I got strand by strand fusion with Valencia in June, and I am very happy. Even my own mother did not know this was not my hair and she's hard to fool. The key is to have a fusion specialist who has years of experience with different types of hair textures and hair companies, and is willing to work with you (not rip you off $$). Valencia takes pride in the finished product.
There may be some shedding, but it's a matter of finding the type of hair, the style and color, and the grooming products that work best for each individual and her lifestyle. Plus strand by strand fusion with keratin protein is low maintenance compared to some other techniques.
Before going to Valencia, I had experienced a totally unprofessional weave specialist in College Park, MD who charged more than $500 (plus the cost of hair and her hair products) to sew a track of cheap, shedding hair (that she'd selected) on your head without braiding your hair and she claims it is "strand by strand". Don't be fooled -- this technique knots and tears your hair out. And you'll spend an hour every mornng trying to get your hair to lay down over a thick track. If you're going to do that you might as well save money and your hair and go with the braid and track method. I should have known something was wrong when the stylist never used her own weave technique on her own hair, plus her own hair always looked bad.
Fusion correcty done is so much more natural looking and it saves time that no woman wants to spend worrying about her hair. For now, I am definitely No Tracks in College Park thanks to Valencia