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Rejuvenate
Princess for a Day
Bathed, Scrubbed andRubbed:
Esther Chew
goes for her very firstMoroccan spa
experience.
T
he
moment I stepped into
Hammam Spa in Publika,
I felt as though I had been
transported to Morocco.
Indeed
hammam
, which
means ‘ spreade r o f
warmth’ in Arabic, is a
traditional Moroccan version of a Turkish
bath, where one would go to purify the
body and spirit. The roots of
hammam
can
be traced back to ancient Greek-Roman
culture and was widely used by royalty.
Traditionally, women in Arab would go to
hammams
after they had just given birth
or to just socialise.
I opted for the signature package, the
two-hour My Favourite Concubine Ham-
mam that consists of the Hammam and
Grommage, aMoorish body polish and an
aromatherapy massage. At the changing
room, I was given a locker where I could
keepmy belongings secured by a password
for a peace of mind. For those who are
temperature by bathing in hot water. A
layer of black Beldi soap (a substance
made up of olive and eucalyptus oil), alum
crystals or
henna
was applied all over my
body to eradicate any bacteria and soften
dead skin, and is left on for ten minutes. I
took this opportunity to catch a quick nap
in the comfort of the warm steam room.
This was followed by a
gommage
(French for scrub) on one of the marble
beds with the help of a scrubbing mitt that
comprises of silk materials to effectively
remove all the dead skin and impurities
from the body, increase circulation and
reduce cellulite.
I have heard of how much dead skin
could be exfoliated through the
gommage
,
however, being a person who showered
twice daily and exfoliated on a regular
basis, I assumed that I wouldn’t have that
muchdead skin. Nadia certainly provedme
wrong as I watched layers of dead skin fall
off my body when she skillfully scrubbed
constantly attached to their smart phones,
this would be a good time to put it away
and just enjoy your treatment without
any modern day distractions. I was then
introduced to my bath lady, Nadia, who
has had years of experience working in the
hammams
back in Morocco.
Stepping into the bathhouse area, I
marveled at the beautiful architecture
which consisted of a gorgeous interior that
exuded the essence of authenticMoroccan
architecturewithmajestic arches leading to
different rooms, complemented by detailed
Moroccan designs. The steam roomwhere
the bath would take place was a sight
to behold; it was something that I have
never seen before. This warm, tiled room
was dominated by pristine white domed
walls designed to trap heat and it had three
marble ‘beds’.
The treatment started with the
ham-
mam
(washing stage), which helped my
body to acclimatise to the steam room’s