DIY- Moroccan Hammam in your own home!

Asalam waliykum,

I never thought of doing a post on this before, only after seeing a few sisters speak about their Hammam experiences did I think to do this. This is a sort of continuation of my last post, the Moroccan Haul which can be found Here!!

While I can't whisk you away to a Moroccan Hammam or a spa, I have put together a few simple steps that you can follow in your own bathroom so you can enjoy some of the beauty benefits of the hammam experience and feel thoroughly pampered. This is probably best done in the shower or stood in the bath, as lots of hot water is used in the hammam.

Firstly, Hammam is similar to Turkish Bath, the use of Hot water and steam. Both therapeutic and cleansing. In Morocco you will find a Hammam in every district. Obviously segregated, however, it is not suitable for Muslim women to visit these places. Why? well yes it is segregated but with that comes women showing too, too, tooo much awrah. More then what they should display in front of another woman (More that is only acceptable for the Husband to see). I wont go into details, lets just leave it at that!!!

I stopped going to public Hammam when I was 16 years old, of course I was looked at like an alien, every girl goes to Hammam in Morocco. Trying to explain to them that the Prophet SAW forbid the women from going, is like trying to explain physics to them. So I tried my best, gave Dawah and was grateful to never have to return to that fitna filled place again.   

I really missed Hammam though, the best experience ever, it's so therapeutic and very good for you body inside and out. Most people will tell you after their visit, that they had piles and piles of dead skin scrubbed off them. Just because you shower daily does not mean you remove all the dead skin and you only ever remove it all after having a Hammam experience. People notice straight away cleaner and clearer skin, super soft almost baby like.

Those sisters who practice Islam and want to experience this. You can achieve this at home, as I do. So I want to share this with you all, all you need is a Bathroom, Hot water and a few other accessories which I will list below. 

What you will need:

- Scrubbing mitt in Morocco we call it a Keyasa, The best ones are from Morocco. The one I use is thick and well sewn together, It is knitted together with a slightly rough fibers and I have only managed to find this type in Oujda. Not sure what it is made of but it is much nicer then the gloves you get in the UK which I find are way to harsh on my skin. You can get similar ones online, even on eBay so have a look. 

- Sabon Beldi the Moroccan Soap which is very dark and looks like tar!
- Ghassoul clay/mud (for face, hair and body)
- Optional: Foot pumice. 
- Optional: Face brush .
- Optional: Argan oil/Olive oil/Castor oil/rose water etc
- Optional: Fresh lemon juice/Apple cider vinegar. 

Preparation:

- Something simple, make sure you have the Hot water turned on. Annoying when you go to shower and find the water cold! 

- Set aside an evening to yourself, a good Hammam experience will require 1/2 hours. 

- Fluffy towel and candles (optional).

- Dissolve the Ghassoul in a small amount of warm/hot water in a bowl, add enough to apply to hair and face, and body if you wish. For hair and face I use roughly 1 cup of the clay maybe a little less. I add a small amount of warm water a tsp of Argan oil, a few drops of lemon juice and rose water. Mix well, the consistency should be like a face cream, not too tick or too runny. I apply to face and neck first and then the roots of the hair to the tips. Then fold hair on top of the head secure with a clip or hair band. Allow this to dry roughly 10-20 mins depending on the original consistency and the humidity. 

- Prepare the bathroom, if your having a hot bath then make the water as hot as you can bare, everyone is different so I do not know a set temp. Obviously be safe and do not use boiling hot water. I like to add a few drops of rose water, no bubbles you want the water to be clear. 
If you are having a shower then make sure water is hot enough, and create lots of steam, You want to turn the bathroom into a mini steam room. If you have a shower curtain this will help keep the steam in one area. 

- Dampen the mitt/Keyasa in hot water and then set aside. 

- Bottle/glass of cool water, set aside to enjoy afterwards.

The hammam:

- You can now remove the face mask, but keep it in your hair. You need your skin to be soaked in the hot water for as long as possible, 10-15 mins the longer the better. Then apply the black soap all over, as the soap is alkaline I would avoid the face, but do apply lots to the neck area. Now you want to sit in the steam and allow the soap to remain on the skin for 5-10 mins. Do not wet your skin further, you just need lots of steam to open the pores, the soap will start to soften the skin and loosen the layers of dead skin on top. 

- After that time, wash the soap off with lots of hot water a good few times. Do not wet the mitt/keyasa at all. Sit in the steam for a further 5 mins.

- Then you want to use the Mitt in either circular motion or a up and down/side to side motion. Concentrating on the areas you are most likely to sweat, neck, chest, back, arms, underarms, tummy etc. You may not initially get anything and you need to scrub for a while before the dead skin comes off, and you may find it comes off straight away depending on how long you soaked for in the hot water and how much soap you used, and how hot the room is. If any of you have been to a Hammam you will know the first few times your skin is super sensitive and the mitt can be very uncomfortable some say painful! Tehehe. 

- You can sit at the edge of the bathtub and use a pumice or the mitt to scrub/buff your feet top and bottom. (Be sure to apply Sabon to the feet at the start). 

- After you have scrubbed/buffed as much off as you can, You may be horrified to see what you take off. If you do this weekly or fortnightly you will notice less dead skin. If it is your first time you may need to repeat the steps every week for 3/4 weeks. 

- Rinse your skin with warm water, cooler then before. You can now apply more ghassoul mud to your body, or you can use your normal shower gel/soap and wash as normal. I like to wash my face using the face brush and my cleanser. You can also use a separate mit/glove/keyasa for the face, but don't do this often and avoid the eye area completely. This will remove any scars and reduce visibility of spots, I do this about once a month.  

- Lastly Wash the Ghassoul from the hair, you do not need to shampoo as the Ghassoul is a great cleanser on its own, but you can shampoo once to remove everything it depends what you would prefer. (Tip after washing the hair use diluted apple cider vinegar/Lemon juice and pour over the head, it adds shine).

- I like to use Rose water on my face and body after and pat the skin dry, leaves a lovely subtle scent and also freshens and cools the skin. Apply some of your chosen oil (Argan Oil). Or use your normal face cream and body butter/lotion/cream. 

- Now sit back and enjoy a nice cool bottle/glass of water, and be sure to drink plenty of water.
Perhaps even better still, have a glass of Moroccan mint tea. 


Jazaka Allah khier for reading. Hope this post is useful to you sisters. In sha Allah covered everything, feel free to contact me or comment below if you want to know more. Don't forget to share and follow for more similar posts. 

Wasalam -x-