Hair salons abound in Taiwan, especially in urban areas. According to government statistics, there were about 40,000 registered hair and beauty salons in Taiwan in 2016, and the number would probably double if we included all the unregistered salons that people run out of their homes.

The pleasures of a Taiwanese hair wash

Why should there be so many hair salons in Taiwan? Chen Mei-hua, an associate professor of sociology at National Sun Yat-sen University, is a long-term observer of beauty and hair salon businesses, and notes that in the 1980s such businesses’ advertising urged customers to “come in and get pampered,” and then in the 1990s the marketing lingo was all about “going to a hair salon to relax.” These pitches worked well, and attracted lots of customers.

Taiwan’s many beauty salons have developed all kinds of different services, so that when people come in for a shampoo they end up enjoying more than just that. For example, upon entering a salon the customer is warmly greeted by the service staff, who take care while washing the customer’s hair to inquire about their comfort, with questions such as “How’s the water temperature? Would you like me to be more gentle? Or more forceful?” Such attentiveness makes a customer feel they are being treated with great respect, which is always nice.

A century ago, a visit to a beauty salon was a symbol of style and luxury. Later, the rise of neighborhood hair salons made prices very affordable, and hairdressers started creating new services that made their customers feel extra beautiful. (MOFA file photos)

Upright shampoo and massage

For people in Taiwan, upright shampoos are nothing out of the ordinary, but such shampoos are not done the same way in other countries. And the reclined shampoos that are standard in the West were never even a thing in Taiwan until some of the more recently established hair salons incorporated this Western style into their services.

According to Tseng Ching-chun, director of the “Sham­poo Our City” project, hair salons in years past also removed ear wax, trimmed eyebrows, and gave shoulder and arm massages, so that customers would leave feeling really great. Over the years, it came to be understood that any barber would provide a wide range of such services. There is a cultural element to that, because service providers in Taiwan have always genuinely wanted to make their customers feel good.

Chen Desheng, chairperson of the Beauty Business Trade Association of Taipei, states that the combination of a Taiwan-style shampoo with a massage is not to be found anywhere else in the world. And Associate Professor Chen Mei-hua, describing her experience at a chain salon in Kaohsiung, notes that along with her shampoo she received an eye-socket massage and was given a piping-hot moist cloth to place over her eyes, all without her requesting it. The combination of the different services, she chuckles, made her forget whether she had gone for a shampoo or a massage.

The large number of beauty salons makes for fierce competition and has resulted in cut-throat pricing. Chen Desheng notes that the price of a shampoo in urban areas is in the NT$200–500 range. Chen Mei-hua feels that in Taiwan a hair wash is seen as a way of using a service to build up a base of repeat customers, whereas in the West a hair wash is regarded as labor and charged for accordingly, which explains why a hair wash in Taiwan is so much less expensive.

The way a shampoo, massage, and blow dry are combined into a single service in Taiwan is unique. Chen Mei-hua, who has studied in the United Kingdom, notes that a haircut, shampoo and blow dry are charged for separately, and the expense is “really shocking,” while a hairdresser in Taiwan, after finishing a hair wash, simply will not allow the customer to leave until their hair has been blown dry and neatly dressed. And in the hair salons of yesteryear a hairdresser would go out of their way to brush and blow the bangs into the “big hair” look that was outrageously popular for a time.

The “Taiwanese shampoo + massage” service has become quite popular with a lot of foreigners. You­Tubers such as Alizabeth from Thailand have called it “a Taiwanese specialty product,” while a pair who go by the handle “Korean Brothers” had a lot of fun playing with different hairstyles and claimed that they had gotten better looking. French vlogger “Bonjour Louis!” and his sidekick Boris filmed themselves getting shampoos in Kaohsiung and gave glowing praise, saying the service “was very professional and fast, and felt really good,” and the salon’s price of NT$120 was “incredibly inexpensive.”

Quick-thinking proprietors, taking notice of business opportunities associated with Taiwanese hair washes, have begun offering special “hair wash + massage” services at Taipei Main Station, big international tourist hotels, Taipei’s Ximending district, and other tourist hotspots. The hair washes last less than an hour, and are perfect for both independent and group travelers.

In no other country is a shampoo combined with a massage of the head, neck, and shoulders quite the same way it’s done in Taiwan.

Japanese love a Taiwanese hair wash

Pro Cutti, a beauty salon located near the Regent Taipei hotel, suddenly became a popular tourist destination after Japanese actress Naomi Watanabe visited and filmed herself enjoying a shampoo that featured all sorts of sudsy hairstyles.

When Rina Yamaguchi traveled to Taiwan to cele­brate her 26th birthday, her guide book mentioned Watanabe’s visit to Pro Cutti, so she stopped in to give it a try. A hairdresser quickly lathered her hair before giving her a hair wash and head massage. It was evidently a very relaxing experience, for Rina fell asleep in the middle of it.

The hairdresser used the suds to shape Rina’s hair into a Christmas tree, a coffee mug, an ice cream cone, a rose, a hat, Minnie Mouse ears, a tall spire, and many other creative forms. Rina exclaimed in Japanese “Sugoi!” (“awesome!”), and said she would recommend a Taiwanese shampoo to others.

A special skill

In actual fact, there’s more skill to giving an upright shampoo than meets the eye. Weng Peiling, dean of the beauty and cosmetics department at Neng Ren Home Economic and Commercial Vocational High School and a Bureau of Employment and Vocational Training examiner for candidates seeking second and third class women’s hairdressing licenses, explains that during an upright shampoo the hairdresser must proceed quickly, must avoid getting shampoo onto the client’s clothes or in their eyes, and must prevent the hair from getting ­tangled.

It takes a special knack to lather up someone’s hair properly. One has to quickly grab a swatch of hair and wet it, then play it almost like a piano, running across it a good 20 times before the hair will stay atop the scalp without falling back toward the shoulders; then, if you want to create sudsy hairstyles, the foam has to be very fine-bubbled. Some trainees take more than three years to master the techniques.

And to do a proper head, neck, and shoulders massage, one doesn't just rub according to any old whim. As well as teaching that when massaging the scalp one should use the fingertips, not the nails, textbooks also devote an entire chapter to the topic of how to combine a hair wash with advanced massage techniques. The text will describe the pre-wash massage, acupressure points, hair washing techniques, and more. Skillful manipulation of acupressure points during a shampoo brings a very pleasant sensation.

The training of a hair stylist is a long and difficult process. In particular, if you want to learn how to give a Taiwanese-style upright shampoo, just attending class and receiving on-the-job training is not enough—it also requires several months of practice.

Excellent for the vacation traveler

Beauty salons in Taiwan allow customers to choose whether to have their hair washed sitting upright or reclining. While out traveling, if you want to feel both beautiful and pampered, then don't miss the chance to enjoy a shampoo at a Taiwanese hair salon. With an upright shampoo plus massage, a traveler is sure to sense how a salon and its hairdressers genuinely want to take good care of them and send them off feeling renewed in both body and spirit.

Ms. Huang, who has worked as a hair stylist for 60 years, says that when she gets a shampoo herself, what matters most is that it feels good. (courtesy of Ms. Huang)