Why I booked in for a 17-step head facial - The Times

[Sarah Jossel]

I’ve learnt to accept people who have different political beliefs. It’s not always easy, but seeing things from the other side is as important as from your own point of view. I can just about tolerate people who put too much milk in their tea. Why don’t you just order a milkshake next time, dear? And I can turn a blind eye to those who tuck napkins into their collars when they sit down to a meal. No comment and hello, husband, yes that’s you. But there is one group of people I will never be able to understand: those rare specimens who politely decline a head massage at the hairdresser’s.

I ask this in all seriousness: what happened to you in life that you would turn down your scalp being kneaded and tapped and tickled? Alongside the refreshed style and cut or colour at the end, the head massage step is the great bit of the whole salon experience. I ask again: what in the world would make you say no? Wherever you’re rushing to next cannot be as important as the complimentary massage ritual on offer at most salons. If your hairdresser does not offer one, I would consider breaking up.

I bring this to your attention because “head spas” have started cropping up across the UK — and they are exactly as they sound, offering full-on, dedicated pampering sessions for your head, scalp and hair. Can I move in?

They have taken off on social media too. I have lost hours on the couch to TikToks of heads being steamed and combed and caressed. Here’s the lowdown: head spas have been big business in Japan for years with their mantra of “treating the skin on your scalp like the skin on your face”. They are right. People spend their monthly salaries on eye-watering skincare products and yet still use whatever is floating around in the shower: “2-in-1? Saves time …”

So in the name of research I booked in for a 17-step head facial — no typo here, it’s 17 steps, truly — at Cloud Twelve in Notting Hill (from £190 for 70 minutes). Let me caveat that this is not all fluffy spa-speak. The head facial at this particular spa has been curated by the trichologist Tiffany Hall, with the mission of addressing issues such as hair loss and thinning, dandruff and itchy scalp.

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Two of the treatments at Cloud Twelve

Let’s get to the good stuff: I’m lying back on a massage bed with my head poised in a sink. Before my scalp gets to be fondled, my therapist puts me through a grim examination. Using a camera and a tablet she shows me all the gunk (product build-up, oil, dirt, grime) that has taken up residence on my roots. The examination pinpoints my concerns — dry and dandruff-prone in my case — but it will pick up everything from oiliness to hair thinning.

The tablet is switched off, the lights dim and the ambient music begins. Over the next 90 minutes my head goes through a waterfall rinse where jets move up and down and around the scalp in a halo effect, a medicinal herbal steam mist and an LED scalp brush (a shiatsu massage tool that rolls over the roots emitting red LED light to boost my scalp’s circulation). Bliss.

I am forced to come back to reality when I’m handed the tablet once again. I can’t quite believe it’s the same scalp. It’s immaculate. No sludge or residue in sight. My hair feels lighter and swooshier, glossier and more revitalised, like it has gone through a full deep-clean service rather than a quick wash and go.

The good news is that you’re becoming spoilt for choice for head spas to book. Look up Lough Skin in Loughborough on Instagram (@loughskin) — its ASMR-inducing scalp sessions are worth travelling for. There’s also Tivoli in Cheltenham and Mooni Headspa in Warrington. Even the renowned Maison Sisley spa in Mayfair has its own swanky couture head spa, where you’re wrapped up in a plush, silky-soft duvet while your scalp and neck are treated to the full tension-release experience.

By the way, you can recreate some of the steps at home. In terms of tools, try sweeping and pressing the Rehab Oiling Comb (£16, rehabyourhair.com) over your head to increase circulation to the roots. If your issue is a flaky scalp, it’s unlikely that it will heal on its own, so I recommend Act + Acre Cold Processed Scalp Detox (£46, actandacre.co.uk) to soothe and exfoliate. If hair is dull and lacklustre, a DIY gloss-up is now possible thanks to Typebea G.4 Hydra-Gloss Treatment (£26, uk.typebea.com). It works its magic in five minutes and then you rinse it out. And finally I’m squeezing in Color Wow Youth Juice Collagen Scalp Treatment (£44, cultbeauty.co.uk) for weak strands that are prone to breakage. You need to commit to this, but there’s some evidence it can improve the quality and elasticity of ageing hair over time.

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I have a feeling these spas are going to get booked up quickly. I know a good thing when I try it. Consider this your head start (sorry).