It IS THE latest in exotic hair care: a Shu Uemura intense hair conditioning "ritual" at Luxelab in Santa Monica. It is, they say, based on the Japanese tea ceremony.
So, you settle into the shampoo chair, wrapped in a black kimono, as the technician sets out a lacquer tray precisely arranged with a matcha tea bowl, a whisk and vials of mysterious fluids. A paddle brush in each hand, she begins to sweep up portions of hair, letting it toss and fall, to gauge its texture and general well-being. Then the scalp is doused with jasmine oil and rubbed with a fingertip massage. After a splash of "rare" deep sea water and camellia oil are worked through with a goat-hair brush, you're left to marinate.
Is this a tea ceremony? A spa treatment? A tossed salad?
As more of us damage our hair with dye, bleach, heat styling and simple wear and tear, elaborate deep conditioning treatments are emerging as a new hybrid of hair care and spa treatment. With exotic-sounding ingredients, feel-good scalp massages and elaborate application techniques, the treatments resemble a multi-step facial for your hair, complete with the take-home maintenance regimen. They promise, and often deliver, shine, softness, deeper color and manageability, but also come with a hefty price tag and, sometimes, add-ons of questionable value.
Some have evolved into four-step, hour-long procedures that cost $200. Others cost $35, require a slathering of thick conditioner and 15 minutes under the hair dryer and are luxurious in name only. It's often hard to sort out what's worth the time and money, particularly when you know that a good at-home conditioner, allowed to absorb for half an hour or half a day, yields a similar result.
Yet, salons have adopted the spa lingo, learned massage techniques and added a few touches that help mimic, but rarely match, the tranquillity of a spa. And just as the effects of mud rubs and herbal wraps fade after a week or two, so too do the moisturizing benefits of these deep conditioning treatments. There is no permanent fix if your hair's been damaged by heat styling, coloring or just plain wear, according to Dr. Heather Woolery-Lloyd, a dermatologist on the research team at the University of Miami Cosmetic Center.
The beauty-speak that ascribes curative powers to spa treatments also has slipped into the soft sell of these treatments. Some provide "cures" to conditions that aren't ailments. For example, some of the salon treatments and their complementary retail products claim to counteract a tightening scalp, a supposed side effect of aging.
