If every head spa review you’ll read this year starts the same way, it’s because it’s true: No one knows how much they’ll love a head spa (or realize it’s exactly what they need) until they try it. I.
When I shared my own head spa experiences on Instagram (one at West London wellness center Cloud Twelve; another at Sisley’s Mayfair day spa and a third at Hiro Miyoshi, also in Mayfair, London) I didn’t realize how many people had also had the experience. I was desperate to try a head spa without knowing where to find it. This stands for: My DMs exploded. (“I watch them on TikTok all the time!” someone said. Who knew?)
My own head spa journey almost didn’t happen. While researching hair trends for Red’s November issue, I found an old email inviting me to try a treatment that combines personalized scalp analysis with ‘expert-led holistic hair and scalp care, in-house herbal medicine, trichology and aesthetics.’ ‘a luxury spa experience’. I filed it away, forgot about it, and then — even after uncovering it — spent time prioritizing the reservation. Appointments were postponed, then canceled (my bad; sorry Cloud Twelve), and I didn’t address the issue again until I knew I’d be in the area for dinner.
And honestly? Having experienced numerous deep cleansing treatments and magnified scalp treatments over the past few years, I was feeling a bit of scalp care fatigue; they were all enlightening (yes, my scalp was always drier/dirtier/more sensitive than I imagined) but none felt more experiential than your average head massage and blow dry. I would now rate the 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 product buildup, while also encouraging blood flow to the follicles; you are on the right track.
‘It’s about hydration, it’s about stress management, it’s about deep cleansing of the scalp,’ says Jenya di Pierro, naturopath, herbalist and founder of Cloud Twelve. With this in mind, the head spa protocol will include a combination of steam, exfoliation, hot towels, pressure point scalp massage, and the application of deep cleansing and moisturizing masks and/or oils.
Tomoe Taniyama, Hiro Miyoshi’s massage therapist, says neck and shoulder massage should also have an element of it, noting that a tight neck and shoulders mean a tight scalp, and a tight scalp won’t be at its best when it comes to strong hair. and healthy hair growth. ‘Starting with a basic neck and shoulder massage helps relieve stress and relaxes your scalp, allowing more blood flow and nutrients to the hair follicles,’ she explains an hour after knocking me out with a mind-bending move. A 30-minute treatment at Hiro Miyoshi’s basement beauty room, then sent me upstairs to vigorously shampoo, exfoliate, steam, and blow dry.
Some treatments also begin and end with a magnified scan of your scalp and follicles through a trichoscope; Hopefully the second image will look fresher and brighter than the first.
Where does head spa come from?
Head spas originate in Japan and are popular throughout Asia, where sinkside exfoliation and head massage are often part of the salon experience. London-based consultant dermatologist and hair specialist Dr. ‘I haven’t had the chance to try it here yet,’ says Sharon Wong, ‘but to be honest, when I get my hair cut in Asia it’s always been part of the trip to the salon. ‘there are scalp-based exfoliating and moisturizing treatments as a standard offering,’ she continues, drawing parallels with other Asian beauty practices such as gua sha as ‘another ‘trend’ in western society that has always had deep roots in Asian cultures.’
Hiro Miyoshi’s Tomoe Taniyama says the camellia oil she rubs on my scalp is a special Japanese tradition: rich in oleic acid, deeply nourishing. “When I massage my scalp, I’m not only removing dirt, I’m also moisturizing the skin,” she explains.
Cloud Twelve’s Jenya di Pierro, who has lived in Japan for 12 years (as well as regularly traveling to South Korea to experience the spa culture there), is keen to credit the head spa’s Asian roots, but when she returns to London she’ll take a few ‘ ‘tink and whistle’ he added. It has its own, including a horizontal spa bed. Yep, in Cloud Twelve you’re flattened and wrapped in blankets, your head held over a built-in sink and protected by a giant plastic bubble. Oh, and inside there’s a soothing LED light show that changes from turquoise to blue to deep purple to pink. Wonderful.
The beds were first spotted by Cloud Twelve’s in-house trichologist, Tiffany Hall, who saw the head spa movement ‘exploding’ during a trip to California. ‘We wanted the best of all worlds: the traditions of Japan and Korea, a vertical bed, my naturopathic knowledge of herbs and homeopathy, and techniques like LED and microcurrent to stimulate hair growth,’ says Di Pierro. ‘I’ve packed every possible technique into this protocol for people who don’t have time to do millions of treatments. ‘You can have some facial care, your hair and scalp care done, and you can relax a bit too.’
The new Maison Sisley boutique in London’s Mayfair offers a semi-reclining but equally spectacular sequence of tapping, acupressure massage and scalp steaming in a private treatment room-mini-salon, followed by a deliberately minimal post-treatment blow-dry. To prevent your newly restored strands from pulling or overheating. As a blow dry enthusiast with frizz-prone hair, the ‘minimal’ part wasn’t the news I wanted to hear. But in fact, my hair was left with an unusual desire to get just the right shape, and it felt so soft that I couldn’t stop touching it for days afterwards.
How does it feel to have a head spa treatment?
I can’t help you as much as I’d like here because I’ve fallen asleep at every spa I’ve tried. Okay, so I’m not completely asleep, but I’ve entered the hallucinatory state between sleep and wakefulness… This makes even more sense when Tiffany Hall tells me that the sound of running water has a white noise-like effect that puts us in a meditation-like state. relaxation.
In this regard, both the Sisley and Cloud Twelve experiences involve a lot of running water; Which sometimes feels like having your head run through a fancy little car wash. I like this, but if this doesn’t sound like your bag, ask your therapist about ways this can be bypassed or avoided. As for the massage, all three head spas I tried involved layer upon layer of caressing, pressure, and manipulation using a variety of tools and techniques. So if the hands-on part of a facial is your favorite part, you’ve just met your new favorite way to spend an hour.
“Even I can forget how healing the power of touch is,” says Jenya di Pierro. ‘When I talk to my clients about mindfulness techniques, I often recommend yoga, meditation, sound healing and breathwork. But touch therapy of any kind is incredible at resetting your nervous system and stress hormones, which is why a head spa is relaxation at its deepest level. Therapists tell me that many clients fall asleep.’ So it’s not just me. “And you sleep better that night, which means another opportunity to replenish and rebalance your body,” she continues.
All in all, I can call the head spa an incredibly powerful head treatment that leaves hair feeling soft and full. I emerged from each one feeling like my entire body had been reset and feeling new and shiny, as if I had been scrubbed from head to toe. But check if your treatment includes a blow dry. Apart from the minimum fare offered at Sisley, mine had to be booked separately and in advance.
Does Head Spa have long-term benefits?
Yes and no depending on what you are trying to achieve. I have no issues with hair thinning or scalp sensitivity, so I find a head spa an occasional deep clean and a great treat. I can also vouch for the power of some before and after 3D images to encourage you to up your at-home hair care game; I wash my hair much more often now and include exfoliating lotions and a scalp brush in my routine.
‘I would position the head spa as the equivalent of a facial,’ agrees Dr Sharon Wong. ‘This is a hydrating and exfoliating supplement that completes a solid at-home routine for maintaining a healthy scalp. Where I think this would be particularly useful is those who don’t wash their hair that often, for example with afro textured hair. But I want to be very clear that a ‘scalp consultation’ in a salon – even if there is a magnifying device to look closely at the scalp – is not a substitute for a medical assessment by an adequately trained specialist.’
At Cloud Twelve, the involvement of trichologist Tiffany Hall introduces another diagnostic element: Therapists are trained to use the trichoscope camera exactly as she would use it and to pay attention to potential scalp conditions. ‘Pre-treatment screening flags problems, such as psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis, that may affect what we can and cannot do during treatment,’ says Hall, who checks the uploaded images daily during each spa treatment. If she notices any skin issues or signs of premature thinning or hair loss, she will send the client a sensitive email to signal possible next steps.
When it comes to hair thinning, although no sane person would or should suggest that a head spa is a miracle cure; A growing body of research suggests that regular scalp massage can contribute to thicker hair over time. Keeping the scalp clean can also help maintain healthy growth by preventing free radical damage and inflammation caused by dirt and oil oxidizing around the follicles; It accelerates cell renewal with regular exfoliation and is believed to slow down aging by keeping the skin flexible and moisturized. – related miniaturization, in which the follicles begin to produce hairs that are thinner and more brittle than before. ‘Sometimes you can’t fix the problem completely, but if you catch it early enough you can prevent it from getting worse,’ says di Pierro.
Where to try a head spa in London?
Cloud Twelve Health and Lifestyle Club, Notting Hill
Maison Sisley London, Mayfair
Hiro Miyoshi Hair and Beauty, Mayfair
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