by If every head spa review you read this year begins the same way, it’s because it’s true: no one knows how much they’re going to love a head spa (or understand exactly what they needed) until they try it, including me.
I didn’t realize either, when I posted on Instagram about my own spa experiences (one at the West London wellness center Cloud Twelve; another at the Mayfair Sisley day spa and the third at Hiro Miyoshi, also in Mayfair, London ), how many people were desperate to try a spa head without knowing where to get one. Here’s a short for: my DMs blew up. (‘I watch them on TikTok all the time!’ said one. Who knew?)
My own spa trip almost happened. While researching hair trends for the November issue of Red, I found an old email inviting me to try a treatment that combines a personalized scalp analysis with expert-led holistic hair and scalp care, healing in-house herbalism, trichology & aesthetics with a luxurious spa experience’. I filed it, forgot about it, and then – even after I found it – it took up my time prioritizing a reservation. Appointments were postponed and canceled (my bad; sorry Cloud Twelve) and I didn’t pick up the thread again until I knew I’d be in the area for dinner.
And honestly? I felt some scalp care fatigue, having experienced multiple deep cleansing treatments and increased scalp scans over the past few years; everything enlightened (yes, my scalp has always been drier / gunkier / more sensitive than I thought) but no one has ever felt more from experience than the average head massage and blow dry. Now I would rate a head spa as my favorite treatment of the past year.
What is a head spa?
Consider a multi-step facial for your scalp, designed to remove dead skin cells and stimulate product build-up and blood flow to the follicles, and you’re on the right track.
‘It’s about hydration, it’s about stress management and it’s about deep cleaning of the scalp,’ says naturopath, herbalist and founder of Cloud Twelve Jenya di Pierro. With that in mind, the spa protocol will include a combination of steam, exfoliation, hot towels, scalp pressure massage and the application of deep cleansing and moisturizing masks and/or oils.
There should also be an element of neck and shoulder massage, says Hiro Miyoshi massage therapist Tomoe Taniyama, pointing out that a tight neck and shoulders means a tight scalp, and that a tight scalp can’t do its best work when it comes strongly. and healthy hair growth. ‘Starting with a basic neck and shoulder massage helps you release stress and relax your scalp, so you can get more blood flow and nutrients to the hair follicle,’ she explains an hour after hitting me with mind bending. A 30-minute treatment in Hiro Miyoshi’s basement beauty room then sent me upstairs to be vigorously shampooed and deoxidized, steamed and blow-dried.
Some treatments also begin and end with an enlarged scan of your scalp and roots through a trichoscope, with the hope that the second image will look fresher and brighter than the first.
Where does spa head come from?
The head spa originated in Japan and is popular throughout Asia, where sink-side exfoliation and scalp massages are a common part of the salon experience. ‘I’m yet to try one here,’ says London-based consultant dermatologist Dr Sharon Wong, ‘but to be honest, when I get my hair done in Asia it’s been an integral part of the salon journey in always. have scalp-based treatments for exfoliation and hydration as a regular offering,’ she continues, drawing parallels with other Asian beauty practices such as gua sha as another ‘trend’ in western society that was deeply rooted in the cultures of Always Asian.’
Tomoe Taniyama Hiro Miyoshi tells me that the camellia oil she rubbed into my scalp is a specific Japanese tradition: rich in oleic acid, this is very nourishing. ‘When I massage your scalp, I’m not only removing the dirt, I’m also moisturizing the skin,’ she explains.
After living in Japan for 12 years (and regularly traveling to South Korea to experience the spa culture there), Cloud Twelve’s Jenya di Pierro is meticulous about her Asian origins. Accredited spa, although she went back to London when she added a few ‘bells and whistles’. of its own, including a horizontal spa bed. Yes, at Cloud Twelve you are flat and cocooned in blankets, your head cradled over a built-in sink and protected by a giant plastic bubble. Oh, and there’s a soothing LED light show inside, changing from turquoise to blue to royal purple to pink. It’s great.
The beds were first spotted by Tiffany Hall, Cloud Twelve’s in-house trichologist, who saw the spa movement ‘exploding’ on a trip to California. ‘We wanted the best of both worlds – Japanese and Korean traditions, a vertical bed, my naturopathic knowledge of herbs and homeopathy and techniques such as LED and micro-current to stimulate hair growth,’ says Pierro. ‘I put every possible technique in that protocol, for people who don’t have time to do millions of treatments. You can get a bit of a facial, your hair and scalp care is covered and you get some rest too’
In London’s Mayfair, the new Maison Sisley boutique offers a semi-permanent but equally gorgeous sequence of tapping, acupressure massage and scalp steaming in a dedicated mini-salon-slash-treatment room, followed by a deliberately minimal post-treatment blow-dry . , to avoid tugging or overheating for newly restored strands. As a blow-dry driver with fair-weather blonde hair, the ‘minimum’ was not news I wanted to hear. But really, my hair was left with an uncharacteristic willingness to fall straight out of shape and felt so soft that I couldn’t stop it for days afterwards.
How does it feel to have a head spa treatment?
Here I can’t help you as much as I’d like, because I’ve fallen asleep in every spa I’ve tried. Ok, not completely asleep but I’ve entered that hallucinatory state between sleep and waking… which makes more sense when Tiffany Hall tells me that the sound of running water has a white noise effect which puts us into a meditative state. of rest.
On that note, the Sisley and Cloud Twelve experiences involve a lot of running water, which sometimes feels like putting your head through a luxurious little car wash. I liked it but if that doesn’t sound like your bag, ask your therapist about ways to prevent or avoid this. As for the massage, all three of the Spas I tried involved layer upon layer of strokes, pressure and manipulation using a variety of tools and techniques. So if the hand part of the face is your favorite, you’ve just found your new favorite way to spend an hour.
‘Even I can forget the healing power of touch,’ shares Jenya di Pierro. ‘When I talk to my clients about mental techniques, I usually recommend yoga, meditation, sound healing and breath work. But touch therapy of any kind is incredible in resetting your nervous system and stress hormones, so the spa head is relaxation at its deepest level. The therapists tell me that many clients fall asleep.’ Not just me, then. ‘And then you sleep better that night, which means another chance to restore and rebalance your body,’ she continues.
In the end, I would like to call a spa head on extremely powerful one that leaves the hair feeling soft and full. I came out of each of mine feeling like my body had been completely reset and as shiny new as I had been scrubbed from head to toe. But check if your treatment includes dry blow. Apart from the minimum offered by Sisley, mine had to be booked separately and in advance.
Does a head spa have long term benefits?
Yes and no, depending on what you are trying to achieve. I don’t have any problems with thinning hair or scalp sensitivity, so I treat the scalp spa as a deep clean and a huge thing. I can also vouch for the power of some 3D before and after imagery to inspire you to up your hair care game at home; I wash my hair much more often now and duty lotions and a brush have been added to my routine.
‘I would position a head spa as the equivalent of a face,’ says Dr Sharon Wong. ‘It’s a hydration and exfoliation boost to complement a strong at-home routine to maintain a healthy scalp. Where I think it would be particularly beneficial for those who may not wash their hair as often – for example, afro-textured hair. I want to be very clear, however, that a salon ‘scalp consultation’ – even with a magnifying device to look at the scalp upwards – is not a substitute for a medical assessment by a sufficiently trained expert.’
At Cloud Twelve, onboard trichologist Tiffany Hall adds another diagnostic element: therapists are trained to use the trichoscope camera exactly as she would use it herself and to look out for potential scalp conditions. ‘The pre-treatment scan shows any issues like psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis, which would affect what we can and can’t do during the treatment,’ says Hall, who also checks the images uploaded daily during all spa treatments. If she sees any skin problems or early signs of thinning or hair loss, she will send that client a sensitive email to indicate possible next steps.
When it comes to thinning hair, while no sane person would – or should – suggest that a scalp spa is a miracle cure, a growing bank of studies suggests that regular scalp massages can actually contribute to the thickening of individual hairs over time. time. Keeping the scalp clean can also help maintain healthy growth by avoiding the free radical damage and inflammation caused by dirt and oil oxidation around the follicles, while regular exfoliation keeps cell turnover up and ensures that supple and hydrated skin is believed to delay aging. associated miniaturization, whereby follicles begin to produce hairs that are thinner and more fragile than before. ‘Sometimes you can’t solve it completely but if you catch it early enough you can stop it from getting worse,’ says Pierro.
Where to try a head spa in London
Cloud Twelve Health and Lifestyle Club, Notting Hill
Maison Sisley London, Mayfair
Hiro Miyoshi Hair & Beauty, Mayfair
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