More Than a Wash
Ask most people about getting their hair washed at a salon and they will describe a sink, cold water down the neck, and someone hurrying to get to the real appointment. It is the part everyone skips past.
At Hóla it is the part we built the studio around. There is a neon sign on the wall above our shampoo beds. It reads THIS IS THE BEST PART. We put it up as a statement of intent. Our clients turned it into a fact.
The Shampoo Experience is included with every service where your hair is washed. It is not an add on and it is not a nice extra. It is the foundation of everything that comes after, because clean, prepped, properly conditioned hair takes color better, cuts truer, and holds a style longer. When we say healthy hair first, this is where it starts.
It runs ten to fifteen minutes, depending on your hair. Our Korean Head Spa is a separate service with a different goal, a full scalp treatment with its own equipment and protocol. This is not a shorter version of that. This is the standard every appointment starts with.
Why the Equipment Matters
Most salons differentiate themselves with products. We started with the equipment, because the tools decide what is physically possible.
You lay down rather than sit up. Our shampoo beds are Korean laying chairs, so your head rests in a supported cradle instead of hanging against a porcelain edge. Clients who cannot tolerate a traditional shampoo bowl because of neck pain do not have that problem here.
The water nozzle comes from Airapha and does two things a standard sprayer cannot. The pressure adjusts, so we ease it around your hairline and open it up where your scalp can take it. And it accepts carbonic acid, which is how the scalp exfoliation add on works when you choose it.
The Airapha Himitsu steamer does two entirely different jobs at two different distances, which we will come back to below.
The turbans are Japanese, and they wrap around your head while you are still lying down. There is an opening at the base of the bed that lets us reach underneath. By the time the chair sits you upright, your hair is already wrapped and nothing runs down your neck.
The System, Step by Step
ONE
We Start With the Temperature and the Blanket
You are offered a blanket before anything begins. The water starts at a medium temperature and changes as we move through the service. It is not one setting the whole time.
TWO
The First Shampoo Goes On With the Shampoo Gun
Most people arrive with oil and product sitting on the scalp. When you pump shampoo into your hands and work it in, it lands in one place, and your fingers drag because there is nothing helping them move. The shampoo gun distributes product evenly across the whole scalp before hands ever touch it. That means the massage that follows actually feels like a massage rather than friction.
The gun draws from a pump built into the bowl, loaded with Formula 18 Purifying Shampoo. That is our default first cleanse, because it lifts mineral buildup and product residue without stripping the hair before we have even started.
The Himitsu steamer runs close to your scalp during this step. It stays gentle, never hot, and its job here is breaking down sebum and product buildup so the shampoo can do more with less effort.
THREE
The Second Shampoo Goes On by Hand
Unless you washed your hair that morning, we always shampoo twice. The first pass prepares the canvas. The second is chosen for what your hair actually needs that day, and it is worked in by hand, because by now the scalp is clean enough that this is the part that feels good.
We have a specific way of shampooing, and it has a purpose beyond cleaning. If we feel you lifting your head, we rest a hand lightly on your forehead while the other supports your neck. Nobody says relax out loud. The signal does the work.
FOUR
The Mask Goes On and the Steamer Moves
After the final rinse we apply a conditioner or a mask to your mid lengths and ends, and the Himitsu steamer is repositioned. It is no longer near your scalp. It now sits where it reaches the ends, and its job has changed completely. It is driving product into the hair rather than lifting anything off the scalp. Same tool, opposite purpose.
The mask sits for about three minutes. During a color service that is not dead time. It is when we are formulating your toner.
FIVE
Then We Detangle
We use a Spider 1502 Gentle Care brush, and this is a small thing that matters more than it sounds. It does not catch, it does not pull, and after a mask that has been steamed into the hair, it moves through without a fight.
SIX
The Scalp Treatment and the Hot Towel
With your hair detangled, we can reach your scalp properly. The Formula 18 Essential Therapeutic Hair and Scalp Mask goes on, peppermint oil and all. It is invigorating and cooling and it is many clients' favorite moment of the entire appointment.
Then the hot towel, wrapped so it reaches all the way down behind your neck rather than stopping at your hairline.
SEVEN
The Massage
We use a handheld vibrating massager over a scalp that is already warm and stimulated. Light at first. More pressure at the crown and the back where pressure is welcome, lighter around the hairline where it is not.
EIGHT
The Cool Rinse, Announced
Before any cool water touches you, we drip a little from our fingers first, like a small waterfall. It tells you what is coming so nothing startles you. Most people are surprised the first time, because they are used to hot water all the way through. Cool water closes the cuticle and adds shine, so this is the finish.
And throughout, we towel. If a drop of water heads for your eye, everything stops until it is gone. It is a small detail. It is also the whole point.
The Products We Use
The first cleanse is the same for almost everyone. The second is chosen for what your hair needs that day.
Every client, first cleanse
Formula 18 Purifying Shampoo
It lives in the integrated pump at the bowl and feeds the shampoo gun. It clears mineral buildup and product residue without stripping.
Then the second shampoo and its conditioner are matched to your hair.
Colored or Heat Damaged
Leaf and Flower CBD Instant Damage Correction
Shampoo and conditioner, for hair that needs repair.
Wavy or Curly
Leaf and Flower CBD Instant Curl Refresh
With the Curl Repair Conditioner.
Protecting Your Color
Enjoy Holistic D-Lux
Holistic and color holding, coconut ginger.
Fine Hair That Goes Flat
Enjoy Therapeutic Volumizing
Sulfate free.
Two of those lines contain CBD. If you are active duty, we leave them out. You do not have to ask and you do not have to think about it. The other options cover the same needs, so nothing about your service changes.
Two Masks Finish the Service
Formula 18 Mask
Plant based reinforcement, our blonding mask.
Formula 18 Essential Therapeutic Hair and Scalp Mask
The peppermint scalp treatment.
How to Experience It
The Shampoo Experience is included with every service where we wash your hair, at no extra cost. Your haircut, your color, your treatment. It is already part of it.
If you want it on its own, book Shampoo with Blow Dry, $75, 60 minutes. That is the full ritual followed by a professional blowout, finished the way you want it. Smooth and straight, soft brush curls with movement, or defined curling iron waves.
Add Carbonic Acid Shampoo, $30, for a deeper scalp exfoliation. The carbonic acid capsule is imported from South Korea and goes through the same nozzle.
And if your scalp itself is what you want addressed, buildup, flaking, congestion, or thinning, that is a different conversation. Our Korean Head Spa is built for exactly that, with its own equipment, its own protocol, and its own results. Different goal, not a longer wash.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the Shampoo Experience included with every service?
Yes, at no additional cost, on every service where we wash your hair. That includes haircuts, color, and treatments. The only service it is not included with is the Dry Haircut, which is designed for clients who arrive already clean and blow dried straight.
How long does it take?
Ten to fifteen minutes, depending on your hair length and density. It is already built into the service you booked, so it does not add time to your appointment.
Can I book the Shampoo Experience by itself?
Yes. Book Shampoo with Blow Dry, which is $75 and runs 60 minutes. It includes the full ritual plus a professional blowout with the finish you choose.
How is this different from the Korean Head Spa?
The Shampoo Experience is the standard every appointment starts with, and it is included. The Korean Head Spa is a separate service built around your scalp rather than your hair, with the carbonic acid waterfall, the tonic mist, and a full scalp treatment protocol. It runs 60 minutes or more and starts at $130. One is how we wash your hair. The other is a treatment for your scalp.
I get neck pain in normal shampoo bowls. Will this be different?
It should be. We use Korean laying beds rather than traditional bowls, so you recline fully and your head rests in a supported cradle rather than pressing against a rigid edge. Clients who have avoided salon washes because of neck pain regularly tell us this is the first one that has not bothered them.
Why do you shampoo twice?
The first shampoo removes oil and product buildup and prepares the scalp. The second one is chosen for what your hair needs and is where the actual conditioning and massage work happens. If you washed your hair that same day, we skip the first one.
What is the shampoo gun for?
It distributes shampoo evenly across your entire scalp before we touch it with our hands. When shampoo is pumped from a bottle it concentrates in one spot, and hands drag against a dry scalp. The gun solves both problems, which is why the massage that follows feels the way it does.
What does the steamer actually do?
Two different things. Positioned close to your scalp during shampooing, it breaks down sebum and product buildup so the shampoo works better. Repositioned toward your ends during the mask, it opens the cuticle and drives conditioning nutrients into the hair. Same machine, two purposes, two positions.
What is carbonic acid and do I need it?
Carbonic acid is a capsule we import from South Korea that dissolves sebum and product buildup at the scalp. You do not need it every visit. It is worth adding if you use a lot of styling product, if your scalp feels congested, or if it has been a while since your last deep cleanse. It is $30 and adds about 10 minutes.
I am active duty. Do you use CBD products on me?
No. Two of our shampoo and conditioner lines contain CBD, and we leave them out for active duty clients without being asked. We have other options that do the same job for every hair type, so nothing about your service changes. This is our standing practice, not something you have to request.
Do you speak Spanish?
Yes. Hóla is a bilingual studio and the entire service, including the consultation, can be conducted in Spanish.
Hóla Hair Studio
6832 S MacDill Ave, Tampa, FL 33611
Tue–Fri 10am–7pm · Sat 9am–6pm
(813) 563-7515
Five minutes from MacDill AFB
English & Español
15% military discount: active duty, veterans, retirees, and military spouses with valid ID