‘Head spa’ offers trendy Japanese treatment in Kalamazoo - MLive.com

[Audrey Whitaker | awhitaker@mlive.com]

KALAMAZOO, MI — There’s a woman who travels from Washington, D.C. to Kalamazoo for a special spa treatment from Sarah McDaid.

McDaid’s “head spa” inside Iris House Salon and Spa at 6641 Stadium Drive offers a relaxing combination of massage, hair care and skin care that originated in Japan and blew up on social media.

Now, the Kalamazoo businesswoman has become an online sensation of her own.

McDaid came across a head spa ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response) video on TikTok in 2021. Just watching the experience was relaxing, she said.

She wanted to give that feeling to people — in person and virtually.

So she dove into the research, earned the necessary certifications and imported a custom head spa bed from Japan that took six months to arrive.

McDaid has been in the beauty industry for 15 years. As a hair loss practitioner and scalp disorder specialist, she called herself a bridge between a cosmetologist and a dermatologist.

“I always had a passion for helping people find ways to grow their hair and to heal their scalp,” McDaid said. “Since starting the head spa, my passion for holistic healing and wellness has grown in a direction that feels so right.”

A head spa or scalp spa combines massage and aromatherapy with skin care and hair care.

“A lot of people don’t realize that a lot of our tension and a lot of our stress is built up in our shoulders and our neck, but also our scalp and our head,” McDaid said.

Like having someone brush or braid your hair, the sensation from a head spa treatment can put people into a trance-like state of relaxation, she said.

Some clients want to heal dry skin, stimulate growth or remove buildup from products that are causing greasy and dull hair. Others are simply looking for relaxation.

The process begins with a scalp analysis, McDaid said. For someone dealing with a dry scalp, the treatment may include exfoliating brushes and a holistic scalp scrub.

“Everybody’s experience is slightly different because everybody’s scalp is different,” McDaid said.

It incorporates massage, various brushes, tools and a halo of flowing water before wrapping up with a shampoo and blowout.

All the skin and scalp care products used are made on McDaid’s botanical farm in Paw Paw under her own brand, SOIL.

Clients leave with a self-care routine they can continue at home.

She plans to expand her brand of holistic scalp and skin care products later this year.

Head spa service starts at $175 for a hair loss, detox or dandruff rewind treatment. For $180, clients enjoy an extra long exfoliation, blowout and hairstyle.

The ultimate relaxation treatment offers a facial, blowout and style as well as scalp care for $295. Bundles are available for multiple appointments, people and products.

The head spa is typically booked out two or three months in advance, McDaid said. The concept is popular, but still pretty new to the U.S.

McDaid garnered her own following on social media to share the experience with people who can’t be there in-person.

Her most popular video on TikTok has 4.6 million views since it was posted in 2023. She posts about the spa and building her skin care product line on Instagram, too.

More salons and spas across the country have begun offering head spas. Still, clients come from all over Michigan and beyond to experience the social media sensation in Kalamazoo.

“I’m glad that we were able to get this kicked off and see and show other cosmetologists and stylists or estheticians that there is an opportunity (to offer) this special service,” McDaid said.

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