Ancient Moroccan health and beauty secrets have kept locals fit and strong until old age. With time this knowledge traveled around the world, giving other nations the opportunity to use these best-kept Moroccan health and beauty secrets for their benefits.
The 7 Ultimate Moroccan Health and Beauty Secrets
I am a strong believer that countries like Morocco possess some unique natural remedies and rituals that preserve health and enhance beauty of their users. These Moroccan secrets make the whole world look up to the health and beauty of the local men and women. Moreover, they inspire other nations to go extra mile to find out what makes the Moroccan residents vital and keeps them looking young.
Keeping it a secret from my husband (who thinks that I go a little bit over the top in my attempt to beat natural processes of aging), during our trip to Morocco earlier this year I was determined to unveil as many Moroccan traditional health and beauty secrets as I possibly could. Learning what makes the locals so “well-preserved” became my ultimate goal.
The amount of the Moroccan health and beauty secrets is probably bigger than the country itself. The secrets of the Moroccan men’s vitality, youthful skin, and flawless appearance go all the way back to the ancient times. Period when people applied only pure oils and other natural ingredients to their bodies. Additionally, the Moroccans used these natural essential oils and fragrances to calm their bodies and minds. They believed that only in the relaxed state people were able to reap all the great benefits of any treatment and procedure.
But the old Moroccan health and beauty secrets did not parish as the time went by. To this day the locals treat their bodies and souls with respect. They prefer the natural remedies to imported medications and commercial creams. Without further ado, let us unveil some of these Moroccan health and beauty secrets.
HERE ARE THE 7 BEST-KEPT MOROCCAN HEALTH AND BEAUTY SECRETS:
1. Argan Oil
The single most popular Moroccan beauty secret of all times is argan oil. The Moroccans use this incredibly powerful oil for their faces, hair, and bodies. Argan oil is high in vitamins A and E, fatty acids such as Omega 3 and Omega 6. Moreover, packed with antioxidants, pure argan oil helps keep wrinkles away. Additionally, it makes hair grow healthy, long and thick, hydrates and softens the skin. Often the Moroccans use argan oil as natural moisturizer.
Sometimes organ oil is mixed with rosehip oil to enhance its effect. According to some Moroccans, you can simultaneously reap the benefits of both of these secret components of the Moroccan beauty and health. However, blending two different oils together is not a very common practice. Staying true to their centuries-long beauty traditions, the Moroccans prefer to keep the oils separately. In fact, you get greater benefits by using them one at a time.
2. Prickly Pear Oil
Certainly, argan oil is one of the greatest secret ingredients of the Moroccan beauty treatments. Nevertheless, the locals highly favor another natural super oil, prickly pear seed oil or barbary fig seed oil. According to them, this oil is even more powerful in fighting the dreadful aging marks and wrinkles than argan oil. One of Marrakesh‘s prominent natural oils experts and merchants assured us that no other oil can stand comparison with prickly pear seed oil.
As the name suggests, the oil is extracted from the prickly pear or better known the Barbary fig or cactus. Indigenous to Mexico, over time the plant was introduced in North Africa. Excruciating heat, dry weather, and lack of water did not scare the prickly pear. On the contrary, these unique plant found the difficult environmental conditions highly favorable and expanded all over the region, making Morocco its primary place of residency. And the locals did not mind it at all. Moreover, the Moroccans made it a part of their most powerful health and beauty secrets.
Prickly pear seed oil is extremely high in Omega 6 and Omega 9, antioxidants, vitamin E and vitamin K oil. It is considered to be one of the best natural remedies to keep away the fine wrinkles. Other benefits of prickly pear seed oil include ability to increase elasticity of the skin and brighten under-eye dark circles. No other facial creams are needed. Apply a few drops of prickly pear oil on your face and hair daily. The results will not make you wait long.
3. Moroccan Hammam
The Moroccan health and beauty secrets go far beyond using the oils for supporting and improving their youthful look and luxurious manes. For ages the citizens of Morocco have been generously treated their bodies with massages, body scrubs, and daily or weekly hammam.
Known by a few different names such as Turkish bath or Roman bath, Moroccan hammam is a bathhouse with multiple dry and steamed rooms. Water and cleanliness are regarded sacred in Islam. And so, the Moroccans regard their hammams as special places where their bodies and souls get cleaned according to the ancient health and beauty secret rituals.
The hammam journey begins in a dry hot room where you get accustomed to the heat and prepare yourself and your body for the next room. A hot steamy room follows the first one. This room is one of the most important since the heat makes you sweat a lot and purifies your body. Once finished with these two stages of the hammam visit, you slowly relocate to a bathing room. Here skillful staff or your friends gently use the traditional hammam treatment on your skin and body.
Moroccan Hammam Treatment
The Moroccan health and beauty secret ritual starts with applying a thin layer of black soap all over your body. Made from olive oil, black or else called Beldi soap penetrates into the deeper layers of your skin and cleanses it from the dirt and dead skin. The treatment makes your skin look beautiful and radiant. 5 – 10 minutes later, followed by a thorough rinse with a lot of water, your body gets scraped with a kessa glove. Thanks to its granulated tissue, the glove activates blood circulation and sheds off the dead skin. The next step is purifying rhassoul mask that both absorbs the excess dirt and oil and revitalizes and nourishes the skin. In some luxurious hammams, the traditional treatment is crowned with rehydrating the body with pure argan oil.
4. Modern Spas
Today many hotels and luxurious riads offer their guests services of modern spas with professional therapists performing different kinds of massages, facials, and hair treatment. However, despite influences from the Western world, the Moroccan spas also incorporate the ancient health and beauty secrets. And certainly, they include traditional hammams to the wide array of their services.
5. Herbs and Spices
For centuries spices and herbs have been an integral part of the Moroccan health and beauty secrets. Widely used in cooking to enhance flavors, the spices fulfill many other important functions. They are essential in treating diseases and illnesses, neutralizing unpleasant body odors. Moreover, the spices and herbs give distinguishing aroma to houses and help keep insects away.
Visiting Morocco, more than likely, you will be exposed to such spices as saffron, cumin, cinnamon, ginger, thyme, and many more. Wonder why? Long ago the Moroccans learned how beneficial each of these spices are for their overall health and well-being.
For instant, originated in South Asia, cinnamon is responsible for providing the body with the antioxidants that protect against viruses and prevent the diseases. The Moroccan women find additional reason to incorporate this sweet and savory spice in their diet. From the early age they rely on cinnamon to keep their skin looking young and fresh. Known for its ability to increase collagen levels, cinnamon improves the overall look of the skin. It increases the elasticity of the skin and prevents the signs of aging.
Equally popular cumin helps prevent digestive issues such as bloating, stomach pain, and vomiting. On top of that, it assists with the detoxification processes in the body to cleanse the blood from the toxins, and boost the energy. As if these benefits are not enough, cumin clears the skin and slows down the visible signs of aging.
6. Mint Tea
The Moroccan mint tea is linked to the popular health and beauty secrets for a reason. Packed with many health and beauty enhancing benefits, the mint tea has been a signature drink of Morocco for as long as the history knows. The locals sip this elixir from morning until evening, appreciating its sweet taste and pleasant aroma. However, this is not the only reason why the mint tea got such popularity. It also helps diminish stress and anxiety, soothe headaches, reduce bloating and gas, ease nausea, and improve the digestive system. Thanks to the high level of the antioxidants, the mint tea is also used to reduce redness, irritations, and burns. Moreover, drinking the Moroccan tea throughout the day can add to faster fat metabolism and slender figure.
7. Ramadan, one of the Greatest Moroccan Health and Beauty Secrets
Yes, Ramadan! An ancient Muslim tradition, Ramadan is a month-long holiday, a period of fasting and prayer. During this holy month the Muslims worldwide, including the Moroccans, abstain from eating, drinking, smoking, ill tempers, and gossip from sunrise to sunset.
“What does it have to do with the Moroccan health and beauty secrets?” Surprisingly, a lot. For ages, people used fasting to treat different kinds of diseases and illnesses, improve health and prolong life. Skeptical of the ancient way of self-healing, numerous studies have been conducted to analyze how fasting affects the mind and body. So, in 1994 the International Congress on “Health and Ramadan” took place in Casablanca. Its goal was to analyze as mere as 50 studies from all over the world and note some important health benefits of Ramadan.
Besides purifying the body and mind, the main goals of Ramadan, fasting during the holy month assists with substantial weight loss. It helps to lower bad cholesterol levels while increasing good cholesterol. This, it its turn, lowers the risk of cardiovascular diseases. Moreover, it improves the absorption of nutrients, helps overcome addictions such as smoking, indulging in sweet and fatty food, and even gossiping and lying.
However, as always, there are some restrictions and people with diabetes and severe diseases are advised to restrain from fasting even during Ramadan. Nevertheless, these exceptions do not diminish the health and beauty benefits of one of the oldest Moroccan traditions. On the contrary, it only reminds us that the wise Moroccans discovered some of the best wellness practices ages ago and follow them vigorously to this day.
