Rhassoul Clay vs Bentonite Clay, Properties, Differences &Similarities

Rhassoul and Bentonite are types of clay which possess various properties and various uses in our world since the ancient times up to date. Rhassoul, also called Ghassoul, found and naturally mined in the Atlas mountain of Morocco.

Its pinkish coloured volcanic clay of swelling type. It is widely used by the Moroccan women majorly for beauty purposes like hair application and face mask. Bentonite clay on the other hand is obtained majorly from volcanic ash in the USA and other countries .

It is a rock formed of highly colloidal and plastic clay. Bentonite clay may also contain quarts and cristobalite which enable the clay to form gel with water easily. Bentonite clay when freshly exposed is white to pale green in colour. Read on to learn more.

Properties: Rhassoul Clay vs Bentonite ClayRhassoul Clay vs Bentonite Clay

What properties do both Rhassoul clay and Bentonite clay possess? Read to find out the properties for each of the clays.

Rhassoul Clay Properties

Powerful electromagnetic charge:

This charge gives it the power to be able to detoxify. Most toxins under the skin surface have the positive charge thus the negative charge of the rhassoul clay easily attracts them to itself. The rhassoul clay attracts the lymph fluid which contains the toxins thus purifying the skin.

Positively charged exterior:

The rhassoul clay has two layers; the inner and the outer. The outer layer is positively charged. This property gives rhassoul clay the ability to attract chemical residues like pesticides which attach on the outside and are later washed away easily.

Carrying capacity

The rhassoul clay has such fine particles within its structure that enables it to accommodate fluids like water. 1g of rhassoul clay has a surface area of 800m2. . This ability enables theRhassoul clay to swell greatly hence carrying a lot of toxins within it.

Ionic content

Rhassoul clay has been known to be the only clay that contains 100% minerals and other trace elements. It has silica as the largest component, iron, potassium, sodium and others. This has given Ghassoul clay the ability to take in toxins which are heavy metals under the skin that are positively charged as it releases elements in an ionic exchange process.

Antimicro-organism property

The rhassoul clay is skin friendly and as it protects the skin it doesn’t kill the normal flora on it. It is selective in a way as it only removes the toxins.

Small crystals

Rhassoul clay is of crystalline structure. Crystals are capable of holding and transforming energy. Rhassoul clay is subject to the natural energies of the earth like air and sun. Perhaps it is the energy of the sun which makes the clay useful. People suffering from skin conditions which normally respond well to sunlight are able to heal well when apply rhassoul clay on their skin as it helps to conduct the solar energy in their body and this has been found to have a healing effect.

Bentonite Clay Properties

Carrying capacity:

Bentonite clay has the capacity to change from anhydrous to gel when it comes in contact with water. This is due to the strong electrostatic attraction (Savage et al, 2005). This will greatly depend on particle size, mineral type and electronegativity.

Thermal ability

Bentonite is said to be porous (space among particles). The empty spaces are said to be 2nm (Bailey et al, 1984) These spaces are the ones that are responsible for carrying heat.

Adsorption power

Adsorption is the adhesion of molecules, atoms or ions from a fluid to a surface. Bentonite clay doesn’t adsorb non-polar molecules like nitrogen and argon but polar molecules are adsorbed strongly. The Bentonite clay has the interlayer water molecules that are displaced by these polar molecules.

Bentonite clay is therefore used to remove proteins from various aqueous solutions. In wine making process Bentonite clay has been used to remove the proteins so as to make the wine pure.

Strong negative charge

Bentonite clay has the negative charge within its structure that helps it during ion exchange. It attracts toxins from the body which are positively charged.

There are also substances of silicon by cations producing an excess of negative charges in the lattice which are balanced by cations in the interlayer spaces within Bentonite clay. This cation exchange capacity allows minerals to bind. (Weber et al, 1965)

Bentonite clay thus has been widely used in treatment of individuals with paraquat poison due to this power to bind cationic metals and certain pesticides (Meredith & Vale et al, 1987)

Acidic surface

Bentonite clay has surface acid which gives it the ability to react with especially bases and take part in various reactions. This acidic surface also helps in exchange of ions as it acts as a proton donor, releasing protons as the clay gains other ions.

Differences: Rhassoul Clay vs Bentonite Clay.

What is the difference between Bentonite clay and Rhassoul clay? Now that you already know the properties of the two clays let see how they differ.

Adsorption power

Bentonite has the adsorption power that enables it to remove proteins from wine so as to make it pure while Ghassoul lacks this ability.

Porous

Bentonite is porous that is it has spaces in its structure compared to Rhassoul clay which is made up of fine particles that are well arranged in layers packed together making it to have no spaces in its structure.

Mineral make-up

Bentonite clay is of different types and each Bentonite clay is named according to the dominant element for example sodium Bentonite, calcium Bentonite and others while Rhassoul is relatively made up of high content of all the elements like silica, potassium, iron and others.

Swelling ability

Bentonite clay normally swells depending on the dominant element in its composition. For instance sodium bentonite swells better and more compared to other types of bentonite like calcium but rhassoul clay due to its constant balanced composition swells expectedly since its composition is easily predictable.

PH Level

Most clays are naturally alkaline. The pH of  Bentonite clay is 8.3-9.1 . Due this high pH it is usually blended with an acidic preparation such as apple cider vinegar(ACV) or aloe vera juice.  Rhassoul clay on the other hand has a pH of 6.9-7.5 which is significantly lower. Often mixed with  aloe vera juice, raw honey.

Mining Places

Bentonite clay is majorly mined and obtained in the USA and some other countries while Rhassoul clay is gotten majorly from the Atlas mountain of Morocco .

 

Similarities: Rhassoul Clay vs Bentonite Clay.

Following are the similarities between Rhassoul clay and Bentonite clay.

Swelling ability

Both rhassoul and bentonite clay have the ability to take in water and swell up. They both are able to retain water within them. Rhassoul clay has the fine particles in its structure that gives it the ability to hold up water and swell up. The same happens to Bentonite clay which has a porous structure. The spaces within it help to hold water.

Detoxification power

Both Ghassoul and Bentonite clay have the ability to detoxify. Rhassoul clay has the strong negative electromagnetic power where it attracts the positive toxins from the body in an ionic exchange process through the lymph fluid and so is Bentonite clay that has strong negative charge that attracts the positively charged toxins from someone’s body.

Absorbent ability

Rhassoul and bentonite clay are able to absorb various substances from the skin thus giving the skin a nice look. Both are used to absorb grease and oil substances that could have spilt in a place.

 

Rhassoul Clay vs Bentonite Clay for Hair & Facial Mask.

Between Rhassoul  and  Bentonite clay for facial or hair mask, which is better? Which of these clays has more medicinal benefits?

Despite the similarities we have already seen, one thing you should put in mind before concluding that either Rhassoul clay is better or Bentonite is better is that both the clays server different purposes and it entirely depends on what purpose you want to use them for.

Generally Bentonite  costs less than Morrocan Rhassoul clay.

For hair and facial masks,  Bentonite clay is likely to yield better results for oily skin, hair and scalp due to its high adsorption and absorbing abilities. Rhassoul will work well for dry hair, scalp and skin due to its moisturizing and softening abilities. Rhassoul clay skin treatment has been found to be effective as it leaves the skin buttery soft. The fine texture of the clay gives it this property unlike Bentonite that tends to strip oil from the skin.

Other users claim that on hair application unlike Bentonite, Rhassoul clay reduces frequency on times one washes the hair because it reduces the amount of dandruff in the hair. It tends to provide healing to the hair and those who have used it claim you may take long to wash compared to Bentonite.

In terms of  medical uses Ghassoul clay far much outweighs Bentonite due to its benefits as outlined below:

  • Rhassoul clay has been found to be non-irritating to the skin and the scalp. It’s fine structure of smaller particles when mixed with water then applied on the body, it doesn’t irritate the body. It treats the hair without removing protective sebum as it lacks the negative ability of exfoliating the skin.
  • Studies have shown that Rhassoul clay is preffered over Bentonite clay by dermatologist and cosmetic scientists as its use has proved to be effective over the years. This has been accredited to the fact that the clay is pure and has all the elements thus making it easier especially when it comes to healing of the skin. It easily removes the toxic substances from under the skin of the skin of an individual. Rhassoul clay also absorbs excess sebum from the skin ensuring the good health of the hair follicle and hair.

Clay is very important in life and should not be left unused as it helps in the treatment of various dermatologic conditions, skin softening, face mask and used in hair application, we should tap into its use by using it in beauty purposes as it will turn out to be healing the individual user who could be suffering from dermatologic condition.

Though am not sure whether people will buy into this idea as it may look old and due to invention of skin products like oils and others but bottom line clay is key in our modern medical practice as it has not undergone any processing that chemicals have been added to it. This natural setting makes clay best to be used in skin applications.

More on Clay-Bentonite

Montmorillonite Clay

Aztec Healing Clay

Multani Mitti (Fuller’s Earth) Clay

Rhassoul (Red Morrocan, Ghassoul) Clay

Kaolin (China, White Cosmetic, Kaolinite) Clay

Other Clays-French Green Clay & Dead Sea Mud

 

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