Eiko Kim has been going to head spas in Japan for seven years, enjoying the serenity of being in a quiet room, pampered by a specialist who would wash and moisturize her hair and massage her scalp. She never imagined the treatments would have benefits beyond relaxation and clean hair.
But with new insight into chemical effects on hair, Kim found a spa that had started using new technology and 100 percent vegan products to deliver results that surprised her.
She immediately realized that she lost less hair, and her thin hair felt thicker and fuller. So she was eager to introduce the hydrogen scalp spa treatment to Laka Skin Care and Spa, which she opened two years ago with her daughter, Akiko Chun.
The spa is dedicated to bringing the latest innovations from Asia to Hawaii. While its focus has been massages, body treatments, facials and reflexology, Kim and Chun believe delivering head-to-toe well-being must include the scalp.
I’ve been enduring some hair loss lately, so I volunteered to be a guinea pig.
The first step is a scalp examination with a pen-size digital camera that relays a magnified image on a computer, which many people might find unnerving. Do we really want other people to see what’s lurking between our hair follicles?
To prepare individuals for what they might see, they are shown "before" photos of scalps crusted in white flakes, the remnants of silicone-based hair products. Such products are prized by those who want smooth, shiny hair that’s easy to comb, but according to Chun the products actually coat the hair shaft and dry it by sealing out moisture, and can also clog hair follicles and pores.
"So hair can become flat and greasy with buildup, or dry and strawlike with a lack of moisture," she said.
Over the past few years, people with health concerns regarding silicone- or dimethicone-based products have turned to organic brands, but Chun said a check of labels on popular drugstore organic brands will show dimethicone on the ingredient list.
I recently started using Neuma, a salon organic brand, so the estheticians seemed shocked to find very little debris or clogged pores. I was more curious to see whether the treatment would stave off hair loss.
The treatment is performed while you are lying down on a hydraulic bed that lowers you to a basin. It’s tricky to maneuver into a comfortable position, but once you do, you might fall asleep from the combination of soothing, warm water and gentle massage throughout the process.
The hydrogen scalp spa treatment starts with dry-combing to stimulate the scalp. It’s followed by a nanotech hydrogen capsule soak, a wash designed to dissolve silicone and oil trapped in the scalp. You’ll know your hair is congested if the hydrogen doesn’t bubble.
The soak is followed by a deep dermal scalp massage to ease tension and increase circulation in the scalp.
Finally, hair is washed with a keratin amino protein detoxifying shampoo containing fulvic acid to break up debris, and is treated with a silicone-free amino acid serum that serves as a treatment mask.
After the wash, my hair felt thicker and stronger, and the weight of it meant it hung straighter, free of the frizzies that come naturally in Hawaii’s humid climate.
And instead of combing or brushing, as at a typical salon, my hair was simply finger-combed while it was dried with a blow-dryer. It was noticeably sleeker than usual — a couple of people close to me commented on how nice my hair looked later, without knowing I had gone to the spa.
My hair also had a clean, natural-looking sheen, as opposed to the high gloss of silicone product shine, and kept its thicker texture even after my next shampoo, in which I did not use the Love and Beauty shampoo recommended by the spa just to see if the treatment held up.
I was shedding less hair weeks later, though time will tell whether the treatment will slow the growth of white hairs as promised.
The introductory cost of the 80-minute treatment is $145. At the very least, you’ll leave with very clean hair.
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Laka Spa is at 320 Ward Ave., Suite 200. Call 397-5252.
