The Moroccan Hammam Routine, Step by Step

The hammam is a neighbourhood steam bath and, in most of Morocco, a weekly habit rather than a treat. The routine has a fixed order, and the order is the part that matters: each step only works because the one before it has done its job.

The sequence

1. Steam first, for a good while

Fifteen to twenty minutes in heat and steam before anything touches your skin. This is not a warm-up you can skip — it softens the outer layer of skin, and without it the exfoliation step does very little and mostly just hurts.

2. Black soap (savon beldi)

A soft, dark olive-oil soap with the consistency of a paste. Spread a thin layer over damp skin and leave it for five to ten minutes while you keep sitting in the steam. It is doing chemical work in that time, loosening dead skin. Then rinse it off completely.

3. The kessa glove

A coarse woven mitt. Work in firm, short strokes over one area at a time. Grey rolls of dead skin lift off — that is the expected result and the reason the previous two steps exist.

Firm, not violent. If your skin is stinging or going red and staying red, you are scrubbing too hard or you did not steam long enough. Skip the face, or use a much lighter hand on it.

4. Rhassoul clay

A mineral clay mined in the Atlas mountains. Mix it with warm water — or rose water — into a smooth paste, apply to skin and hair, and leave for around ten minutes. It draws out oil without stripping, which is why it suits skin that has just been exfoliated. Rinse thoroughly; it sets and gets stubborn if you leave it to dry hard.

5. Rinse, cool down, then oil

Finish with cooler water to close things down, dry off, and while skin is still slightly damp apply argan oil. Skin absorbs far more at this point than it will an hour later, so this is the moment that makes the difference.

Doing it at home

You do not need a steam room. A hot shower running for ten minutes with the bathroom door shut gets you close enough.

• Run the shower hot and sit in the steam for ten to fifteen minutes.
• Apply black soap, leave it on for five minutes, rinse.
• Exfoliate with a kessa glove, section by section.
• Apply rhassoul clay, wait ten minutes, rinse well.
• Cool rinse, pat dry, apply argan oil to slightly damp skin.

Set aside an hour. The routine does not compress well — most of the benefit comes from the waiting.

How often

Once a week is the traditional rhythm and is plenty. Full exfoliation more often than that tends to leave skin irritated rather than smooth. If your skin is sensitive, every second week with a lighter hand on the glove is a better starting point.

A few things worth knowing

• Do not shave immediately beforehand. Freshly shaved skin plus a coarse glove plus soap is a bad combination. Leave it a day.
• Drink water afterwards. An hour in heat takes more out of you than it feels like at the time.
• Patch-test if you are prone to reactions. Black soap and rhassoul are simple, traditional preparations, but simple does not mean nobody reacts to them.
• Keep clay out of the drain trap where you can. Rhassoul is mineral sediment and does accumulate.