"The Hairwashing Robot"

Having your hair washed by a robot does not sound like a relaxing experience. In fact, it sounds worrying but, thankfully, as I learned, there was no point getting in a lather.

The hair-washing robot is eight minutes of pure hair-washing leaven. First you lie back on a reclinging chair so you are completely horizontal. Next your hair is pulled back and placed in a basin filled with little holes, where a sealed cover is then lowered over your head and forehead.

I felt as if my space helmet had been secured and I was ready for take off. Then slowly, as the machine warmed up, it began gurgling loudly around my head before shooting out pressured jets of water. The jets come from all sides of the basin. One my hair was thoroughly wet, they stopped shooting out water and switched to shampoo.

A couple of minutes later and the jets were back to water, giving my hair a good rinse, before switching again, this time to conditioner.

Luckily, the pressure can be adjusted so it doesn't hurt but doesn't tickle either. It feels more like an invigorating massage, but the most enjoyable part has to be the noise. The amount of water being shot around my head drowned out every other sound around me. You can't help imagining you are standing under a thunderous waterfall.

The company behind the robot, Aqua Vibro, claims to wash hair better than any person ever could. My hair did feel clean, but, to be honest, it didn't feel any cleaner. I was more aware of this tingling feeling all over my head that was slowly sending me to sleep.

Lara Ellsworth-Jones