Why the Himba Don’t Bathe with Water – Smoke Showers & Ochre Paste Explained
Quick answer
Himba women do not wash with water except on their wedding day. Instead they take a daily smoke bath: resin or dried plants smoulder on hot coals and the smoke cleans the skin. They also cover their skin and hair with otjize, a paste of butter fat and red ochre that reduces sweating and helps fight bacteria.
Traditional personal hygiene practices, like using a smoke shower and a mix of butter-fat paste and red ochre, are still used by Himba women. These people are mostly semi-nomadic and live in northeast Namibia. They are called “OvaHimba” when speaking of them as a group. The OvaHimba keep livestock, while their close relatives, the OvaTwa, still live by hunting and gathering.
Himba women take a water shower only on their wedding day. Instead, they use liquid butter fat and ground red ochre on their bodies and hair. This gives their skin and hair a rich, earthy red color and a pleasant smell. It also reduces sweating and helps fight bacteria. They take a smoke shower every day.
Himba men take smoke showers only sometimes and do not use the ochre-fat paste on their skin or hair. The Himba live in a polygamous society, and smoke showers are taken inside the woman’s hut. Since many men have two wives, each wife has her own hut where she stays with her children.
Before taking a smoke shower, the Himba mix liquid butter fat with ground ochre. They then cover their bodies and hair with this paste.
Next, they place hot coals on a flat stone. They add a small amount of wood shavings, dried plant material, or plant resin. The coals surround the plant material, making it smoke without burning. This smoke is what the Himba use to clean themselves.
For thousands of years, the Himba have used resin from the Namibian myrrh tree for smoke showers. This resin is called “omumbiri.”
If resin from the Commiphora wildii tree is not available, the Himba use a similar resin from another Corkwood tree. This tree is also known as “poison-grub corkwood” or “Commiphora africana.” San bushmen used to dig under these shrubs to find larvae, which they used to poison their arrows. Finding these larvae takes a lot of time, but they live in sandy soil about two meters below the surface. The Hadzabe people of Tanzania also use wood from Commiphora africana to start friction fires.
Frequently asked questions
How does a Himba smoke bath work?
Hot coals go on a flat stone with resin or dried plants. These smoulder without burning, and the woman cleans herself in the smoke inside her hut.
What resin do the Himba use?
Omumbiri, the resin of the Namibian myrrh tree (Commiphora wildii), or a similar corkwood resin.
When do Himba women wash with water?
Traditionally only on their wedding day.
Do Himba men take smoke baths?
Sometimes. Men do not use the ochre and butter fat paste.
