Shockoe Bottom eyelash salon to relocate to Libbie Mill

The Extended Studio team, including owner Sable Grayson (middle). (Photos courtesy Sable Grayson)

A previously unused storefront in a midtown development is getting a makeover courtesy of a local beauty studio. 

Extended Studio, an eyelash extension and beauty salon currently located at 2302 E. Main St. in Shockoe Bottom, is moving to a spot at 5001 Libbie Mill East Blvd. in Gumenick Properties’ Libbie Mill Midtown. 

The salon, which offers treatments like lash extensions and lifts, dermaplaning and brow lamination, is taking over a 1,400-square-foot space on the ground floor of Libbie Mill’s Penstock Quarter building. The move marks the building’s first time being fully leased since opening.

Harrison Hall and Peter Vick of Colliers International represented Libbie Mill in the lease, while Tony Rolando of Pollard & Bagby represented Extended Studio. 

Extended Studio owner and founder Sable Grayson, a Richmond native, began her beauty journey by becoming a licensed esthetician in 2019. After realizing she preferred working on eyelashes over skincare, she started her lash business on wheels in 2020, taking her supplies with her to clients’ houses.

“I was going from house to house with a trunk full of supplies,” Grayson said. “Fast forward to August of 2021, that’s when I opened my first studio.” 

After spending a few years flying solo in a small studio space, Grayson hired lash artist Hayley Gordon, her first long-term contractor, and moved into the current spot in Shockoe Bottom in early 2024. 

Extended Studio owner Sable Grayson tears down a ‘for lease’ sign at the beauty salon’s new storefront.

Yet without a visible storefront at the East Main Street location, and a growing team that now includes four lash artists in addition to Grayson, she quickly began looking for a space that might fit the bill to grow Extended Studio’s reach and customer base. 

Grayson found her spot while attending classes at the Solidcore Pilates gym in the Penstock Quarter building.

“I’ve always wanted a storefront to grow my business, and it all kind of aligned,” she said. “I’ve been on the lookout for a new studio space in a bit of a nice, walkable, luxury area.” 

Renovations on the space are set to begin soon. The design will give Extended Studio’s new space an open concept, with both industrial and “modern luxury” elements and details, along with a few more beds. Grayson said she is looking to hire some new lash artists, thanks to the extra space.

The salon’s prices range from lash extensions starting at $115, lash lifts starting at $100, brow lamination starting at $90 and dermaplaning starting at $75, according to its website.  

And along with recently adding more skincare-based services like dermaplaning and 30-minute “mini facials” to Extended Studio’s repertoire, the studio will begin offering longer, more in-depth facial services when it opens in Libbie Mill this fall.  

Penstock Quarter includes around 300 apartments and houses commercial tenants such as Blue Ridge Cyclery, River Run Dental Spa and, its newest arrival, RVA Bakehouse. 

Construction on Libbie Mill Midtown began in 2013. Extended Studio is the first business slotting into the space in Penstock Quarter’s Suite 105. 

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