I have heard of shared office and work spaces, but this was the first I have seen and experienced one for salon services.
Located in an outdoor plaza in South Surrey, Nara Head Spa is on the 4th floor of such a shared work space building. This building is dedicated to hair stylists and wellness workers, with them and their services separated by glass walls. Each salon and its owner an individual business, each using their space as they see fit, while sharing amenities like a waiting area and washrooms with the other tenants.
Check in is via iPad, where you select the business you are here to see and after inputting your name and number they are notified to come get you, when they are ready to do so.
Today my services would be with Lita of NARA Head Spa. This is a trend we have been seeing lately, where your hair gets washed and your scalp scrubbed for you. And honestly, there is nothing more luxurious than someone cleaning you. A wonderful relief and respite considering how task heavy this can be, depending on the length of your hair. Therefore before even walking in I could see the well received reception and increased popularity of such a service.
I have been to other head spa before, but this one certainly sets the bar high. Here, they offer a fully authentic Japanese head spa experience using Takara Belmont equipment and Milbon products imported directly from Japan. The owner herself, with eduction, training, and experience in hair has even gone to Japan to learn the technique from those who have crafted it. She doesn’t use any machines or massagers, just traditional manual massage methods focusing on Ayurvedic and pressure-point methods.
“Ayurvedic is is a 5,000-year-old holistic system of medicine from India. Its name translates to the “science of life”. Its philosophy is built on the belief that everything in nature is composed of five elements: space, air, fire, water, and earth. These elements combine in the human body into three primary life forces, or energies, known as doshas”. (As per a google search). This is where the Japanese have modelled this practice from.
Lita started NARA because she noticed the head spa trend becoming more about gimmicks than actual scalp health and well being, and she wanted to bring in the real experience, the one you’d get in Japan, back to metro Vancouver and the surrounding.
She best described her practice, comparing it to sushi, where others are adding on toppings and mayonnaise she is keeping it to the basics, and there was nothing lacking. Currently treatments in this space aren’t regulated. There is no education needed or requirements asked. Lita on the other hand wants to be the one to set and establish that standard, declaring that at minimum you should be a hair stylist to preform such a specialty service.
There is only one other salon offer a similar treatment, however this is the only one that is private. A one on one experience, where your head massage is in the privacy of your own room, and not within a shared space, alongside others trying to fully immerse and enjoy themselves as well.
The treatment begins with Lita’s hospitality, she offers water and tea, and even goes so far as to heat up or remake the latter once it cools.
You are asked to sit in her chair where using a high powered microscope, she inspects your scalp. Like you would for a facial, the needs of the skin on your head is assessed and a plan of action is created based on those needs. This is carried out during your two hour plus long treatment and then you walk away with notes on how you can help and maintain scalp wellness. For me there was mild buildup, which I admit is from not properly rinsing. This was especially the case this morning, knowing I would later come here for a proper hair washing. But in hindsight, I should have done a better job, like brushing your teeth before you see the dentist.
The treatment begins on a speciality chair that tilts you head first into the washing basin. At 45 degrees the position is not only economic as it is best to elevate your feet, but more importantly it eliminates the neck strain you get from most hair washing basins. Lita described this as the “Rolls-Royce” of salon chairs and she wasn’t exaggerating. In this position I was utterly comfortable and fully relaxed. Positioning (intentional pun) this as a true spa service.
This is even more so as you are able to choose your desired scent for the experience. From an energizing citrus to invigorating mint.
After the initial dampening of the hair using a shower head nozzle, a specialty exfoliant is squeezed on to the scalp for a tingling sensation. I didn’t know there was such a thing, and it immediately reminded me of the steps you take with a facial, which makes sense as the scalp is essentially head skin. It smelled nice and was formulated just for the head.
Here it is worth mentioning the quality of the products that NARA uses are imported and not available in the market. Lita could not see herself opening this salon and doing this service without the highest quality in hair care products and this is it. If the chair was aRolls-Royce”, the product Line is “Louis Vuitton”, as she describes it. The company has been around for 25 years and have done a lot of research on their product line.
The sink comes with a misting featuring it streams out a smokey plume that has much smaller particles. This helps the serum and treatment better reach the cuticles.
Next you get a French grey clay hair mask. It is good for an oily scalp pulling out impurities and calming it. There are different kinds of clay masks, and each is formulated for the individual, based on the initial video assessment.
As an extra add-on you can get a further manual exfoliation. This is done with a comb that she uses to brush your scalp, scratching it gently, which makes for another fantastic sensation. This differs from the exfoliating before that was just done through a product. After a rinse comes the actual head bath portion of the service.
This is done with an attachment that rains down water directly above your hair line with the loose strands pooling in a dish under it. Where other head spas wow with rainbow lights and a trickle of a stream using recirculated water. Here at NARA they use carbonated water and a steady stream for a deeper clean. You are then left alone in the room to enjoy this treatment for 10 uninterrupted minutes.
And once you think your service is coming to an end you get massage cream added into your hair and realize that this is in fact the dedicated scalp massage and the other steps were more massaging products into the scalp. It is mixed with the essential oil scent that you chose earlier in the service.
And it still isn’t over yet. Next your hair gets zipped into a plastic shower cap of sorts and the steam from earlier gets blown directly into this sealed bonnet. Here you are left alone again, and if you can and are able to, can take a micro nap.
A final rinse and rub down with hot is down before you are electrically seated up right again and moved back to the original barber chair.
This is where I realized the downside to all this. You end up feeling so relaxed that you don’t want to leave. Luckily she does give you a snack and liquids to be able to have the energy to drive home or get to where you need to be after.
The last steps have you back on the salon chair for a blow dry. And the last product that gets used on you is a carbonated foam that helps to absorb product. Then your hair is just blown dry with handheld dryer and hands. No need for combs your hair is already that smooth.
My take away learnings from this is the need to at least fully blow dry your scalp after washing your hair, and that double shampooing insures that you get rid of all oils. Your scalp should be dry at all times. A wet environment causes yeast to build and dandruff to form. When blow drying, you should be using a serum that functions as a heat protectant, this is a necessity as too much hot air can cook and fry your hair.
Like facials and massages, a scalp treatment should be a part of your regular wellness routine. This is a deep clean for your head, like you would the carpet in your home. A minimum of once a season to cleanse, or more often for its soothing and de-stressing benefits. This isn’t just a trend. Each treatment is unique to the person and their type of hair which is based on ethnicity, so it is best to come in and see to your individual needs.
Scalp health is linked to nervous system. You can tell a lot from the hairs on your head. For example if you eat a lot of oily and processed foods it shows up on your scalp. If you are sick, your hair sees it. Rapid hair loss and thinning can also be caused by hormones, stress, and a vitamin deficiency. Together with Lita at NARA, you will figure out what is causing your hair loss, to pin point the needs and work on that.
In short this was such an invigorating experience and I have never had anything like it. I would argue this was more relaxing than a full body massage and it only focused on your head and hair. I guess that makes sense considering the head is the leader of your body and does do all the heavy mental lifting, so why not thank it with a head spa treatment from NARA?
NARA Head Spa
3211A 152 St Unit 402, Surrey, BC V3Z OL3
(778) 201-1686
naraheadspa.com
