Waterfalls, red light therapy and naps: Why tourists can’t stop booking Korean head spas

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Waterfalls, red light therapy and naps: Why tourists can’t stop booking Korean head spas

Published: 16 Jan. 2026, 07:00 Updated: 20 Jan. 2026, 14:50

WOO JI-WON
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Water cascades over a foreign customer's head during head spa treatment at hair salon EcoJardin in Songpa District, southern Seoul, on Jan. 13. [WOO JI-WON]

It was Leslie Mizumoto's birthday week. To celebrate, she and two college friends — Kumi Sweely and Marlee Kealoha — booked a trip far from their homes in Hawaii to Korea.

Once the flights were set, it was time for the real fun of the trip: making the itinerary. A visit to Olive Young was a given. A cooking class sounded fun. But what else?

Well, Mizumoto already had something in mind. After watching countless videos on social media — including one by YouTuber Aylen Park — she added one more item to the checklist: a Korean head spa.

On their second day in Seoul, the trio headed to a salon known for its elaborate, foreigner-friendly head spa services. The experience they had knocked them out — literally.

"I fell asleep back there multiple times," Kealoha said, laughing, after the treatment.

Overseas customers have steaming devices on to open pores at the premium hair salon EcoJardin in Songpa District, western Seoul, on Jan. 13. [WOO JI-WON]

The trio booked an 18-step head spa package at a premium hair salon in Songpa District, southern Seoul. The 1.5-hour service included a scalp diagnosis and massage, as well as scalp care that focused on cleansing and exfoliation. The popular waterfall rinse with red-light therapy, meant to stimulate follicles, improve circulation and reduce inflammation, was also part of the 200,000-won ($136) treatment.

"It was amazing," added Kealoha, who had long known about Korean head spas and had always wanted to try one.

In recent years, head spas have quickly climbed the ranks as one of the must-do experiences for foreign visitors to Korea.

According to tourism platform Creatrip, transactions related to Korean scalp care jumped 219 percent from November 2024 to November last year. Travelers from English-speaking countries, including the United States and Canada, accounted for 58 percent of reservations, followed by visitors from Europe at 19 percent. Traffic to Klook’s head spa-related products also surged 230 percent year-on-year in 2025.

Videos of travelers reclining in salon chairs as water cascades over their hair — often introduced as something you "have" to book when visiting Korea — are easy to spot online.

And it is not just head spas. More intensive scalp treatments offered by specialty clinics are seeing a surge in foreign customers, reflecting a growing interest not just in relaxation, but in scalp health itself.

Scalp specialty store Moclock in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, has a private room for each customer. [WOO JI-WON]

"At busy times, we see around 600 to 700 overseas visitors a month," said Mia Baek, the owner of Moclock, a scalp specialty store in Gangnam District, southern Seoul. The shop is not attached to a hair salon but operates as a stand-alone clinic specializing exclusively in scalp treatments, with the capacity to accommodate only about six clients at a time, all in private rooms.

Not Korean, but Korea does it best

Head spas did not originate from Korea. The concept is most commonly traced back to Japan, where it first emerged in hair salons in the early 2000s. So why are tourists flying to Korea to have their hair follicles examined and their scalps soaked under running water?

A microscope is used to monitor a customer’s scalp at EcoJardin in Songpa District, southern Seoul, Jan. 13. [WOO JI-WON]

"It's very informative. They also give you a lot of advice," Sweely said after finishing her appointment. "I feel like in America, you can't really get something like this."

According to the salon's head specialist Tae-yeon, much of Korea's edge comes from the equipment used. A wide range of devices — including galvanic sealing brushes to relax fascia, red and blue LED lights with micro-vibration and neck vacuum suction tools — are incorporated into the process.

"They are all made in Korea," she said. "With the microscope, for example, you can see the hair follicles very clearly." She added that overseas clinics have contacted the salon about importing the equipment.

Hospitality also plays a major role. The premium hair salon keeps translators on standby, and many employees speak basic English. Staff undergo extensive head spa training, including monthly tests on one another, to ensure service quality remains consistent.

When asked about the service, Sweely did not hesitate. "Amazing. Very, very nice. Very friendly," she said.

An overseas customer receives a shoulder massage using a massage device at hair salon EcoJardin in Songpa District, southern Seoul. [WOO JI-WON]

The surge in interest is relatively recent. "We started seeing a sharp increase around last April," Tae-yeon said. "Customers come from all over the world — many from the United States, as well as from Asian countries like the Philippines and Vietnam."

At peak periods, she said, up to 90 percent of bookings are made by tourists, many of whom discover the service through Instagram and TikTok.

She also credited K-pop and K-beauty with fueling the trend, noting that many customers bring photos of Korean celebrities as references.

Beyond relaxation

Korea is serious about hair loss, so much so that President Lee Jae Myung identified it as a "matter of survival" rather than just an aesthetic concern.

According to the Ministry of Intellectual Property, 42.9 percent of global patents filed between 2002 and 2023 related to hair loss cosmetics originated in Korea — the highest share by country.

Now, foreign visitors are eager to experience firsthand the solutions Koreans have developed to combat hair loss.

A scalp specialist explains a customer’s scalp condition during a 10-minute consultation at the scalp specialty store Moclock in Gangnam District, western Seoul, Jan. 14. [WOO JI-WON]

"Foreign visitors want to know why hair loss is happening, how advanced it is, whether it's genetic and whether stress plays a role," scalp specialist Baek said.

At first, she said, foreign customers were drawn by the novelty of scalp exfoliation — something they rarely encountered back home. Now, concerns about thinning hair and hair loss are increasingly common. At Moclock, about half of the visitors book head spa packages, while the other half seek additional scalp treatments, which use fine needles to deliver follicle-strengthening products into the scalp.

The same trend is evident at Olive Young N Seongsu. There, where foreign visitors account for nearly 80 percent of total sales, a free service using camera-equipped devices to analyze scalp and hair follicle conditions has been seeing long queues. Olive Young plans to expand these experience zones to 100 stores in major commercial districts this year.

A scalp specialist cleanses an overseas customer’s scalp using a scaling device at Moclock, on Jan. 14. [WOO JI-WON]

A 24-year old Turkish student receiveds a head spa service at Moclock on Jan.14. [WOO JI-WON]

"If 2011 was a boom in scalp treatment for Koreans, the same is happening now among tourists," said Baek, who has worked in the industry for 15 years.

Fueling that growth is the so-called skinification trend — treating the scalp and body skin with the same level of care as facial skin — which has gained particular traction among consumers in their 20s and 30s.

“Your habits, your stress levels, your patterns — all of that shows on the scalp," Baek said, “If the scalp loses elasticity and begins to sag, gravity can pull down surrounding facial areas, like the forehead and around the eyes.”

It's nonnegotaible that Korea's reputation for skin care has extended to include the scalp, and people across the globe are taking notice.

The country's thorough service model is being exported overseas — Korean head spa salons are already opening in cities like Bangkok and Manila. A Korean-style head spa salon named Sarang Head Spa run by Sonia Yoon in Pennsylvania is also seeing a constant stream of customers, according to The Korea Daily, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

BY WOO JI-WON [[email protected]]