January 16, 2014

My Hammam experience...

Hello beautiful ladies and handsome fellows!

So I was over on Sisi Yemmie's blog and her weekend post mentioned her visit to BNatural MedSpa for a Moroccan Hammam. It triggered my memory, because I had a hammam treatment a few days before my traditional wedding - as a mini bridal spa-wer (spa + shower) surprise from my friends. While I went through the process, I made a mental note to come and gist you guys about it. So here goes...

When we got to the spa, my friends told me they'd paid for a Hammam for me. They'd both had one before, and they described it as a "thorough body cleansing." So I figured it would be like a body scrub massaged onto my body and voila, right? WRONG! SO VERY WRONG!!! You could not be wronger in your life!

I was told to get naked as soon as I went upstairs. Like fully naked = nude = nekkid = my birthday suit = no panties = 90% of strippers don't even get as naked as this! So, I doffed my clothes, put on a bathrobe and slippers, and the Moroccan lady in a bathing suit, led me to the HUGE steam room. I had to take off the bathrobe and return to my naked state, and subsequently laid down on the huge slab in the middle of the room.

Source
The lady then proceeded to apply black soap, I believe, all over my body and then I had to lie there for 15 minutes. It was HOTTTT in there. *sorry o, but I imagine Hell must be a million times worse, and it was a little difficult to breathe, so... food for thought about my spiritual life came into play*

Anyways, after 15 minutes, she came back in and the heat from the steam had died down. She then proceeded to scrub me. As in, scrub. As in, not a body scrub with a foofy sponge. This was a REAL scrub down with a special sponge! She kept saying "Look, see all your dead skin." I was amazed and a little ashamed because you and I think our daily baths clean us well... smh, you don't know how unclean you are, until you have gotten a hammam treatment. It was a little painful because the scrubbing was vigorous, but I got used to the pressure. After she scrubbed ALL OVER my body, I can't remember if I laid down in the steam for another 15 minutes, or was rinsed off immediately. All my dead skin cells were rinsed off my body though - gross.

Then, she went and got a mix of herbs, oils, and honey. She made sure to note that it was authentic, pure honey, with evidence too - yup, she removed the dead bees from the mixture. Actual bees honey!!! I can't remember what was in the mixture, but she mentioned argan oil, which I think I should look into. She massaged the mixture all over my body, and I laid down some more for my body to absorb it in. After another 15 minutes, she came and got me out of the steam room, and VOILA! I was done. She told me not to use lotion for one week, and to stay away from the sun.

I engaged her in a little conversation about the hammam, and she said that from 2 years old, Moroccan males and females go through the treatment at least once a week! She said that's why their skin is so smooth and bright, and they have no need to use lotions or even makeup (except on special occasions).

I was sooo intrigued by that and started wondering what beauty practices are done in Nigeria and all over the world, and why aren't they more mainstream? I thought of henna treatments in Northern Nigeria and fattening rooms in Calabar, and the beauty rituals Esther had to go through in the Bible - do they still exist? Speaking of fattening rooms, I would REALLY love to go to one and indulge! Maybe Cakes and I should go to Calabar for our honeymoon?

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24 comments:

  1. Omg!!!! I want me a Hamman experience!!! Please Berry,how much does it cost an where can I get one?

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    1. I would say to have at least N15,000 with you. BNaturals Med Spa has locations in Ikeja and VI.

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  2. If you bath with a net sponge daily instead of a wash cloth or soft sponge you will be exfoliating daily. I give myself a full exfoliation like hammam treatment once a month. Scrub with black soap rinse off apply honey all over my body and steam in the shower for about ten minutes then rinse it off and then apply coconut oil all over my body. I also do mini hammams every weekend but this one just involves bathing with black soap as opposed to shower gel and do the coconut oil body oiling after every Saturday.

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    1. Wow, that's a lot of effort. Your skin must be flawless!

      *taking notes*

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  3. Hmmmm, sounds very interesting, I thought there was going to be an enema as well somewhere (all the talk about cleansing et al). The thought of all that scrubbing is making my skin itch 'cos I know I will break out in special places, oh well I think I'll give it a go, how about a PPG Hamman thing?

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    1. LOL, nothing that serious, thank goodness.

      Another spa date... this interests me

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  4. I remember the skin exfoliation and mud bath i had at the spa in December. The exfoliation with brown sugar or so was so intense and painful but like you said i got used to the pain. I wouldn't mind the Hamman experience. Anything to get rid of dead skin cells & glow naturally :-D

    www.stylefash25.blogspot.com

    www.stylefash25.blogspot.com

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    1. Lol, spa experiences shouldn't include pain, but they do :p

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  5. hmmm..*adds hammam treatment on list of things to try soon*

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  6. I lived in Tunisia for 2 years :) This was par course every weekend. It was a ritual. I loved it :) And that black soap is not the Yoruba black soap o. It is called 'beldi black soap' and is made of olive oil.

    You can do this at home too in your shower. If you find someone in North Africa, you can but the soap.

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    1. Oh wow, that's so cool! The exotic life eludes me :( I'll research where I can get the soap from.

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  7. Sounds very thorough but good, I don't think I will be checking that out though - too shy for all that.

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  8. Since you are fund of showing us pics of your outings, why didn't you upload pics of you during this session? *runs*

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    1. I knew you were a very very wicked girl. I just knew it.

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  9. Ok, so I had a traditional hamman experience when I was in Morocco back in 2012 and till today, it's probably the most surreal/bravest thing I've ever done lol. I went in there in my bathing suit thinking I could get away with that...but no. The clean feeling afterwards is amazing but I don't think I could manage going through that again! Was the steam room empty when you went or were there others around? Argan oil is a wonderful product if you can get hold of it - I still have a stash that I brought home with me. There is also argan oil for cooking which is apparently very good for you.

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    1. Giiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiirl, getting naked in front of a whole bunch of strangers like that? On one hand, it can be terrifying but it can also be very freeing, don't you think? Gawsh, I would love to experience the world like this!

      There might be stores around that have Argan oil. *makes mental note to check*

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  10. Now, this is something to try out when next I'm a Lagos. The thought of not needing lotion for weeks is tempting...one extra step gone...but wait oh...one can't avoid the sun all day in Nigeria unless you want to stay indoors and even then, the sun will find you...shouldn't sunscreen be used at least to protect the new glowing skin?

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  11. This hamman experience is scary though, intense scrubbing and No Clothes??? Oh my gosh!

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  12. Just when you think you're almost done with your lat someone comes and adds something to it. Now I'll be thinking about hammam. Sounds very nice.

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  13. Would love to try this, thanks for sharing

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  14. would love to try this (someday). I always knew that ancient beauty treatments (including Hamman) where the best beauty treatments

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  15. B natural is like the best spa in Lagos and Abuja is really cool. Customers get quality and affordable services in Laser hair removal, Skin lightening etc. Nice Place

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