Restoring Ourselves at the Hammam
If I told you that I had the ultimate solution for glowing skin, a boosted immune system, better sleep, total relaxation, and mental clarity, you would probably wonder what new cream or supplement I was going to tell you about. However, like all the best things in life, this kind of restoration and true rejuvenation cannot be attained in an expensive jar or bottle of pills. It must be experienced, and it is something that every woman should experience, as frequently as she can. I am talking about the hammam (also known as a Turkish Bath) - a ritual native to my Moroccan heritage but not so common in western culture.
A hammam experience is the perfect boost of self-care to everyone's weekly routine and the best part is that you don't have to go to Morocco to experience this. With Minarra’s Hammam Ritual products, you can create the same experience at home and “get your glow on” all year long. Treat yourself to this experience and your body, spirit, and mind will all feel nourished and restored.
My first Hammam Experience
I vividly recall the first trip I took to the hammam when I was six years old. I was afraid, the place was dimly lit, nude silhouettes blurred past me, and the cacophony of sound felt incredibly overwhelming. My mother could sense my fear and reassured me that the hammam was not a scary place, but a special place, a gathering place for women to be pampered like goddesses.
As I waited, I laid on a plastic mat next to my cousins and we played a guessing game in which droplets of water would come off the ceiling first to splash our bodies. And when our mothers were busy chatting, we slathered the mosaic floor with the black soap and slid around in the suds.
I didn’t fully understand the history and ritual of the hammam but I loved how soft my skin felt afterward and I did feel a strong sense of pride following a beauty ritual that had been practiced by so many Moroccan women throughout the centuries. With each visit, I knew I was part of something amazing beyond just a skincare routine.
The Hammam in Moroccan life
Moroccan hammams can be traced back to the ancient Roman empire to a time when in-home plumbing was non-existent. The Romans didn't exfoliate but would go to the baths to relax and soak as they discussed the affairs of the day. Over the years, this practice migrated to the Middle East and then to Morocco where it became more of a ritual that continues today. The Moroccan bathing experience is an essential part of social life and a luxurious way to restore our skin, hair, body, and mind.
The hammam became woven into the fabric of Moroccan life. It could be festive as with the tradition for brides to take a cleansing bath with their family and friends, and even future in-laws, a couple of days before her wedding festivities. This was an opportunity for the bride to get to know one's new family more fully and for them to welcome the bride into their intimacy. But it could also be a popular way for working women to meet up and simply relax with their girlfriends after their tiring shifts.
Whether part of a life-changing event or an opportunity to connect with friends, the hammam experience is the kind of deep self-care that we rarely allow ourselves but could all benefit from. In addition to restoring moisture and softness to our skin and hair, the hammam is also deeply rejuvenating our spiritual and emotional selves. In Moroccan culture, it has value as spiritual purification. Purification and cleanliness are deeply rooted in the Muslim religion, which requires ablutions prior to engaging in prayer. Hammams are therefore often conveniently situated close to a mosque.
The Hammam Experience
When you walk into the hammam, you immerse yourself in an ancient tradition that enlivens you, feeds your soul, awakens your senses by scent (citrus and roses), sight (the different colored walls, the royalist architecture), sound (the stifled noises) and the sensation of the hot steam kissing your skin. This all creates a soothing harmony for every “queen,” as she basks in the kingdom of the nudes.
A typical communal hammam consists of three different rooms with different temperatures. The temperature changes stimulate the flow of blood, open the pores, and encourage the body to sweat out toxins.
The Ritual Begins
The preparation for the hammam always starts the night before. In my family, my mom and my aunts would make their special concoctions for hair, face, and body using special clay called khassoul and native flowers and plants.
A hammam was situated only a few blocks from our house. Upon arrival to the hammam, you walk through a long mosaic tiled hallway to pay the hammam patron standing behind a high counter before entering the bathhouse. When I was little, I could only see her gold bangles, as they made as much noise as she did as we stood at that counter. After we paid, my mom and my aunts grabbed a few buckets for the water and we stripped down to nothing before entering the steam room.
The steam room is the hottest room and the most distinguished room with a dome-shaped roof with tinted glass which natural light passes and illuminates the room. Kids were not allowed in the steam room because of the heat and were only present for a short time at the hammam. They would leave after being cleaned when a member of the family would come to pick them up while the moms stayed behind for a couple more hours to enjoy themselves.
The ritual starts in the hottest room, where you begin by rinsing yourself with hot water. Then you will slather your body with the Moroccan natural black soap, also called Beldi soap. After letting the soap deeply cleanse your skin for 20 minutes, you rinse your body off thoroughly. The Moroccan Beldi soap with a gel-like consistency is one of the essential products of the hammam ritual. It cleanses, removes dead skin, deeply moisturizes, and prepares the skin for exfoliation. You can even use Beldi soap daily in your shower to keep your skin soft.
Next, you go to the warm room, where the exfoliation process begins. Using your magical exfoliating kessa glove, you will stimulate circulation and get rid of the dead skin using repetitive long, upward strokes. You will believe it to be magical when you see the dead skin roll right off your body even if you already maintain pristine hygiene. After the kessa exfoliation treatment, your skin will feel reinvigorated, instantly smoother, and brighter.
In the last room, you will rinse with cold water which closes your pores, balances your circulation, and firms your skin. You can then massage the skin with argan oil to lock in hydration.
After this final step, the ritual is concluded with the cooling-down period: relaxing in a soft robe while sipping tea and snacking on cold tangerines or oranges.
Today’s Hammam
Morocco still has many public steam rooms where visitors can be treated to a hammam-like experience. In the traditional hammam, most of the women performed their own cleanses and filled their own buckets with water while in many of the modern ones, you will pay an attendant to pamper you through the cleansing and exfoliating experience. Some locals have also noted that hammam staff may perform a lighter scrub and massage for visitors who have not grown up with this experience.
The hammam is typically split into two different sessions, a common practice in Morocco to give the men and women their privacy. The morning into the early evening is the session reserved for women, and then from 7:00 pm on it is reserved for the men. This also provides an opportunity for parents to pass on their knowledge and life experience to their children and give the “birds and bees” talk once they hit puberty.
Sometimes, the women were late leaving the hammam at night which left the men standing against the wall outside, waiting for every last woman to leave so that they could enter. It was not until I was a little older and started attending the hammam with my cousin that I realized the older girls were intentionally taking their time so to be seen by their love interests-- walking past them with glowing skin, feeling empowered and sexy, they wanted to be sure it was noticed.
For tourists, the hammam may be a bucket list attraction or a way to experience a slice of Moroccan culture while visiting North Africa, But to native Moroccans, the hammam is an essential part of our culture, our childhoods, our everyday lives, and a haven. For me, the hammam is not only a place to recharge and beautify but also an experience filled with many fond memories of connecting with my mother, grandmother, ancestors, and all the women demonstrating acceptance for one another. These women have inspired me and modeled confidence, true self-love, and empowerment to me. If the hammam walls could speak, they would testify to the laughter, dreams, tears, and stories exchanged over the generations.
The hammam is a place of community and whenever I get back to Morocco, the first thing I do is visit the hammam. It is a loving reminder of the tender rituals I shared with my mother as a young girl. After the exfoliation ritual, she would wrap a towel around me, douse my face with rose water, kiss my forehead and tell me I smelled like a Roman princess.
We invite you to explore the Hammam collection at Minarra so that you can recreate this luxurious experience in your own home and perhaps share the ritual of self-care with your loved ones.
