If every head spa review you read this year starts out the same way, that’s because it’s true: no one knows how much they’ll love a head spa (or realize it was exactly what they needed) until they try it, including me.
When I posted on Instagram about my own main spa experiences (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 also didn’t realize how many people had done that. I was desperate for a master spa without knowing where to find one. That’s short for: my DMs blew up. (“I watch them on TikTok all the time!” someone said. Who knew?)
My own head spa trip almost didn’t happen. 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, internal herbal medicine, trichology.” and aesthetics with a luxurious spa experience’. I had saved it, forgotten about it and – even after digging it up – took the time to prioritize a booking. Appointments were postponed and then canceled (my fault; sorry Cloud Twelve) and I didn’t pick up again until I knew I’d be around for dinner.
And honestly? I felt some fatigue with scalp care, having undergone several deep cleansing treatments and enlarged scalp scans over the past few years; all clarifying (yes, my scalp was always drier/gunkier/more sensitive than I imagined) but none ever felt more experiential 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 main spa?
Consider a multi-step facial for your scalp, designed to remove dead skin cells and product build-up while stimulating blood flow to the follicles, and you’ll be on the right track.
“It’s about hydration, about stress management and about deep cleansing of the scalp,” says naturopath, herbalist and Cloud Twelve founder Jenya di Pierro. With that in mind, the Head Spa protocol involves a combination of steam, exfoliation, warm towels, pressure point massage on the scalp and the application of deep cleansing and moisturizing masks and/or oils.
There should also be an element of neck and shoulder massage, says massage therapist Tomoe Taniyama of Hiro Miyoshi, noting that a tight neck and shoulders mean a tight scalp, and a tight scalp can’t do its best work when it comes to strong hair . and healthy hair growth. “Starting with a simple neck and shoulder massage can help release stress and relax your scalp so you can get more blood flow and nutrients to the hair follicles,” she explains an hour after knocking me out. A 30-minute treatment at Hiro Miyoshi’s basement beauty salon then sent me upstairs to be vigorously shampooed and exfoliated, steamed and blow-dried.
Some treatments also start and end with a magnified scan of your scalp and roots via a trichoscope, with the second image hopefully looking fresher and shinier than the first.
Where does Head Spa come from?
Head Spa originated in Japan and is popular throughout Asia, where sink exfoliation and head massage are often part of the salon experience. ‘I have yet to try one here,’ says London-based dermatologist and hair specialist Dr Sharon Wong, ‘but to be honest, getting my hair cut in Asia has always been an essential part of the salon journey to have scalp-based treatments for exfoliation and hydration as standard offerings,” she continues, drawing parallels with other Asian beauty practices such as gua sha as “another ‘trend’ in Western society that has always been deeply rooted in Asian cultures.”
Hiro Miyoshi’s Tomoe Taniyama tells me that the camellia oil she rubbed into my scalp is a specifically Japanese tradition: rich in oleic acid, this is deeply nourishing. “When I massage your scalp, I not only remove dirt, but I also hydrate the skin,” she explains.
Having lived in Japan for twelve years (while also regularly traveling to South Korea to experience the spa culture), Cloud Twelve’s Jenya di Pierro is careful to acknowledge Head Spa’s Asian origins, although once she back in London has added a few ‘bells and whistles’. of her own, including a horizontal spa bed. Yes, at Cloud Twelve you sit flat and wrapped in blankets, your head cradled over a built-in sink and protected by a giant plastic bubble. Oh, and it features a soothing LED light show that changes from turquoise to blue to royal purple to pink. It’s spectacular.
The beds were first noticed by Tiffany Hall, Cloud Twelve’s in-house trichologist, who had seen the head spa movement “explode” during a trip to California. “We wanted the best of all worlds: Japanese and Korean traditions, a vertical bed, my naturopathic knowledge of herbs and homeopathy and techniques such as LED and microcurrent to stimulate hair growth,” says di Pierro. ‘I have included all possible techniques in that protocol, for people who do not have time to do millions of treatments. You can get a facial treatment, your hair and scalp care is included and you also get some relaxation’
In London’s Mayfair, Maison Sisley’s new boutique offers a semi-lying but equally gorgeous series of tapping, acupressure massage and scalp steaming in a dedicated treatment room-slash-mini-salon, followed by a post-treatment blow-dry that is deliberately minimal, to avoid pulling or prevent overheating of your newly restored locks. As a fan of blow-drying frizzy hair, the “minimal” wasn’t news I wanted to hear. But actually, my hair had an unusual willingness to fall into precise shape and felt so soft that I couldn’t stop touching it for days.
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 main spa I’ve tried. Okay, I’m not completely asleep, but I’ve entered that hallucinatory state between being asleep and being awake… which 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 meditative brings a state of relaxation.
In that regard, both the Sisley and Cloud Twelve experiences involve a lot of running water, which can sometimes feel like running your head through a small, upscale car wash. I loved it, but if that doesn’t seem like your thing, ask your therapist about ways this can be skipped or avoided. As for the massage, all three main spas I tried involved layer after layer of stroking, pressing and manipulating using a range of tools and techniques. So if you enjoy the hands-on part of a facial the most, 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 usually recommend yoga, meditation, sound healing and breathwork. But any form of touch therapy is great at resetting your nervous system and stress hormones, so head spa is relaxation at the deepest level. The therapists tell me that many clients fall asleep.’ So not just me. “And then you sleep better that night, which means another opportunity to repair and rebalance your body,” she continues.
Ultimately, I would call Head Spa an incredibly powerful facial treatment for the head, leaving hair feeling soft and full. I emerged from each of my rooms feeling like I had undergone a full body reset and was as shiny new as if I had been scrubbed from head to toe. But make sure your treatment includes a blow-dry. Apart from the minimal version 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 don’t have any issues with thinning hair or scalp sensitivity, so I treat Head Spa as an occasional deep cleanse and a huge treat. I can also vouch for the power of some before-and-after 3D images to encourage you to up your hair care game at home; I wash my hair much more often now and have incorporated exfoliating lotions and a scalp brush into my routine.
“I would consider a head spa the equivalent of a facial,” agrees Dr. Sharon Wong. ‘It’s a hydration and exfoliation boost to complement what should be a robust at-home routine to maintain a healthy scalp. I think it would be especially helpful for people who might not wash their hair very often – for example, afro-textured hair. However, I want to be very clear that a ‘scalp consultation’ in a salon – even with a magnifying glass to get a closer look at the scalp – is not a substitute for a medical assessment by an appropriately trained expert.”
At Cloud Twelve, the presence of trichologist Tiffany Hall introduces another diagnostic element: therapists are trained to use the trichoscope camera exactly as she would use it herself and to watch for possible scalp conditions. ‘The pre-treatment scan will flag any problems such as psoriasis or seborrheic dermatitis, which may affect what we can and cannot do during the treatment,’ says Hall, who also checks daily for the images uploaded during each main spa treatment . If she notices skin problems or early signs of thinning hair or hair loss, she sends a sensitive email to that client indicating possible next steps.
As for thinning hair, while no one would (or should) sensibly suggest that Head Spa is a panacea, a growing body of research suggests that regular scalp massage can contribute to the thickening of individual hairs over time. Keeping the scalp clean can also help maintain healthy growth by preventing damage and inflammation from free radicals caused by dirt and oil oxidizing around the follicles, while encouraging cell turnover through regular exfoliation and keeping the skin supple and hydrated. This is believed to slow down aging. -related miniaturization, in which the follicles start 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 prevent it from getting worse,” says di Pierro.
Where can you try a head spa in London?
Cloud Twelve Wellness and Lifestyle Club, Notting Hill
Maison Sisley London, Mayfair
Hiro Miyoshi Hair & Beauty, Mayfair
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