Hammam at home
Black soap, the kessa glove and ghassoul: the steps of the weekly ritual in an ordinary bathroom, and how to give the bathroom itself the feeling of a hammam.
The hammam is heat, steam, black soap and a firm scrub. A bathroom with hot water is enough to do most of it, in about forty minutes.
In short
- Three products do the work: black soap (savon beldi), a kessa glove and ghassoul clay.
- The skin must stay warm and wet for ten minutes before scrubbing, or nothing comes off.
- Once a week at most. Not on sunburnt, irritated or broken skin.
- Each person has their own glove.
What you need
- Black soap (savon beldi)
- A soft paste made from olives and olive oil. It does not foam. It softens the skin so that the glove can lift the dead skin. A jar of 200 g lasts for months.
- Kessa glove
- A mitt of rough fabric. A finer grain for sensitive skin and the face, a coarser one for the body.
- Ghassoul
- A clay from the Atlas, sold as flakes or powder. Mixed with warm water or rose water, it cleans skin and hair without soap.
- Argan oil or a body oil
- For afterwards, on skin that is still slightly damp.
- Rose water or orange blossom water
- To mix the clay and to finish.
- Extras
- A small stool, a bowl to pour water, a pumice stone for the feet, henna for the hair.
The steps
- Warm the bathroom: run hot water for a few minutes with the door closed, or take a hot bath or shower for ten minutes.
- On wet skin, spread a thin layer of black soap over the whole body, avoiding the eyes. Leave it five to ten minutes in the warmth.
- Rinse well with warm water. The soap must be gone before you scrub.
- Wet the glove, wring it out, and scrub with long, firm strokes: legs, arms, back, stomach. Small grey rolls of skin appear: that is the purpose.
- Rinse. Wash your hair now if you wish.
- Mix two or three spoons of ghassoul with warm water into a smooth cream. Apply it to body and hair and leave it five to ten minutes, without letting it dry hard.
- Rinse for a long time, finishing with cooler water.
- Pat the skin dry and rub in a few drops of argan oil. Drink water or tea and rest for a while.
Good to know
- If no skin comes off, the skin was not warm and wet for long enough, or the soap was not rinsed off.
- The face: black soap for two minutes at most, then a fine glove with light strokes, or no glove at all.
- Children: steam and soap, a soft glove with very light strokes, and no ghassoul near the eyes.
- Rinse the glove, hang it to dry, and replace it when it has gone smooth.
- Ghassoul can block a drain. Use a drain strainer and let the water run.
- Pregnancy, heart or blood pressure problems, skin conditions: avoid long heat and ask your doctor first.
A bathroom with the feeling of a hammam
- One wall or the splashback in zellige, or in a tile with the same shine; tadelakt or a lime-look paint on the others.
- A wooden or stone stool, a copper bowl, a brass tray for the products.
- Plain jars and bottles, refilled: black soap, ghassoul, oil. Take the labels off.
- Striped cotton towels (fouta) dry fast and take little space.
- A pierced lantern rated for bathrooms, or a candle lantern on a shelf away from the water.
- A plant that likes steam, and a small bunch of eucalyptus hung near the shower.
Mistakes to avoid
- Scrubbing dry or cold skin.
- Scrubbing with the soap still on.
- Doing it every other day: the skin needs a week.
- Sharing gloves.
- Letting ghassoul dry to a crust in the hair.