What the hammam is
The hammam is Morocco's public steam bath, a neighbourhood place as much as a bath. Most have connected rooms of rising heat, and many people go once a week. At a traditional hammam you bring your own soap and glove, then steam, soap, scrub, rinse, and finish with oil.
A bathroom will not match a hammam's heat, and it does not need to. The aim is warm, damp, soft skin. The order is the same.
What you need
- A hot shower, with the door closed
- Black soap scrub, or Nila soap scrub
- The kessa glove
- Rose hydrosol
- Argan oil
- Prickly pear oil, if you take the optional step
- A towel, and a glass of water
The order, with the times
Six steps, the last one optional. About an hour, all told.
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Step 1: Steam
A hot shower or a bowl of steaming water, door closed, until the skin is warm and soft.
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Step 2: Soap
A thin layer of black soap scrub, or Nila soap scrub, over damp skin. Leave it on.
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Step 3: Exfoliate
Rinse, then the kessa glove in firm sweeping strokes, one area at a time.
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Step 4: Tone
Rose hydrosol pressed onto freshly cleansed skin.
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Step 5: Glow
A few drops of argan oil into slightly damp skin.
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Step 6: Target, optional
Two or three drops of prickly pear seed oil pressed into the face.
Drink a glass of water first.
Water and heat
Warm, never scalding. Rinse lukewarm after the glove. Stand up slowly when you finish, and stop if you feel dizzy. If you are pregnant, ask your midwife or GP about the heat first.
How often
Once a week is the hammam's rhythm. Patch test anything new, and keep the glove off broken or irritated skin.
The same evening each week is the easiest rhythm to keep.
The weekly extra: the Nila mask
On a mask week, the Nila mask goes in after the glove and the rinse, before the rose hydrosol and the argan oil: plain yoghurt, a small amount of Nila, fifteen minutes, wipe, rinse. It stains, so read the Nila guide before the first time.
What the research measured
The ritual is a tradition, and we sell it as one. For the glove, the step that asks most of the skin, this is what we found.
The kessa
Measured
A rough mitt for rubbing loose, dead skin from the surface after steam and soap. We found no clinical study of the glove. One survey of 160 hammam users in Tangier found most reported some irritation after hard rubbing, so go lightly.
Not claimed
We do not say deep exfoliation, removes toxins, renews or regenerates.
