would be nervous at first,” Schneck says. “They’re our Texas pride. We expect the best for them.”

Frazier says being with such hard-working women makes the commitment of traveling to Dallas easy.

“It’s incredible how demanding their schedules are,” Frazier said. “I really want them to think of me as part of their team.”

Christina Frazier, right, adds extensions to a client’s hair at her salon, Connections for Hair, in Overland Park. Frazier, a Lawrence resident, travels to Dallas each month to add hair extensions to clients with the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders.

Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Melissa Kellerman shows how much length her hair extensions add. Lawrence resident Christina Frazier now does the hair extensions for the Cheerleaders.