Jamie Anderson has always dreamed of opening her own salon, and when she did, she wanted to offer something unique.

Anderson, 44, opened Mystic Salon + Head Spa last December in Mystic and held its grand opening this past week. Anderson said to her knowledge her business is the first in the state to offer luxury Japanese-inspired head spas service combined with a full-service luxury hair salon.

Anderson, a Southington native, has been a licensed hairdresser and cosmetologist since 2003. She worked for L’Oreal and C.B. Sullivan, but the bulk of her career was 15 years as the master colorist at the Timothy Pamment Salon in Madison until she decided to branch off.

“I always wanted to open a salon on my own, but there are so many salons. They’re saturated. They’re on every corner. If I’m going to tap the saturated market, how can I be different? How can I be unique? What can I offer?” Anderson said. “When I was working at Timothy Pamment Salon I was thinking, ‘This is a beautiful upscale salon. What could be better? What do people want more of?’

“I think people’s most favorite thing is just relaxing and some people, when they get in the shampoo bowl, that’s the only five minutes a day that someone they can feel cared for and seen and loved and I thought we should make that longer, like people should get more if they’re spending their time and treasure,” Anderson added. “We should give them a little more of an experience.”

Anderson said scalp care has been largely underserved, but that is not the case in her salon.

“We talk about our hair. We pay a lot of attention to hair, haircuts and grooming, but the scalp sort of gets neglected. That’s where the head spa comes in. It’s a luxury scalp and hair wellness experience. They are Japanese-inspired spa experiences that combine scalp care, massage, a heated eye mask, aromatherapy, essential oils, cleansing, deep conditioning, relaxation and basically a full nervous system reset. It’s equally immersive and relaxing as it is beneficial to the scalp and hair.”

Mystic Salon + Head Spa has four beds with a shower apparatus that goes over the customers head and drizzles water. Anderson said the sound of water can be very cathartic to people.

“Our beds are full-body massaging beds. While this is all occurring on your scalp and hair, your body is on a heated bed, and your body is getting massaged. It’s really an indulgence,” Anderson said. “I always thought once I get my own head spa, I thought everyone who gets a shampoo should be on the bed for five to 10 minutes and just experience this form of just complete relaxation.”

Anderson said the head spa gives her business a “little niche,” which makes her spot “very unique.” She said there are other head spas in the state and added that there are hair salons that have a head spa room, but she said Mystic Salon + Head Spa is a full service, luxury hair salon and a head spa.

“Every client, every haircut, you would lay down on the bed. That would be your shampoo experience on the head spa bed, the heated, the body massage, and for those few minutes you could drift away,” Anderson said.

Three of the head spa offerings are 60 minutes and two are 90 minutes. During the treatments, a magnified image is taken of the scalp before the service to have a side-by-side comparison of how it looks after the treatment.

The customer then lays down on the bed and first experiences a dry scalp massage and a massage of their neck and upper shoulders while settling in. Then a heat mask is placed. Anderson said the warmth helps calm them down stops their eyes from fluttering.

“The mask is applied and we have a dome that goes over them with their face sticking out. They’re not completely immersed for safety reasons Their entire head and hair is covered in this dome which pumps steam into the area where their hair is. The steam helps to swell the cuticle, which is the outer layer of the hair, and will allow the product to actually penetrate past the cuticle into the cortex and really do the job it needs to do to help repair and hydrate,” Anderson said.

There is also a hand and arm massage and then another scalp massage and then a cooling down of the steaming before the final rinse. There are also scalp scrubbers and special combs used by the aestheticians to remove any of that build up off the scalp.

“At the end of the service, when you do the side-by-side photos of the scalp, the first picture is typically like the scalp is kind of lying flat. The hair strand is lying flat on the scalp because there’s buildup weighing it down. And at the end, it’s in full salute. It’s like standing up out of the follicle and hydrated with no buildup,” Anderson said.

Prices range from $165 to $235. The Crown Experience is the highest-end offering. The 90-minute session includes the head spa experience and a facial.

“That is our probably most beloved service for the head spas. And then what’s exceptional, as I have visited other head spas in Connecticut, this was a real missing element. Because most of those people are not hairdressers. After a head spa, you now have wet hair. What happens after the head spa with us is they can get their hair professionally blown out. So now they have done all this wellness and treated their scalp and their hair. And they can leave with it with a professional blowout and ready to explore Mystic or wherever else they’re off to,” Anderson said.

Anderson said a detox head spa is the other most popular option for customers in addition to the Crown Experience. The detox helps remove build up from well water or any kind of minerals.

“Our hair is porous, so it grabs onto things. That’s when hair becomes tangly or lifeless or just kind of limp. Removing that and really going deeper into just like a clarifying shampoo, putting on a treatment that removes any impurities is quite popular.”

Since opening in December, Anderson said the business has been busy and her work staff has more than doubled in size from three to seven employees.

Mystic Salon + Head Spa has also partnered with Delamar Hotels and The Whaler’s Inn Hotel of Mystic. Clients have come to the salon from both locations.

“Mystic is a tourist town, too. There’s a lot of like transient-type clients, clients who might not come back for six months till they’re back in town,” Anderson said.

The salon also offers four different types of private party options for all ages.

Little Lux Sparkle is for children aged 6-10 years old. They come in and get their hair done with the option of curls or a bun. They will get a tiara for a keepsake and also glitter, blush, and face gems, lip gloss and painted nails. The customers walk into the building on a pink carpet that is rolled out by the salon’s staff.

For those aged 10-16 years old,  the Little Lux Glow is offered. It includes a head spa and a blow dry and “it’s a little more sophisticated and an intro to wellness, but age appropriate.” It includes a mini facial and a mini head spa with the heated eye mask and scalp massage. Hair tinsel is also offered, and everyone leaves with a swag bag. The pink carpet is offered as well.

The salon also caters to brides and bachelorette parties traveling into town for weddings.

“We just want them to settle in like they’re on this mini vacation and relax. We’ve had bride parties with mocktails, sweet treats, head spas, blow dries and all of that good pampering and wellness stuff,” Anderson said. We also cater if there is a girl’s weekend or surprise parties here. We’ve had couples do Valentine’s Day and birthdays. We’ve opened up to a lot of different services.

“We really focus on that guest experience,” Anderson added. “We really want to deliver that hospitality for clients. My goal is to make sure that their time and treasure were well spent, and they felt cared for with hair integrity and scalp wellness as the absolute priority. We also want to make sure they leave looking and feeling their best.”

Mystic Salon + Head Spa is located at 80 Stonington Road in Groton. Hours are Sunday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Monday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Tuesday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The salon is closed on Wednesdays. Appointments can be made online or by calling the salon at 860-322-7007. She said many new customers have questions about head spa services and are welcome to call.