The Hammam Experience in Morocco

The Hammam is an incredibly important part of Moroccan culture and life.  Men, women and children will visit their local Hammam at least once a week, and spend two or three hours there catching up on gossip with their friends, and following the long rituals for cleansing their bodies until their skin glows.

The public Hammam experience is a real eye opener and takes some getting used to for the more reserved Canadian such as myself.  :) 

1) When you enter the first room it is much like the changing rooms in a gym (minus any private areas), with wooden benches around the perimeter of the room, and hooks for you to hang your clothes while you strip.  There are ladies on duty as you enter where you can rent water buckets and leave your belongings once you have stripped down.  You also buy Black Soap, a Kessa Glove and Moroccan Clay for your treatment.  You can also hire a lady to scrub you if do not have someone with you or you are too shy.  Me, I hired a scrub attendant :) 

2) Next, you enter the steaming areas.  The walls are lined with hot water taps.  You use this water to fill your bucket with super hot water before heading over to your spot on the floor to relax on your mat.  On the mats you pour the hot water on yourself and apply the black soap all over your body to penetrate your pores.  The smell of the soap helps you to relax. 

3) Next your scrub attendant arrives to do the hard part of exfoliating your skin.  You are motioned to lie flat on your back.  Me, I closed my eyes, trying to pretend there was no one else in the room :) I was determined to enjoy the experience as bright as the lights were.  The scrubbing, using the Kessa glove is pretty ummm intense.  This tiny girl had the strength of an ox, and at first, it felt like she was rubbing me down with sandpaper.  After a few minutes I got used to the pressure and pain, and actually started enjoying it.  I was a little mortified at how much dead skin she was stripping from me as she scrubbed every single inch of my flesh but I felt clean and all of my dry skin was gone!  

Once my front was done from head to toe, she repeated the process for my back and sides – not one bit of my skin escaped being scrubbed.  I was certainly glowing when I was done, and tingling from head to toe for several hours afterwards!  Next was the application of Argan Oil.  It felt luxurious and sealed off my new found cleanness :) 

I definitely recommend it! 

To check out our products for your DIY Hammam experience click here