28th November 2020
Beauty is in the skin! Take care of it, oil it, clean it, scrub it, perfume it, and put on your best clothes, even if there is no special occasion, and you’ll feel like a queen. Fatema Mernissi1
In 2015, I travelled to Las Vegas for the first time because Brooks and Dunn had just taken up residence there with Reba McIntire. Thankfully I was with one of my best friends, Bean, who was a seasoned vet of The Strip and knew lots of cool things to do in Vegas. The trip was full of laughter and sweet memories. However, the one negative memory was the number of sales assistants who chased us with beauty creams of suspicious origins. I am guessing that they depend on shocking their customers into purchasing the miracle products that they put on your face and skin. Neither one of us looked our age, although a night of little to no sleep and our arrival in the desert were not doing our skin any favours, hence the pouncing sales assistants. Literally watching our laugh lines disappear and the dead skin on our arms peel off with little effort, made us both feel a bit negative about our skin care regimes, to say the least.
Neither of us are strangers to beauty salons nor to cheaper at home alternatives, but these products made us think that we might need to up our game. We did not purchase any of the ridiculously priced products being thrust at and slathered on us, but we considered a few. Fast forward a couple of years, and Bean is in Morocco at an environmental conference. What is a girl to do, but to try a Moroccan Hammam? She was horrified at how much dead skin they removed from her and since then I have searched for opportunities to try one too. A trip to Morocco is not in my near future, but still I obsess. I have researched the process and am fascinated by it and how long the tradition has held.
The Romans introduced public baths to Morocco, as they did in many of the places which they ruled, but the Moroccans put their own spin on them. Obviously, they became very popular as a way to cleanse their bodies and purify their souls before prayers. This is an important process for Islamic people, so many public baths were built near mosques. They do not contain the pools of more traditional baths, but they consist of three rooms which are different temperatures for the various steps, but people choose the rooms they prefer for each step. The coolest helps to acclimatize to the heat, but the hottest room is perfect for opening pores and breathing. Whichever room you choose, the first step is to cover your entire body with the black soap. This soap contains olive oil and softens your skin to assist the exfoliation. After relaxing for 5 to 10 minutes like this, the soap is rinsed off and the skin is exfoliated using kees, a soft, sand-paper like glove. After a thorough rinse and hair wash, the clay mask, ghassoul, is applied. This mixture of clay and rose water makes the skin softer. After this is rinsed off, argan oil is applied which moisturizes your body. The entire process is relaxing for your body and mind, so there are a number of benefits to enjoy on top of the delightfully smooth skin.2
Earlier this week, I found out that Rituals has a line called Rituals of Hammam and it contained the black soap and the soft mitt, which they call a kessa glove. There are other products in the line, but I am trying to use up the beauty products that I already have so I only purchased these two. This means that I will be using a salt scrub, a clay mask, and a moisturizing oil from other companies. From everything I have read, it is the first step which is the most critical, so I am hoping that my substitutions will not affect the results. I have spent the last two days drinking as much water as I could to ensure that my skin is not dehydrated. I dry brush my skin 3 to 5 days a week as well, so I am very curious about the amount of dead skin that will be removed.
Saturday Night at the end of November
So, after all of the preparing, it came time to try the products out. As instructed I took a hot shower to open my pores before I applied the black soap. The soap was something like a thick gel and was easily applied. It has a pleasing scent and certainly makes the skin feel soft right away. Sadly, my music died shortly after I started so I had to guesstimate how long ten minutes was. I decided that ten minutes was up when I started to feel a bit cold and bored.
I rinsed the soap off and then scrubbed my skin with a salt scrub that contained oil. I then used the kessa mitt to exfoliate the skin. I wasn’t wowed. I knew I still had a couple of steps to complete so I decided to try the mitt again after the mud mask. For this I was using a Body Shop product, Moroccan Rhassoul Body Clay, and a soft mask applicator brush. It was messy and difficult, but as the clay started to dry on my skin a delightful tingling sensation started. The mask has to be left on for ten minutes to dry so it was easier to judge timings.
Again I rinsed off and then used the kessa glove. Still not wowed. I decided that I must have been wrong to wet the glove and decided that I would do my research after I finished. For the last step I used Bio-Oil because it targets many of the issues I have with my skin including stretchmarks and dehydration. I was happily tingly as I was expecting to be, but my skin did not feel as soft and supple as expected. As suggested, I relaxed with some Moroccan Mint Tea afterwards and then more water. It felt indulgent and I enjoyed the wrap up.
Things I learned:
- a hot shower does not open your pores as effectively as a bath will, especially when you only have some control over the heat of the room
- dry off before you apply the product
- do not use an oil based salt scrub after the black soap
- the kessa glove should be wet, so the problem was something different
- it is an incredibly messy procedure
Sunday Morning at the beginning of December
As my research told me that a hammam is traditionally done once a week I decided that I would take what I learned to make some adjustments and try again. I already had all the products I needed so it wasn’t going to cost me anything to do so.
Again, I drank lots of water leading up to the process. I found out that it is actually quite important to drink lots of water in the winter. I am not sure why that didn’t occur to me as the temperature differences between outside and inside are quite hard on the skin. Anyway, I also found a different scrub to use after the black soap. I started with a bath this time to make sure that my pores were open and the bathroom was nice and steamy. I also had my music this time so I could use the songs to judge timings rather than my feelings of discomfort.
I repeated the process with some subtle changes – the bath, then actually drying off between each step – which made the entire procedure significantly less messy – and using a bit more product. The first step with the black soap is quite relaxing as once you are covered in it, you can just keep massaging it into your skin with a bit of water. Yes, I know most people relax during this step, but I need to keep moving. After I washed it off and used the Exfoliating Body Scrub for Smooth Skin from Clarins, I dried off and used the kessa glove again. I wouldn’t say that I was wowed, but it did seem to work better this time.
I rinsed and dried off again and then applied the clay mask. It was much easier to apply to damp skin than it had been to apply to wet skin resulting in more of the product on me and less of it on the walls and floor. I believe the clay mask is my favourite part. It simply feels so wonderful. They suggest using circular motions while you are removing it to maximize the effect, I tried to but really just ended up sort of scrubbing it off where it had dried too much to just be rinsed off. This was all followed by Bio-Oil and Moroccan Mint Tea again. I would say that my skin is much softer this time and it feels as though it is much more hydrated, so I am quite pleased.
Overall, I have found the process somewhat relaxing and fun, and I will continue to work out a process that works for me at home. Having said that, visiting a real hammam is very high on my list of priorities and I will start saving now so that I can indulge myself in the experience one day soon.
Verdict – if you are on a tight budget and have lots of free time, this is a fun process to try.
Roaming with Raquel 