When there are four hair salons on a single level of a shopping mall, you know you’ll be pretty spoilt for choice. That’s the case for Mandarin Gallery, so if you’re ever looking for somewhere to go to do something new to your hair, it’s level 3 of the mall that you need to make a beeline for.

Over the past month, a few of us from the NYLON team took turns to give some of these salons a try. This time we were a little less adventurous – no haircuts or permanent chemical processes were involved, but rather, we went for the more soothing stuff: pampering treatments to make our scalps and hair better versions of themselves. Three heads, three different hair types, at three Mandarin Gallery salons. Here’s our verdict.

Leekaja Beauty Salon
#03-13 Mandarin Gallery
Tel: 8133 0818

Since my hair’s a close-cropped pixie (i.e. that generic male haircut with shaved sides and a layered crown), it was impossible to give Leekaja’s signature Cinderella Clinic treatment a whirl. However, the Korean salon’s assistant manager Mijoo and senior stylist Preston recommended a combination of their scalp treatment and Tokio Inkarami treatment instead to give my greasy scalp a deep cleanse and restore some strength and shine to my short strands.

After I made myself comfortable in one of the chairs at the wash area, Preston painted a cooling paste onto different sections of my damp hair before filling the sink with warm water – it’s an unorthodox method, but the clash in temperatures made for a rather pleasant sensation. He then massaged the product in thoroughly for about 10 minutes before draining the sink and rinsing my hair to prep it for the Tokio Inkarami treatment.

He misted my hair, ran a serum through it and left a warm steam above my head for a while. When the time was up, he set a warm towel beneath my head for a moment before massaging the scalp again. Though there doesn’t seem to be a change in sebum production over the next few days (that’s just how problematic my scalp can be), I did notice softer, more pliable strands and a decline in itchiness, so it checks off most of what the treatments claim to do.

– Jade Yeo, Writer

Hair By Duo
#03-19 Mandarin Gallery
Tel: 6635 8775

My treatment session at the Hair By Duo salon lasted just an hour, but this hour gave me what’s possibly one of the most amazing head massages I’ve ever had in my life. Before the treatment, the salon’s resident scalp expert Charlene did a quick assessment of my scalp, and the verdict didn’t paint a pretty picture: it was flaky and irritated, an even with angry red bumps in some spots (I wash my hair every day, promise!!!).

Charlene recommended the Rejuvenation Head Spa treatment, which uses products from Milbon, a Japanese professional haircare brand. It’s pretty similar to your average skincare routine: starting off with a balancing scalp soap and then a foaming cleanser; followed by a scalp softener; then a white clay mask to balance the scalp and hair; before ending off with a moisturising essence.

I spent most of the one hour lying at the salon’s basin, with Charlene following up each step of the treatment with an expert head massage that lasted a good 10 minutes. She also explained to me that active ingredients in the Milbon products help with soothing skin inflammation and improving blood circulation in the hair follicles.

An hour later, I was definitely sorry to have the treatment end. But I got to go home with 4 tubes of Milbon Weekly Boosters, which are basically at-home treatments that I was to use once a week to sustain the effects of what was done in the salon. Effects that were especially noticeable the following day, when my scalp remained itch-free and flake-free the entire day.

That scalp massage though… pretty unforgettable. Highly recommend this treatment, even if it’s just for that.

– Tami Lai, Associate Editor

Toni & Guy
#03-17 Mandarin Gallery
Tel: 6835 4556

For something that promises instant hair transformation, I was initially skeptical about said radical change – really, my dry and bleached and severely damaged once-ombré hair ends were beyond saving. This hair treatment changed my mind though. During my visit to Toni & Guy, I was recommended the Kérastase Kerathermie Hair Ritual – which falls under the salon’s signature rituals, best suited for ‘dry & damaged hair that’s coarse and thick’. Bingo! This took a total of 90 minutes, a pretty reasonable amount of time since it includes 4 steps: a hair wash, treatment, hair mask, and then a blowdry and/or styling. Before the entire session, the hairstylist gave me a run-down of the Kérastase products used, each specifically chosen for my hair condition.

The main part though? An intensive Kérastase Fusio-Dose Treatment. The great thing about this established procedure is that it allows multiple hair concerns to be targeted all at once, with a choice of 4 concentrés, aided by 5 powerful boosters. There’s even a website that recommends you 1 of 20 tailor-made combinations according to your hair type!

I was given both the Oleo-Fusion (intense nourishment) and Vita-Ciment (strengthening) concentrés, and these are freshly mixed, on the spot, with the Nutrition and Reconstruction Boosters, so my hair will turn out soft, smooth, and resistant after. The treatment is applied section by section, followed by a flat iron to allow the nutrients to sink in deep, and then a hair mask. The verdict? As promised, instantly smooth hair that I didn’t recognise to be my own! You know how in chick flicks, makeovers give the lead an instant confidence boost? I felt exactly like that. The effect lasted a couple of weeks even! That is, in Japan weather where I didn’t need to worry about the dreaded humidity. Like all hair treatments, it still boils down to the daily upkeep of your hair (more hair masks for me!) but I’ll say, this is worth a shot, as my last-ditch hair-saving effort proved.

– Amelia Tan, Associate Editor

Mandarin Gallery is located at 333A Orchard Road. mandaringallery.com.sg