No. 01 — The Cover
Studio C is six independent women working in their own rooms in downtown Gastonia. Hair, skin, massage, the head spa, and the wellness chair where the IV runs slow. Come once a season. Come once a week. The door on South Chestnut is the same.
No. 02 — In This Issue
Eight entries, in the order you'll find them. The page numbers are decorative. The standing appointment is not.
No. 03
A letter,
from Crystal.
Crystal Irby
Owner & Founder, Studio C
Welcome — I'm so glad you're here.
More than twenty years ago, I opened this salon with a simple dream: to create a place where people feel at home the moment they walk in. A space that feels personal, private, and peaceful — where you can relax, be yourself, and know you'll be truly cared for.
Over the years, that dream has only grown stronger. This studio isn't just a place to get your hair done or a treatment — it's a place to pause, to breathe, and to be heard. My amazing team and I take the time to listen, to understand what you want, and to make sure you leave feeling like the very best version of you.
We believe beauty is more than what you see in the mirror — it's how you feel. Whether you're here for a fresh haircut, new hair color, a soothing massage, a glowing facial, or a sun-kissed spray tan, our goal is always the same: to help you look your best, feel amazing, and leave with a little more confidence and a lot less stress.
Our clients are like family. We celebrate your milestones, listen through life's ups and downs, and are honored that you trust us with both your beauty and your story.
Thank you for being a part of our Studio C family. I can't wait to welcome you in and take care of you.
With love,
Crystal
Crystal Irby · Owner, Studio C Spa & Salon
No. 04 — The Collective
Studio C is not a chain and not a chair-rental. It is six women on Chestnut Street, each running her own practice, each picking her own products, her own pace, her own clientele. They share a roof, a coffee pot, and a standard for how a guest should feel walking in. Everything else is theirs.
06
Practitioners
04
Disciplines
01
Roof
∞
Standing appointments
No. 05 — Services
Hair, skin, massage, and the wellness chair. Spray tan, foot spa, makeup, and the head spa sit alongside — signature rituals each practitioner adds to her own menu. Full pricing lives on each practitioner's page.
Discipline I
Cut, color, balayage, ombré, color melt, men's, kids'. Slow appointments, one guest at a time, no double-booking. The kind of stylist who actually remembers what you said last visit.
Discipline II
Custom facials, dermaplaning, enzyme treatments done with patience. Lash lifts, brow lamination, and spray tans live on the same menu. Honest skin advice, the kind that respects your time and your face.
Discipline III
Therapeutic, deep tissue, prenatal. Plus the head spa — a slow scalp ritual most Gastonia clients had to drive to Charlotte for. The room is warm, the music is quiet, the pressure is what you ask for.
Discipline IV
IV drips and vitamin injections, run by a nurse of eighteen years on the wellness chair at the back of the studio. A B12 shot is quick; a drip runs thirty to sixty minutes. Honest about what helps, honest about what doesn't.
No. 06 — The Practitioners
Each runs her own book. Crystal Irby owns Studio C; her daughter Keegan keeps a chair beside her. Step into any profile to read her story and her full menu.
Owner & Founder
N° 01Redken Master Color Specialist and Studio C's founder, behind the chair since 1999. Her book is full; her regulars rebook on their way out.
Meet CrystalEsthetician
N° 02Custom facials, dermaplaning, enzyme treatments, spray tans. Builds a skin routine right in the chair.
Meet KeeganHair · Day Moon Beauty
N° 03Cut, color, and lived-in balayage as Day Moon Beauty — her own chair under the Studio C roof. Clients call it "hairapy."
Meet MikiHair · The Hair Doctor
N° 04Hair care as The Hair Doctor — blonding, custom color, keratin treatments, and a real plan for hair that needs one.
Meet KatherineIV Therapy & Wellness
N° 06IV hydration, vitamin injections, and recovery drips from the wellness chair at the back of the studio.
Meet KimNo. 07 — The Space
The studio is an old house at 325 South Chestnut, on the quiet end of downtown Gastonia. Tall doorways, shuttered windows, a fireplace in the massage room. Each woman keeps her own room off the hall. Nothing matches in a way that feels good.
The waiting room is the wraparound porch. Coffee lives on the sideboard down the hall, mugs on hooks. Bring a book. Or don't.
No. 08 — Visit
Pick what you're coming in for, and you're sent straight to the right practitioner's calendar. Planning more than one service? A wellness day lets the studio coordinate the whole visit.