When I first saw Alameda was getting a head spa, I was SO excited!! I've been to several head spas in other cities so I would make a trip for a good head spa, so to have one in town: hooray!! They also perform hair loss services here, as well as hydrafacial, which I've also had elsewhere. So far I've only had their head spa. This review is overdue; I came for my service during their Mother's Day special. I've been wanting to return now that they have a mid-week special, but something has been holding me back, which I'll explain below.
Their facilities are very nice, clean and new. For the head spa, they have you sit in a massage chair that reclines all the way back so that's a nice touch and different from other head spa places I've been. The head spa service overall was good. They are results oriented, doing before and after scans of your scalp, which is consistent with other head spas I've been to.
The reason I can't give a full 5 stars is because of the massage. A major selling point for head spas, at least for me, is the massage. Other than the halo shower-head that has become synonymous with head spas, massage and relaxation are just as important for a good head spa experience as the scalp treatment and results. When head spas first came out and started getting popular, that was my main motivator for seeking them out. Unfortunately, the massage here left much to be desired... maybe they relied too heavily on their massage chair to cover that component, but there's no replacement for a good human scalp and shoulder massage. The other head spas I've been to also included a facial massage as a standard part of the head spa service. I can overlook the facial and shoulder massage (though those components really do elevate a good head spa experience), but unfortunately I was fairly disappointed with the lack of substantial scalp massage. I feel like the hands-on scalp massage was maybe 2 minutes, tops. It's honestly the one thing that's kept me from returning for another appointment. Going to the head spa is a luxury so if I'm going to pay a premium for a service, I want to feel like I got that premium. In my experience, the scalp massage is one of the primary components of a head spa service, with considerable time dedicated to the scalp massage (and shoulder and facial massage), as well as naturally worked in throughout the entire experience. I hate to say it, but my regular hair stylist gives me a better scalp massage during the standard shampoo and conditioning service for my haircut appointments.
Because this place is results oriented around scalp health, I won't downgrade my review to a 3 since my opinion about scalp massage could just be a me thing. But if I'm rating my whole head spa experience alone, I can't give higher than a 3.5 at this time. I'm rounding up to 4 for the purposes of this review because I don't really think a 3 is quite fair overall. read more