There is a towel over my eyes, and I am mendacity immobile on a stiff desk. I am surrounded, I do know, by solely curtains, and I can hear faint noises past them. A halo of water sprays down first on the highest of my head, then the temples, then over the face towel. This isn’t waterboarding—it is a head spa.
Addressing the top—the scalp, actually—is a spa apply with Asian roots, however it has reached peak American reputation in solely the previous couple of years. (Sure, it is on TikTok.) I’ve at all times discovered a scalp therapeutic massage to be essentially the most gratifying moments of a full physique therapeutic massage, so the concept of including the perfect a part of a haircut, the hair wash, appeared like a no brainer.
D4 Season, a Shoreline spa that opened a second location in Lynnwood final yr, specializes within the therapy. A real head spa expertise requires some particular gear, specifically that spraying, shifting halo, so it is principally present in institutions at the very least partly devoted to the service. (When she noticed pictures of the contraption, Seattle Met‘s artwork director famous “it is giving carwash to your head vibes,” and as at all times she hit the nail on the top.)
In head spas throughout the US, the method can get downright scientific, with cameras zooming in on the hair follicles so the practitioner can do evaluation on whether or not they seem oily, dry, or in want of particular assist. My D4 Season appointment wasn’t diagnostic, and regardless of the oils used to deal with my scalp there, the expertise was far more enjoyable than the rest.
The specialised beds embody a basin at one finish, just like the lie-flat model of a Supercuts wash station. Over the course of about 45 minutes, my aesthetician rotated via therapeutic massage and cleaning of the scalp, at all times cautious to position a towel over my face when the halo handed over. For all my love of head rubs, it was the nice and cozy, not-too-hard water stress on my neck that felt the perfect.
Imprecise claims throughout the web—and never by D4 Season, I ought to stress—say that scalp therapeutic massage can fight hair loss. It’s supported by restricted analysis however dermatologists appear to agree that it is extra about making the top more healthy total, not pumping out new locks.
The D4 Season signature therapy is peppered with shoulder, temple, and head therapeutic massage, although completed via the crinkly, considerably disconcerting materials of free plastic gloves. Add-ons can embody pink LED mild remedy, enjoyable ASMR sounds, hair steam, or a gua sha facial that includes a software that places stress on face pores and skin. Mine, nevertheless, was principally rubbing and washing, adopted by a hair drying session that was undoubtedly not a full blowout. My hair bought dry however not styled in any respect, so it wasn’t very best on the way in which to work or a public occasion.
In a world the place skincare feels prefer it has turn out to be a major sector of the well being, magnificence, and on-line leisure spheres, the scalp is smart as the subsequent frontier. For all of the hair spa’s roots in Japanese and Chinese language historical past, the place therapeutic massage and even acupuncture is used to calm and heal problems across the physique, an hour-long therapy is prone to have its largest influence on easy scalp cleanliness; I left with the satisfaction that comes from a vigorous scrub. And as Head and Shoulders commercials have taught us since time immemorial, that is a superb factor.
