The heroes of the New Year's comedy itself went to the bathhouse on December 31. They did the right thing, because a steam room can improve both appearance and health. If you didn’t find time for a bath on the eve of the New Year, don’t worry - there are long holidays ahead.
In the minds of an inexperienced steam bather, a bathhouse is a room where it is hot. In - out - free! But experts know that a well-planned steaming procedure can work wonders: smooth the skin, effectively promote weight loss, heal blood vessels and treat long-standing chronic diseases.
Gradual warm-up
The first entry into the steam room is a preparatory one. The body adapts to the heat, the pores open, the skin begins to breathe. Typically, an “introductory” visit lasts no more than 10 minutes. The temperature should be relatively low at first. If you went to a real Russian bathhouse, where it is also humid, then for the first time it is better to limit the temperature to 50–60 degrees – if there is plenty of steam, it will not be cold.
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Let's go to the bathhouse. For what diseases is the steam room contraindicated? The second approach is already serious. The temperature in the bath can be increased to 80 °C (or more, depending on your well-being, mood and excitement), but the main thing is not to overdo it. On your second visit, you can take a broom with you to the steam room. Whipping the heated skin with a broom is very useful. Firstly, it is an intense massage that increases blood circulation in the muscles and, as a result, in the internal organs. Secondly, steamed skin begins to intensively absorb substances that fall on it. And brooms made from natural medicinal plants are ready to intensively share these beneficial substances.
The steaming broom is prepared an hour before the procedures. It is necessary to place it in a bucket of hot, but not boiling water. The temperature should be approximately 70 °C - this is the case if your broom is oak, eucalyptus or maple. If the broom is made of birch or linden, soak it in cold water for a long time. Don’t rush to pour out the infusion left over from the steamed broom – you will still need it for rinsing your skin.
Koptevskie baths
Women's category. Photo: koptevskie-bani.ru
Male category. Photo: koptevskie-bani.ru
In the north of the capital, the Koptevskie baths are famous for their steam. Here everything is done on a Russian scale: for example, the men's category accommodates 110 people, and it comes with impressive steam rooms and washrooms with tubs of ice water. After the reconstruction, the baths were modernized and prettier: the traditional locker room was transformed into a modern relaxation area, and things are stored in lockers that are locked using wrist chip keys. For those who cannot tolerate high temperatures, the Koptevsky Baths have a ceramic steam room, as well as a hammam, salt rooms, a cedar barrel and other pleasant spa treatments.
st. Bolshaya Akademicheskaya, 13A
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Deep cleaning
In addition to a broom, don’t forget to bring honey to the bathhouse. Thick and sticky, it penetrates deep into the open pores of the skin and cleanses the face and body. You can simply smear the skin with honey, or you can do a honey massage, either “gluing” your hand to the body or trying to peel it off. It's also a good idea to make a honey scrub.
Another effective way to draw out all the excess from the pores is to apply a mud mask. After the body is steamed, blue, green or black clay powder diluted in warm water is applied to it. Mud masks are especially good for combating cellulite. The microelements contained in clay - magnesium, calcium, manganese, zinc, copper, phosphorus - help improve metabolic processes in cells, smooth out problem areas and relieve swelling.
Only lying down and no alcohol. The best bath attendant in Russia about proper steaming Read more
Let's get started with beauty
A mask for the face, ground coffee mixed with honey for the whole body (coffee tones the skin, and honey nourishes it well). Very important: you cannot steam in the steam room with masks, scrubs and oils on your body, you can get burned!
Now you can have a final steam room or just relax. Since the body is warmed up, it will continue to release fluid for some time, so no cold or drafts.
Finally, take a shower and moisturize your skin with cream. On average, the entire bath procedure should take 2-3 hours, no more. After the bath, it is best to rest or even sleep so that the body can finally recover. Enjoy Your Bath!
I want to go to the bathhouse
Safety precautions
In order for a bath to benefit your health and appearance, you should follow a few simple rules.
Free up time. The sauna does not tolerate rushing, therefore, in order for the procedures to be effective and, more importantly, safe, plan a visit to the steam room on a free day. Otherwise, health procedures may result in health problems, such as burns, overheating or hypothermia.
Don't overeat or drink. Don’t go to the sauna immediately after eating, but you shouldn’t take a steam bath on an empty stomach either. There should be a gap of at least an hour between lunch and the bath. Alcohol is prohibited in the bathhouse - both alcohol and heat create increased stress on the heart, and this is of no use.
Don't forget your bath accessories. Take a cap or cap with you to put on your head - this will protect you from heat stroke. A rubber cap for a pool is not suitable - it heats up, squeezes the head and compresses the blood vessels, and this can lead to headaches and dizziness.
Take a shower. Just wash with water without using detergents. Also, there is no need to wet or even wash your hair. Remove all jewelry - earrings, watches, bracelets and rings.
Do not overuse cosmetics . Essential oils, which are often used in masks and creams, can cause burns.
Which broom to take with you to the bathhouse depends on the effect you want to achieve:
- A linden broom will help you sweat more.
- Coniferous brooms are used as a general tonic; they are good for radiculitis and osteochondrosis.
- Maple leaves cleanse the skin of toxins.
- A rowan broom has a tonic effect, helping to gain vigor.
- A eucalyptus broom is ideal for preventing colds.
- Oak perfectly copes with inflammation on the skin, eliminates pimples and excess sebum.
- Birch clears the bronchi and makes breathing easier.
Article on the topicTraditions of the Russian bath. Why is a steam room useful for a modern person?
Why are public baths rapidly disappearing in Russia?
Across the country, accessible public baths are disappearing. Regional authorities get rid of the costs of their maintenance and make a profit from the sale of space. But for many Russians, the bathhouse is not so much a place for relaxation and communication - they simply have nowhere else to wash. All over the world, public baths were dying out as unnecessary, along with poverty, but in Russia these processes changed places.
Bast
In the case of baths, the statistics are not very indicative. In the 1970s, there were about a hundred establishments in Moscow; today their number has doubled. But previously, a bathhouse was considered a washing complex with a capacity of 100 to 400 people, but now it is a 2x3 meter sauna, a table for 15 people, a mini-pool and a relaxation room with a bed. Entrance to a Soviet bathhouse cost 10–15 kopecks; today, renting a sauna per hour costs 2–3 thousand rubles. Throughout the capital, a dozen and a half classical establishments like Sanduny have survived. A session in the Koptevsky or Izmailovsky baths will cost 500–800 rubles.
True, Moscow has almost completely moved away from communal apartments without a bathroom, but in the provinces everything is still the same: no bathhouse - nowhere to wash. And the offer for 500 rubles is completely unacceptable. In Nizhny Novgorod, an increase in fees from 25 to 80 rubles in the oldest Kovalikhinsky baths caused a real shock among pensioners: in the center there are a huge number of wooden houses without hot water. The normal solution in such a situation: the baths keep the minimum price, the city pays them extra from the budget. For a Russian metropolis, such subsidies amount to 10–20 million rubles, and the authorities save.
In Pskov, prices have risen from 40 to 100 rubles in five years. The ancient Geldt baths were never restored after the fire. There are five establishments operating in a city of 200,000 – this is one of the best indicators in the regions. It’s a common story when the only bathhouse in a village of 5,000 people closes. There was a case in the village of Tungor on Sakhalin: an illegal casino immediately appeared in the premises of a closed bathhouse.
Even in wealthy St. Petersburg, the situation is outrageous: bathhouses are disappearing in the central regions, where a huge number of communal apartments still exist. In the Petrogradsky district, out of 130 thousand people, a quarter are pensioners, a fifth live in communal apartments, and out of four public baths, only one has remained for several years.
“I only wash in the bathhouse, because about thirty people live in my apartment, and everyone needs to wash, shave, or do laundry - before you have time to turn on the shower, there’s already a knock on your door,” laments 68-year-old Andrei Fedorov. – On Malaya Posadskaya Street the best bathhouse in the area was: “Stalinist”, spacious, clean. And now I need to go to Bolshaya Raznochinnaya, and there is a queue for 40 minutes. Moreover, there are problems with transport: you stand in the cold for 20 minutes before the tram - and hello. How much do I need to catch a cold?
As a result, residents of communal apartments heat water in pots and wash in basins. And even a modern water heater won’t help them, because there’s still no room for a bathroom in the apartment.
Take a bath at the same time
The specific baths in St. Petersburg were also demolished, despite the status of the identified cultural heritage site. Plus, the Pushkar Baths were located in a regulated development zone; Governor Valentina Matvienko publicly promised to preserve the building, and the government commission issued a corresponding order. But by 2007, only one front wall remained of the baths.
“The baths are city property, they are easier to sell than a school, a philharmonic society or even a kindergarten, for which strict procedures have long been introduced, and each closure is accompanied by a rumble in the press,” says lawyer Nikolai Artamonov. – There were 3-4 baths in each district. Usually these are old buildings that can easily be considered unsafe; demolition and construction of a multi-storey business real estate in the center of St. Petersburg costs 500–700 thousand rubles, and Marx also wrote that when profits exceed 300%, it is inappropriate to talk about conscience.
On the next eve of Victory Day, it suddenly became clear that 100-year-old blockade survivor Praskovya Eliseeva was living in a communal apartment without a bath or hot water. The bathhouse on the Obvodny Canal, where she washed all her life, was closed. The authorities just shrug their shoulders: in 2011, 174 million rubles were already spent on subsidies for city baths, which were distributed among 37 baths.
They master them in a purely Russian way. For example, in the bathhouse on the 17th line there is a subsidized section for 35 rubles, and there is a “luxury” for 200. Where for 35, for some reason, the pool was dismantled, half of the showers do not work, while a sheet costs 80 rubles, a broom - 120. But there are still queues at the department, because they are forced to come here from all parts of the city. Although, according to surveys, 40% of St. Petersburg residents would not go to a public bathhouse due to unsanitary conditions.
Under these conditions, Rospotrebnadzor proposed new sanitary standards for baths, according to which 60% of establishments in cities would be “outside the law.” They will be required to organize landscaping of the area, which most bathhouses simply do not have. The minimum area of the steam room should be 10 square meters. meters. All washing establishments will be required to have a central two-pipe hot water supply system.
And boilers for heating water, which are used by most small saunas, are planned to be banned. Just like upholstered furniture! Probably, the head of Rospotrebnadzor Gennady Onishchenko plans with this measure to curb prostitution, taking into account which double beds are installed in saunas.
“For many citizens, the bathhouse is a place of communication, an alternative to the tavern; it has helped thousands of people overcome the disease,” says psychologist Lyudmila Krapukhina. – If we talk about social aspects, the closure of bathhouses can seriously affect demographics. How many families have been preserved because, at the height of a drinking binge, a man went to the bathhouse, took a deep breath and pulled himself together. And how many lonely old women have retained their human appearance thanks to the bathhouse next to their house.
In Russia, traditionally slogans, programs and practices exist separately from each other. The anti-alcohol campaign is booming, top officials are broadcasting about the health of the nation, billions of dollars in budgets for mass sports are being spent. The baths are closed with the same hands.
Preparing scrubs
You can buy bath scrubs, or you can prepare them yourself. The second option is even better: traditionally, natural products are preferred in the bathhouse.
Salt with honey. After thoroughly mixing the heated mixture (to do this, keep it in the steam room on the shelf for several minutes), gently rub it into the skin. Unforgettable sensations are guaranteed. Salt mechanically cleanses the skin, increases sweating, and absorbs toxins that are released along with sweat. Honey softens the skin and neutralizes the irritating effects of salt. Among other things, it contains a huge amount of microelements that nourish the skin, making it healthy and velvety.
Oatmeal with honey and sour cream . Amazing body scrub-mask. Oats are poured with boiling water and mixed with honey and sour cream before applying to the body. After this scrub, the skin remains smooth and velvety for a whole week.
Ground coffee. Mix the remaining grounds from the brewed coffee with honey and treat your heels and elbows - they will become such that babies will be jealous.
Corn grits with egg. Brew the cereal with boiling water (you can use chamomile infusion), mix with the yolk and apply to the body.
Warsaw Baths
Women's category. Photo: varshavskie-bani.ru
Warsaw Baths building. Photo: Artem Geodakyan/ITAR-TASS
One of the oldest Moscow bath complexes was built in 1938. After a fundamental reconstruction, a restaurant opened on the first floor, a men's section on the second, a women's section on the third, and bathhouses from around the world on the fourth. Visitors note the excellent work of the steamers and the variety of spa treatments. Thus, in the Warsaw Baths there is an original ritual - a bath with the addition of precious substances from the antlers (in other words, antlers) of the sika deer, which are considered the source of eternal youth and the elixir of immortality.
w. Varshavskoe, 34
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Izmailovo Baths
"Russian style". Photo: izmailovskiebani.rf
The Izmailovo baths will delight the eyes of aesthetes: here much attention is paid to the interior, which is dominated by mosaics and popular prints. The bath complex is highly respected among the people for its fair pricing and quality service. True, in order to experience all the charm of relaxation, you will have to make a fuss ─ taking up space on the shelves can sometimes be problematic. But in a two-hour session you can steam yourself to your heart's content - the stoves in the Izmailovo baths are excellent, and the regulars skillfully flavor the steam with fragrant herbs and other natural garden bath cocktails.
st. 6th Parkovaya, 21
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Vorontsovskie baths
Turkish hammam. Photo: vorontsovskie-bani.ru
Male category. Photo: vorontsovskie-bani.ru
In 1938, on Taganka, opposite the Novospassky Monastery, the first brick of Vorontsov was laid ─ as this bath complex was popularly called. After reconstruction, a unique, strictly luxurious apartment has been preserved here. Each category (2 men's and 1 women's in total), designed for 50 places, has a swimming pool.
The value of the Vorontsovsky baths for residents of the Tanaga region especially increases during the summer shutdown of hot water, because Vorontsy has an autonomous boiler house. And some avid Moscow bathhouse attendants claim that it is here that the true spirit of a public bathhouse and the optimal balance between the quality of steam, the level of service and the cost of services are preserved.
Vorontsovsky lane, 5/7, building 1
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