There's a towel over my eyes, and I'm lying motionless on a stiff table. I'm surrounded, I know, by only curtains, and I can hear faint noises beyond them. A halo of water sprays down first on the top of my head, then the temples, then over the face towel. This is not waterboarding—this is a head spa.

Addressing the head—the scalp, really—is a spa practice with Asian roots, but it has reached peak American popularity in only the last few years. (Yes, it's on TikTok.) I've always found a scalp massage to be the most enjoyable moments of a full body massage, so the idea of adding the best part of a haircut, the hair wash, seemed like a no-brainer.

D4 Season, a Shoreline spa that opened a second location in Lynnwood last year, specializes in the treatment. A true head spa experience requires some special equipment, namely that spraying, moving halo, so it's mostly found in establishments at least partly dedicated to the service. (When she saw photos of the contraption, Seattle Met's art director noted "it's giving carwash for your head vibes," and as always she hit the nail on the head.)

In head spas across the US, the process can get downright clinical, with cameras zooming in on the hair follicles so the practitioner can do analysis on whether they appear oily, dry, or in need of specific help. My D4 Season appointment wasn't diagnostic, and despite the oils used to treat my scalp there, the experience was much more relaxing than anything else.

The specialized beds include a basin at one end, like the lie-flat version of a Supercuts wash station. Over the course of about 45 minutes, my aesthetician rotated through massage and cleansing of the scalp, always careful to place a towel over my face when the halo passed over. For all my love of head rubs, it was the warm, not-too-hard water pressure on my neck that felt the best. 

Vague claims across the internet—and not by D4 Season, I should stress—say that scalp massage can combat hair loss. It is supported by limited research but dermatologists seem to agree that it's more about making the head healthier overall, not pumping out new locks.

The D4 Season signature treatment is peppered with shoulder, temple, and head massage, though done through the crinkly, somewhat disconcerting material of loose plastic gloves. Add-ons can include red LED light therapy, relaxing ASMR sounds, hair steam, or a gua sha facial that involves a tool that puts pressure on face skin. Mine, however, was mostly rubbing and washing, followed by a hair drying session that was definitely not a full blowout. My hair got dry but not styled at all, so it wasn't ideal on the way to work or a public event.

In a world where skincare feels like it has become a significant sector of the health, beauty, and online entertainment spheres, the scalp makes sense as the next frontier. For all the hair spa's roots in Japanese and Chinese history, where massage or even acupuncture is used to calm and heal disorders around the body, an hour-long treatment is likely to have its biggest impact on simple 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's a good thing.