Hammamet is the legacy of the Ottomans, which Algerian women refuse to dispense with

Fatima Hamdi - Algeria

Despite long decades and the spread of modern beauty centers, the bathrooms remain the weekly destination for Algerian women to practice cosmetic rituals that are indispensable, or else the woman is considered not interested in her femininity and beauty.

Pigeons in Algeria are considered one of the legacies of the Ottomans, as these common customs did not disappear among the women of the Arab Maghreb countries. It is customary for the bathroom to be designed according to the Ottoman style, and to provide a range of cosmetic services for women while preserving their privacy.

Unique design
The bathroom building consists of the entrance hall and keeping clothes, where women are prepared to enter the shower hall, and they place their items in the shelves designated for them, then they sit in a middle hall to dye their hair or prepare their body with pure Algerian rituals.

The shower room is characterized by high temperature, and the dense steam that makes it an open "sauna room", where the hall is entirely made of high-quality marble, which retains heat and makes it not incendiary at the same time.

The shower room was built with a special design, the ceiling of which carries dome-shaped cavities that increase the oxygen in the shower room in order to prevent suffocation and rotate the high temperature that distinguishes the bathroom from the ordinary home bathroom.

The shower room is located in the middle of what is known as the "wasta", which is a large marble stone. It is the first place where a woman sits before she chooses her bathtub. The purpose of the "wasta" is to supply her body with the necessary heat, relax for a period of not less than twenty minutes, to finally be ready To start taking care of her body.

Chasing dead cells
Algerian women use special techniques to exfoliate their body, and go through stages before that help to get rid of dead skin accumulated on the body in a way that does not harm the skin, and first use what is known as "Desire soap", which is a traditional soap made by families from natural materials.

One of the lists in the Bay bath in the Burj Al-Kaifan district of Algiers, called Aqila, said that "Desire Soap" works with the steam that the bath provides to open the pores and make them more soft and ready to respond to the peeling process in order to give the skin softness and anti-aging.

Women believe that leaving the body without "persistent pursuit" of dead cells would accelerate aging, give the skin a faded and unnatural appearance, and increase the chances of cracks that appear in different areas of the body.

Stages of natural exfoliation
Algerian women use one of the basic tools in the shower, which is known in colloquially as "cassette". It is a glove characterized by its rough texture that a woman uses to scrub and exfoliate her body.

And the Algerian woman cannot dispense with the "cassette" because it is the tool that takes a good time to choose the same quality from it that helps her to exfoliate deeply and safely without hurting her skin.

Women may need to seek the help of those who are known as "good pigeons", which are specialized in peeling the body, and are distinguished by their physical strength and tactful way of dealing, and give cosmetic advice to women while helping to exfoliate their body.

Green clay stage
After the peeling stage, the woman begins to wash her hair and put on moisturizing masks, and the process cannot be counterproductive, that is, it is forbidden in Algerian rituals to start washing the hair - according to experts - because the shampoo clogs pores and makes the body "sticky", which hinders the process of peeling that needs a body Filled with moisture, to facilitate the exfoliation of dead cells from the body.

The woman leaves the moisturizer on her hair and begins to apply the natural green clay mixture over the entire body, and she wears a skirt with a thin cloth to leave the high moisture shower base, towards the preparation hall.

Leave the green clay or what is known as "the child" until it dries completely, as it takes about half an hour.

Green clay - according to them - to complete the peeling process, it removes the skin from the small deposits that the "cassette" does not reach, and it works to tighten the skin and give it freshness and vitality.

Foot care
All women follow the baths, and these are the natural steps inherited by the generations. The Algerian woman does not dispense with the “room” during the stages of showering. After she had completely peeled her body out of the mud and returned to the shower hall, and got rid of it after drying, she starts taking care of her lower foot.

The woman is rubbed under the foot with a rough texture stone that is made with different materials, as each one has a specific quality that you prefer. From the stone, what is made of charcoal or pressed cork, and from what is 100% natural.

This stone helps to get rid of the dead skin that the woman suffers from or takes precaution for fear of cracks and dryness of the back of the foot, after which she puts honey wax and covers her feet with plastic bags to preserve the layer of witness that helps the previous exfoliation and the dense steam present in the place to be more effective.

He graduated from the bathroom after several hours, and had completed the stages of personal and cosmetic hygiene care, with a degree of rest and relaxation, and she got rid of insomnia and ready to receive a new week crowded with tasks.