Three members of Alpha Delta Pi sorority are giving TCU students the opportunity to accessorize their hair with colorful feathers without emptying their pockets.
Sophomore Erica Torgerson and her two business partners, juniors Kiran Rupani and Katie Blakely created Frog Featherheads, a new business that uses feathers to give students a unique look and act as a great conversation starter, Torgerson said.
Their business was originally run out of their sorority dorm room, but when they found out that running a business out of a university residence was against TCU student code of conduct, they changed their location to a friend's house located at the intersection of Granbury and Seminary Road, she said.
Torgerson, a business major, said she got the idea while at home over the winter break.
"I got my hair done over winter break in San Diego and when I came back everyone loved the extensions," Torgerson said. "The normal rate was $30 for one feather, and we thought we could do it for a lot cheaper."
The feather hair extensions use real, multicolored bird feathers and are inexpensive and easy to apply, she said. The feathers can add subtle or dramatic highlights to ones hair without damaging or altering it in any way, she said.
Briana Wucinski, a sophomore strategic communication major, said she found out about Frog Featherheads at a sorority meeting where Torgerson came in to talk about the business. She had an appointment Feb. 14 and has received many compliments on her feather accessories, she said.
"They are really easy to style." Wucinski said. "I can blow dry, straighten and curl them without any kind of damage to the feather or my hair."
Rupani, a neuroscience major, said the hair extensions could be straightened, curled or even washed without coming out of the hair and last up to two months. However, she said constantly pulling or tugging on the extensions could cause them to fall out.
The extensions are sold as a group, seven feathers costing $20, but can range depending on the quality of the feather, she said. Although color dyed feathers cost one dollar more, she said she thought it was a good way to add a little color to any hairstyle.
Blakely, a biology major, said there is a process when it comes to putting the extensions in the hair. They first take a round crimp bead and slide it over a few strands of hair. They then add a feather to the hair and crimp down the bead, without damaging or tearing the hair, she said.
Rupani said that they had over 30 clients since they began and have made over $400. They plan to give half of their proceeds to the Fort Worth Ronald McDonald House and hope to expand their business if it attracts enough attention.