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It seems that the hair scalp, which has been sitting quietly under the hair forever, is suddenly being called into the limelight.

Dehydrated, oily, stressed and overburdened Hair Scalp Treatmenthair scalps are receiving the kind of treatment normally reserved for the face. The hair scalp, too, is coming in for pampering that takes the amount of time and trouble women once lavished only on their complexions.

An abundance of new hair care products for the hair scalp includes cleansers, exfoliating tonics, vitamin-enriched serums, sunscreens, moisturizing masks and even night creams for the hair scalp.

Korres, which is a line of natural products from Greece, makes a hair scalp scrub containing green silt, which is said to remove dead skin cells and help the hair scalp produce healthier hair. Kiehl’s Lecithin and Coconut Enriched Hair Masque with Panthenol is meant to be applied to the hair after shampooing and left on for a full hour before rinsing.

And perhaps the most extravagant new product is Frederic Fekkai’s Overnight Hair Repair, a $195 lotion that contains ceramides (proteins from wheat and rice), edelweiss extract and vitamin B5, meant to moisturize and add nutrients to the hair while you sleep.

At salons, ever more elaborate hair treatments seem like facials. At the Kerastase Treatment Institute in New York, an appointment begins with questions about the state of your hair and scalp, then moves on to a careful inspection of their condition. Are they dry? Oily? Damaged by the environment or by rough treatment? Then the technician proceeds with exfoliation, conditioning or both.

“I apply the proper treatment and give the client a hair scalp, neck and back massage, while she sits under heat, to stimulate blood circulation and open the hair cuticle so the hair care product can penetrate better,” explained Alirio Sanchez, a Kerastase treatment specialist. After a final blow dry, the bill can be as much as $125.

Perhaps for women accustomed to monthly facials, there was nowhere to go but to the top of the hair scalp. And they may be onto something. Dermatologists and hair-care specialists say proper treatment can make the hair scalp and hair look and feel better. But does it really take the kind of time and money the new products require?

There was a time when people did little more to their heads than wash them, using harsh shampoos made of lye and perhaps a cream rinse that simply coated the hair enough to make it easier to pull a comb through.

Gentler shampoos and more moisturizing conditioners came along only in the 1970s, said Michael Gordon, the president and founder of Bumble and Bumble, a salon and hair-care company in New York. (The company sells a new four-step daily hair and scalp care regimen called “Bumble and Bumble Bb. Treatment Conditioning Creme, Scalp Rebalancing Therapy,” which in addition to shampoo and conditioner, includes a mask and a “hair-nourishing complex.”)

“And it’s really only been the past 20 years that we’ve had so many hair styling products - like gels, mousses, volumizers, finishing balms,” Gordon said.

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