All posts by : SSM

Gentle piano music plays in the background as skilful fingers massage a detoxifying lotion into my scalp, relieving the tension I didn’t know I had in my cranium.

Ah, I think, this is what heaven feels like.

Thanks to Suu Balm, a Singapore-based skincare and now haircare brand, I recently got the opportunity to try out a scalp care experience at PAUSE Head Spa (PAUSE).

This was in conjunction with Suu Balm’s two new products which are being used at PAUSE. Called the Scalp Care Duo, this includes the Suu Balm Gentle Moisturising Anti-Dandruff Shampoo and Suu Balm Rapid Itch Relief Scalp Spray Moisturiser.

Taking them up on the offer, here’s what my experience getting my first-ever head spa was like.

With roots in Japanese spa culture

As an ASMR fiend, I’ve watched numerous videos of unique head spa experiences from Japanese salons. No joke, it’s always been my dream to experience a head spa, so much so that back in June I quite literally looked up Japanese head spas in Malaysia to no avail.

PAUSE is a relatively new establishment, having just soft opened in August, according to my masseuse as well as the brand’s Instagram.

While there have been other spas that also offer head spa services, none are quite as specialised as PAUSE, whose naming convention quite literally brands them as the go-to spot for head spas.

Located in Society, a Mont Kiara establishment, PAUSE boasted beautiful, minimalistic décor. Past the receptionist, the main area looks much like your usual hair salon, except more elevated.

Behind that is what you might call the wet area with all the basins. There aren’t exactly rooms here more so than sectioned-off spots with curtains, like more of a fitting room set-up.

The star of the show is within the private quarters. PAUSE uses a device that lets thin jets of water trickle onto your scalp. It’s best explained through visuals, so here’s a video from PAUSE themselves:

Let’s not jump the gun though, and start from the beginning of the experience.

Relaxation central

Kicking off the session at PAUSE, the masseuse brought me a tray of warm tea, biscuits, and a warm cloth to get refreshed.

From there she proceeded to give me a scalp massage, using a detoxifying lotion from a brand called Organethic.  

Something I noticed here was that the experience was certainly more skewed towards relaxation rather than treatment.

During my session, there wasn’t a thorough consultation of my hair type and scalp condition, nor did the masseuse go in-depth about the products used.

So, if you’re expecting something that’s very treatment and repair-intensive, perhaps this wouldn’t be the best fit.

Rather, the priority of the experience (and PAUSE’s branding) seems to be more focused on rest and rejuvenation.

And it certainly delivered on that.

While massaging the lotion into my hair, the masseuse had asked me what level of intensity I was good with, I told her to go ham, which I really appreciated.

It was a nice level of pressure, and I really commend those in the beauty industry who spend hours and hours massaging people and giving facials and whatnot. I get tired after just five minutes of massaging my grandma’s back.

From there, I was ushered to the back of the spa. Giddily, I laid down on the bed and was covered by a soft blanket.

The masseuse started with a very deep cleaning of my hair (which was admittedly quite oily on that day), then a conditioning. It was extremely relaxing, but that’s not what you’re here to read about.  

It’s time to talk about the water jet experience.

The sensation of the drizzling water on the scalp can perhaps be described as something akin to those metal head massagers. It starts off very tingly and intense (in the best way—especially if you experience ASMR like me), but eventually grows to be more of a mildly relaxing experience.

It was unbelievably fascinating to experience, and met my rather high expectations.

As the water trickled down my scalp, the masseuse placed an aromatherapy eye pillow that helped block out all the light.

I picked lavender for its relaxing properties, and with that, the masseuse began giving me an arm and hand massage. It was very attentive and intimate at times (as we had to kind of hold hands for one part to work), and I was in heaven the whole time. 10/10.

The experience was over too soon, but after that, the masseuse dried my hair. You can also ask them to style it, at an extra cost.

More to explore

Admittedly, as a pretty lux place, PAUSE Head Spa has some Mont Kiara prices, if you catch my drift. My 90-minute experience would have cost RM280, but my course was also padded with the hand massage which would have been an additional RM50.

Here’s its menu and prices as of my visit.

Packages with varying services and price points are also available.

At the end of the day, I do think if you’re willing to splurge on specialised experiences, PAUSE is certainly a spot to earmark and consider.

Personally, I might come back for the cream bath head spa someday, perhaps for a special occasion like a birthday, since it does cost RM350.

I would also be very intrigued to see what else the head spa may add to its menu. Maybe they could even explore Tansan hair treatment, a popular experience in Japan that involves carbonated water.

• Learn more about PAUSE Head Spa here, and Suu Balm here.
• Read other review articles we’ve written here.

Savannah Yarborough, a classically trained, Central Saint Martins-educated tailor, is sitting on a calf-hair-covered sofa thinking about the one-year anniversary of the Melrose Avenue outpost of her leatherwear store, Savas. “It may be a cliché,” she says, “but everybody came to L.A. to be someone and to do something, and a leather jacket is kind of a boost of that power.”

Yarborough, who grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, is known for her meticulously crafted custom leather jackets, first sold at her Nashville store in the city’s Wedgewood-Houston neighborhood, which opened in 2015. Yarborough likes to say that she “makes leather jackets for people who don’t wear leather jackets.

“People say they don’t wear leather jackets because in their mind, they’re envisioning a Marlon Brando vibe, but when I make them in a super-soft, suede shirt jacket that feels like the denim chambray shirt that you’d wear on a Sunday, it makes them question in their mind what a leather jacket is,” she tells THR while showing off a rack of new products, including a luxurious lightweight suede peacoat (from $4,500) and an ultra-luxe tie-dyed suede hoodie (from $3,700).

Her fastidious attention to detail, combined with the lightweight, lived-in feeling of her garments — all made at her workshop in New York City — has earned Yarborough fans across the spectrum, from music stars Jack White and Brandi Carlile to actors Damian Lewis and Brian Cox, who created an online stir wearing the saffron-colored suede Lowry shirt jacket ($2,700) with a pair of matching saffron suede Legend boots ($1,100) while promoting the final season of HBO’s Succession.

Though the brand built its name on bespoke pieces, it also sells ready-made items and has introduced a made-to-measure program, where customers can adjust the fit from an existing pattern and choose fabrications. “The one thing that I’m honestly the most proud of is how well our jackets fit off the rack,” says Yarborough.

New stand-out ready-to-wear offerings include The Denham from (from $2,500), a luxurious riff on the jean jacket done up in buttery soft leather or suede, or this fall’s The Dinner Jacket (from $4,500), a single-breasted, one-button peak lapel sport coat with front panels cut from a single piece, better to show off the hide and Yarborough’s handiwork. The Dinner jacket, with its 90s-inspired silhouette, is emblematic of Savas’s work. “Everyone wants to look 90s but nothing really fits from the 90s in the way they want and I thought, ‘How do we make something that’s very 90s— like a leather sport coat — and make it fit in a modern way,’” she says.

Says Derek Guy, known online as The Menswear Guy: “When I first saw her work a few years ago, I thought her operation was very special. She has her own world. She’s got the craft element. She’s making stuff that, if you really love craftsmanship and clothing, and if you don’t see yourself wearing Savile Row suits and sport coats, you can still get that experience of bespoke production.”

Grammy-winning musician Jason Isbell, a fan of the brand and the subject of the recently released HBO documentary Running With Our Eyes Closed, tells THR: “I like to dress pretty much the same on and offstage. I try to keep my music honest, so the lines between entertainer and regular guy tend to blur for me. Anytime I’m wearing Savas, I feel more confident, but in a way that isn’t ostentatious. I’m not trying to make anybody else feel underdressed; I just prefer a particular type of armor, built to last and made with care. And I like to look like I make rock ’n’ roll, because that’s who I am, not just what I do for work. Once I saw how Savannah does business and the quality of the clothes she makes, I was an instant fan.” One detail that Isbell (who’ll be seen in a supporting role in the upcoming Martin Scorsese film Killers of the Flower Moon) particularly appreciates is that “she’ll do buttons without sharp edges so I don’t scratch up my old guitars. Can’t beat that.”

Adds Nashville-based singer and artist Alison Mosshart, whose paintings will grace the walls of Savas’ L.A. store this fall: “Her leather jackets are so distinctive and cut so well. I always noted the cool personalized embroideries inside them, and it was impossible to miss that everyone in town was wearing her boots. If there was one place to visit and drool over custom leather goods, it was her shop, Savas.”

Continues Mosshart, whose new album God Games with her band The Kills, is set for an Oct. 27 release, “I think Savannah and I have similar tastes and when it comes to style and fashion and a desire for things to be unique and distinctive. She has the gift of being able to make things that she’s never seen, things that hadn’t previously existed, stuff based on dreams. something that completely compliments and suits the costumes’ individuality. It is no wonder she makes jackets for so many artists. We never want to wear what anyone else is wearing. We love things that feel personal and expressive and make us feel like lone rangers.”

A version of this story first appeared in the Sept. 20 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.

Mann Ki Baat LIVE updates: ‘Ghoda Library’ in Uttarakhand’s Nainital gets a mention

PM Modi said, “In our country education is always seen as a service. I have come to know about some youth of Uttarakhand, who are working for the education of children with the same spirit. Some youth in Nainital district have started unique ‘Ghoda Library’ for children.”

“It is true that today’s era is of Digital Technology and E-Books, but still books always play the role of a good friend in our lives. Hence, we should motivate children to read books,” Modi further said.

Modi also mentioned Hyderabad’s Akarshana Satish, a seventh-grade girl who initiated a unique effort related to libraries in the city.

“I have come to know of a similar unique effort related to libraries in Hyderabad. Here, daughter Akarshana Satish, studying in seventh grade, has achieved remarkable feats. At just 11 years of age, she is managing not one or two, but seven libraries for children,” he said.