Methodology

GoHeadSpa is a directory, not a magazine. Every entry describes a head spa studio with facts from its own website or its own Instagram profile, and every entry shows the pages the facts were taken from and the date we read them.

What an entry contains

We record the address, the treatments around the head spa with length and price as the studio publishes them, the opening hours, the languages, details such as gift vouchers, online booking or treatments for two, the link to the website and to the booking page, the telephone number and the Instagram profile where the studio names them, and one to three plain sentences of our own that describe the studio. Where the studio states it, we add the year it opened.

Every entry ends with the list of source pages read and the date on which the entry as a whole was checked. That date is visible on the page and in the seal.

What is never recorded

We write no reviews, award no stars, make no rankings and take no money for a position in a list. Within a city, studios that have confirmed their entry come first, then the others, each group ordered by name. We take no photos, reviews or texts from Google, Treatwell, Fresha, Yelp or other portals; a portal is at most a hint for finding a studio's own website. We take over no advertising claims: a studio that calls itself the best in its city is listed as a studio in its city. Promotional prices are not recorded, only regular ones.

What "not stated" means

Many studios publish no prices, no lengths or no opening hours. Where a website is silent, the entry says so. We do not estimate, infer or fill a gap from third-party sources. A blank is information too: whoever wants the price knows to ask.

How studios are selected

A studio is listed when it has its own website or its own Instagram profile and offers a head spa there, that is, a treatment of the scalp with cleansing, massage and care, in whatever tradition. Hairdressers and beauty salons that offer a head spa as one of many services are listed with that service. Not listed are providers without a source of their own, providers whose website cannot be read, and offers that carry only the name, such as an ordinary hair wash.

A city gets a page of its own once two studios are listed there; until then its studio appears on the country page and on its own page. A treatment style gets a page of its own once three studios name it that way on their website.

Checks and editions

Every entry is checked as a whole against the studio's website. The month at the head of a city page is the month in which its entries were last checked. We read every source page again at least once a year and whenever a studio or a reader reports a change. When a studio closes, the entry stays online marked "permanently closed", so that searchers do not run into a dead end.

Who checks

Responsible for the selection, checking and maintenance of all entries is Christian Radermacher, managing director of Radermacher.Online UG (haftungsbeschränkt) in Langerwehe near Aachen, Germany, which operates the directory. Software tools are used to read the source pages and transfer the facts; every edition is released by him before publication, and the responsibility for every entry rests with him. No studio pays for inclusion, checking or position. Reports of errors and questions about the method reach him at hello@goheadspa.com.

Disclosure

One listed studio is close to the operator: Wilai Wellness in Stolberg near Aachen is run by the managing director's family, and Radermacher.Online UG (haftungsbeschränkt) built that studio's website. Its entry follows the same rules as every other, is checked by the same criteria and stands where the order of the directory puts it. There are no other interests in listed studios.

Corrections and claims

Studios can claim their entry and submit corrections by email; the links are on every entry. Corrections that change a fact are checked against the studio's website before publication and answered within five working days. Readers report errors the same way. A studio can ask to be removed from the directory.

Changes

What changes in the directory is recorded in the public changelog: new studios, new pages, corrections. A page's date is only moved when its content has changed.

Citing GoHeadSpa

Entries may be cited with their URL and the check date shown on the page. The directory is updated continuously, so the date matters.

Open data

The whole directory is available under The directory in numbers as JSON and CSV, with the same facts as on the studio pages, including sources and check dates. The files are licensed CC BY 4.0: they may be used, processed and shared freely, including commercially, with GoHeadSpa named as the source. They are regenerated with every build of the directory and carry the date of the most recent check.