In Morocco, hammams are public bath houses where you experience skin cleansing, exfoliation and treatments that leave your skin fresh, smooth and naturally glowing.
It's an ancient ritual still practiced by locals today, generally weekly.
In communities, there are separate hammams for women and men. Here, you bring your own soap, towel and treatments. In some local hammams you can pay an attendant to scrub you, otherwise people do the scrubbing themselves.
For travellers, luxurious hammam spas are a highlight of any visit to Morocco!
The spa hammam offering involves letting go of inhibitions and relaxing into a time-honoured part of the culture.
Here's what to expect:
Once you've undressed down to some disposal underwear (or you can wear bikini bottoms if you prefer), you'll be led into a bathing room which is generally low-lit, hot and steamy.
Here you'll relax on a hot tiled or stone bench and be doused by steaming hot water from a bucket.
The attendant will then wash you all over with black soap. You'll be asked to turn over, turn around and more to ensure every inch of skin is lathered in the slippery, soapy, olivey paste.
Time to relax again, laying on the warm bench - it can be hard not to drift off for a little snooze as the soap works into your pores to draw out toxins and impurities while also lifting dead skin.
Then it's time for a hot rinse - buckets of water or sometimes a brief shower to remove the slick of black soap.
Scrub time! This is when you let the experienced attendant and the scrub mitt take over. You'll be scrubbed literally all over - from the soles of your feet to the back of your neck and everything in between.
Don't be shy - the attendants wash and scrub a wide variety of bodies every day!
Most people are stunned by the amount of dead skin coming off, but you've never felt smoother or cleaner after.
A thorough rinse under the shower to remove all traces of what the mitt has removed and then you may enjoy having your hair shampooed, your face daubed with a clay mask or other treatments.
The finale is usually the application of Argan oil all over - so luxurious!
It's no wonder we wanted to bring a little of the hammam experience home and share it with you.
This is your invitation to turn down the bathroom lights, turn up the steam and disappear into a little hammam at home for yourself.