Herbal hair wash: is 45 or 60 minutes enough

45 minutes is enough for a complete herbal hair wash: two herbal rinses, a scalp and neck massage, and a towel dry. Choose 60 minutes if you want 15 more minutes on your shoulders. At Lụa Spa the 45 minute wash is 360,000 VND and the 60 minute one 480,000 VND, with 8% VAT included and no tip. Chi does both.

If you have lived here a while you have seen the signs for gội đầu dưỡng sinh: a hair wash with water boiled from herbs, plus a massage of the head, neck and shoulders, lying down. It is not a salon blow-out. Below: the steps, the one difference between 45 and 60 minutes, why prices in the city run from 69,000 to over 700,000 VND, and who should check with a doctor first.

The steps of a 45 minute wash

This is how we do it. Minutes are time on the wash bed with Chi, including a 5 minute talk.

1. Talk, 5 minutes. How warm you like the water, how firm the massage, and whether your scalp has any scratches or fresh colour or perm.
2. First rinse, 10 minutes. Water boiled that morning with bồ kết (honey locust pods, a traditional Vietnamese hair wash) and lemongrass, kept warm. Two washes, then a rinse.
3. Scalp massage, 15 minutes. Fingertips, never nails: crown, temples, behind the ears, the hairline at the nape.
4. Second rinse, 10 minutes. Pomelo leaf water, with a massage of the nape and neck while it runs.
5. Towel dry, 5 minutes. A warm towel wrapped round your hair, pressed and squeezed. You sit up and have a glass of water.

The 45 and 60 minute washes are towel dried, not blow dried. If you need dry hair to go back to the office, look at the 90 minute option below.

How 45 and 60 minutes differ

Only in one place: the 60 minute wash adds 15 minutes for the shoulders. After the second rinse you stay lying down while Chi works on both shoulders and the upper back near the neck. Everything else is the same.

• Choose 45 minutes on a lunch break, or if a thorough wash is mainly what you want.
• Choose 60 minutes if your shoulders feel heavy too, or you are not in a hurry. Clients often say their shoulders feel lighter afterwards; that is what they tell us, not something we promise.

If shoulders and back are the main thing, the 45 minute neck and shoulder massage (490,000 VND) spends the whole session there. The body massage options are compared in body massage in Ho Chi Minh City: which type.

There is also a longer option: the full herbal head spa, 90 minutes, 720,000 VND. It starts with a scalp massage on dry hair, then three herbal rinses, a hair mask and a blow dry.

What a herbal hair wash costs in Ho Chi Minh City in 2026

The range is very wide. From pages we read on 4 October 2026:

• A District 3 listing (Toplist) shows most sessions of 35 to 65 minutes at 69,000 to 350,000 VND. Longer ones: 600,000 VND for 90 minutes, up to 1,000,000 VND for 180 minutes.
• In Tân Bình (Mytour, page dated 15/09/2026): 99,000 VND for 35 minutes, 199,000 VND for 60 minutes.
• A general explainer (Điện máy Xanh) gives about 120,000 to 500,000 VND for 60 to 90 minutes.
• A head spa at a District 1 spa (Glow Spa Saigon): 600,000 to 960,000 VND for 60 to 90 minutes, with 8% tax added.
• Lụa Spa: 360,000 VND for 45 minutes, 480,000 VND for 60, 720,000 VND for 90, tax included.

Other places may have changed their prices since.

Why the gap

When you compare two places, five things move the price:

• Minutes. 35 and 90 minutes are different sessions. Ask when the clock starts.
• The water. Herbs boiled that day, or a bottled shampoo with a herbal scent.
• Number of rinses. One, two or three.
• Where you lie. A wash chair in a shared room, or a bed in a private room.
• Extras and tax. Shoulder massage, hair mask, blow dry; tax included or not.

Per minute, all three of our washes cost the same: 8,000 VND a minute. We are above the neighbourhood wash shops and below the District 1 head spas. What you pay for is herbs boiled each morning, two rinses, the 5 minute talk inside the session, and one person from start to finish.

Who should ask a doctor first

The Điện máy Xanh page above advises care in three cases: an open wound on the scalp, a high fever, and pregnancy, where it suggests asking a doctor. We follow the same caution:

• An open wound on the scalp: we do not wash that area. Book once it has healed.
• A fever: please move your booking. Changes are free until 12 hours before; if the fever comes on closer to the time, just call 0963 929 241.
• Pregnancy: we still offer the herbal hair wash. Please ask your doctor first, and tick “pregnant” when booking so the front desk calls you.

A herbal hair wash is relaxation care. If something about your scalp or hair worries you, the person to ask is a doctor.

How we do it at Lụa Spa

Chi grew up beside her aunt’s hair-wash stall in Cần Thơ, in the Mekong Delta. Every morning before opening she boils three pots: bồ kết, lemongrass and pomelo leaf. The water is kept warm, and she tests it on her wrist before pouring. Every hair wash and head spa at Lụa Spa is hers.

Chi works Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday to Sunday. There are no hair washes on Wednesdays.

Mrs Lệ, 68, received a 1,000,000 VND gift card from her son, Ngô Quốc Bảo. She does not like lying down for long, so she chose the 60 minute hair wash with shoulders (480,000 VND), then the 60 minute herbal foot soak (490,000 VND). Total 970,000 VND, with 30,000 VND left on the card. “My mother doesn’t like lying down for long. An hour of hair wash and an hour of foot soak is just right.”

An illustrative story for a demo site; figures are made up.

Booking

• All three washes are on the herbal hair wash page; every price is on the price list.
• Book the 45 minute wash on the booking page; for 60 minutes, change it in the first step.
• More about Chi on her profile.

We are at 63 Hoàng Văn Thái, Tân Mỹ Ward (old District 7), open 10:00 to 21:30 every day. Book at least 3 hours ahead; no deposit for one person.