My entire life I’ve been told — sometimes forced — to take a bath.
It’s something we, as Americans, do every day — Hawaii folks prefer evenings to mornings — as part of our personal hygiene ritual. We shower, we brush our teeth, we wash our hair and clothes. We try to stay clean.
But there’s a growing sect of people who have decided to forgo these daily cultural norms — including the use of deodorant — and living life very, well, au natural.
In a recent article in the New York Times, we are living in a time when we could actually wash less — but instead we wash more.
People who have abandoned the daily cleaning rituals cite reasons such as allowing their skin to retain natural oils, conserving water and avoiding the potential harm of ingredients like aluminum (found in antiperspirants). Some, particularly men, like the “unkempt” look.
So why do we wash and clean and bathe so much, anyway?
The article points at money. It’s possible we spend more money on personal hygiene products because we’re conditioned to — through magazine and TV ads, through societal pressures.
Look at the data: Adults younger than 24 use deodorant and antiperspirant more than nine times a week; older folks use it on average once a day. And a whopping 93 percent of American adults use shampoo almost daily. That’s big business for personal hygiene companies to offer products to such a highly enthusiastic consumer base.
I know people who live on the Mainland who don’t shower every day during the winter months. You’re not sweating, there’s no reason to shower. And I’ve long known that washing your hair every day can strip it of its natural oils and dry it out. So unless I’ve dunked my head into the ocean, I tend to forgo shampooing for at least a couple of days.
But who wants to admit that, right?
Any of you can relate to this recent trend? Or do you think it’s utterly disgusting to not shower every day?
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To read all of Cat’s blogs, visit www.nonstophonolulu.com/thedailydish. Follow Cat on Twitter @thedailydish or send her an e-mail at [email protected].
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36 Comments
Now I understand the Facebook comment about showering LOL. In the winter I am an every other day kind of guy unless I have had a workout. I never wash my fash with soap because I believe it will dry it out and do not use deodorant because I think it is dangerous, aluminum belongs in airplane frames not under the armpits. My feet get washed everyday and a good rubdown becuase they need daily care. and frankly if you bath too much you wash away all those chemicals that make you attractive to the opposite sex… Therefore look for balance I say, as long as you don’t stink you are OK.
I live and work Downtown, and see dozens of people everyday who don’t bathe ( they’re called homeless ). Quite obviously, they smell ripe. I can never go a day without showering, AXE body spray, etc. Clean is sexy.
I’ve heard of the no poo movement–using natural items instead of shampoo to wash your hair. I’ve never tried it myself partly because of my very long hair, but it can be good depending on the person. No washing is an entirely new thing altogether. I don’t think I could give up my daily showers. That’s my time to think!
It’s so humid where we live, we get that sticky then stinky feeling. I bathe everyday. More so since the work I do is so physical. I like feeling clean so I bathe everyday.
no bocha? no way. like Ynaku said, I like that clean feeling. also, standing under running hot water is a good way to let the negative vibes of the day wash away.
The local folks tend to take a shower before going to bed. The mainland folks wake up in the morning and take a shower. To each his own I guess but I prefer to be feeling clean before going to bed. Maybe it’s because of the high humidity in Hawai`i that the local folks tend to take a shower before going to sleep.
Okay. In Europe, many folks use a basin of water daily to clean the privates, under arms and face. Reverse the order written. On the weekend, full bath or shower. All of this assuming you’re not doing farm labor. Children were also expected to wear the same clothes for a week to reduce laundry and to teach children to be careful with their clothes. Deodorant depends on individual chemical. Some ppl have stinger body odor than others
@TheGolfClub lol I can totally remember this from when I was a kid and lived in the Netherlands… although we didn’t wear our clothes for a week, we did recycle them for a couple of days. And washing in the basin happened a lot indeed, and only on Saturday we had a full bath lol.
“many folks use a basin of water daily to clean the privates, under arms and face. Reverse the order written”- classic!
haha great blog, Cat! When I was younger, I’d shower at night and wear my school clothes to sleep so I could just get up brush my hair (sometimes) and run out the door.
Now — I tend to shower, well, not only for hygene reasons but to wake up and get the day started. I feel more refreshed after a shower and, maybe it’s just evolution, but if I don’t shower for a day, I feel grubby and stale. lol Same with shaving… I don’t know how guys grow beards… feels so scratchy and irritating.
I usually shower twice a day, when I get home from work before working throughout the night then when I wake up for work in the morning.
I know some peeps that go a whole week without hair washing… yikes!
hahahahaha … now I’m an afternoon shower person cuz I go work out at about 10:30 am. On weekends or weekdays if I don’t work out I shower in the mornings. If I don’t shower daily I feel dirty. Live in NE Ohio and it may or may not get up to 50 degrees today, but no way I would not shower. (I do have a space heater in the master bathroom though for chilly winter days.) I cannot stand people who don’t bathe and usually with both male and female the clue is dirty hair Not sure that I am a clean freak, but I have been known to shower twice in a single day. And, I don’t know if this makes me ‘metro’ or something, but I really like the smell of good soap … like French milled soap from Provence Cat. Loved going to French country markets not far from Avignon and smelling the soap. Okay guys take your shots.
@Maxcat I like good smelling soap although it’s stuff like Zest, Irish Spring, Dove etc Nothing real fancy. Nothing wrong with that right? Grew up in plantation camp and we always took a bath. Many times the water was in a 5 gal bucket but, that was enough to wet body, lather and rinse. Now I’m spoiled with an Gas Instant Water Heater. All the hot water I want.
@Ynaku @Maxcat This brings me to another thought — I’m not a huge fan of body wash and prefer to use soap instead. I don’t know what it is… seems like it doesnt wash off fully or maybe I feel a little too clean? hah 🙂
@Ynaku I use all those and Dial too. The French soap is like a splurge when I go to this one crazy, quirkly left over hippie sort of organic place. Which reminds me I haven’t been there for quite a while.
@Johngarcia @Ynaku @Maxcat I hope this posts!
Lucky that we live in Hawaii. We tend to have a little softer water here. When I travel to the mainland a lot of the cities have hard water. You can soap up then rinse off and keep on rinsing and rinsing and the soap never feels like it comes off. Unfortunately you’re also wasting water too so there’s another drawback.
There’s something about the French Milled Soap that leaves you feeling clean and smelling really good but not overpowering. Once in a while I’ll pop into a L’Occipitane ?? in the outlet malls and pick up a few bars from the many in the store. I find that these soaps seem to rinse off easily when used in hard water.
Hard Water/Soft Water: https://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/a/aa082403a.htm
Like also said in my reply to @TheGolfClub , when I was a kid we usually only washed ourselves in the basin and on Saturdays we had a full bath. If we got dirty in between (since we were kids), it usually meant no more than a quick shower in between, but it surely didn’t happen daily. It probably also had something to do with growing up on an inland ship, and my family being a real (inland) sailer family.. on board of a ship you always need to preserve water as much as possible.
Later, when I grew up and still lived in the Netherlands, I showered more often but still not every day. Usually it was washing in the basin, just as when I was a kid, and taking a shower every other day or so. Especially in the winters we didn’t shower as much, it is terribly cold and you didn’t really get dirty anyways, you wore lots of clothes and didn’t sweat as opposed to what you see here: little clothes and more possibility of sweat.
Since I live in Hawaii I can say I shower a lot more often as you simply need it here, but like you, I am not washing my hair with shampoo on daily base (besides, there’s not that much hair to go around with since I tend to keep it short).
I heard about that the not bathing thing on the news. Personally, I don’t usually shower absolutely every day during the winter. If you don’t sweat or have abnormal BO, its not so bad. However it does make for unusual occurences especially in the work place. At my previous jobs we have had issues where people do not account for the heat at their work places. It led to some “stinky” situations and certainly awkward. In those situations its best to play it safe with at least the deodorant. Only for the sake of being respectful to your work colleagues. But otherwise I’m not ashamed to admit that a shower everyday, deodorant everyday, is excessive only during the winter. I still think that mouth hygiene is nothing to sacrafice, but a shower is doable every now and then. Interesting article and nice blog! 🙂
I think I mentioned in an earlier post, where Cat made fun of me (haha), that I at least wash my face every day and do a daily ritual of facial creams, etc. As for showering, it makes more sense to me to shower at night, because then you sleep cleanly, and are still clean in the morning, which lends itself to a quicker morning routine. Showering in the morning, you go to bed with the day’s dirts on you, eeeww! As for shampooing, i have really short hair, so I rinse it with water every night, but only shampoo it every two or three days. When I had long hair, which was off and on for the past 20 years, I would go four or five days. As for clothes, as someone with a home office, I am guilty of wearing the same jeans for three days in a row, or shorts as well, haha!
OMG, funny, (tribute to Rosette):
When I worked downtown 20 years ago, we ALL knew when it was Monday and when it was Friday. On Monday, the Europeans in the office smelled fresh as a daisy… on Friday, you could smell them coming up the elevator! Don’t mean to poke fun or generalize Europeans, but I can say every one of them in our office was like this. The stench of Friday was unmeasurable!
BTW, this was the European MEN …not the women, who were a delight to smell, hahaha!
@MaxMaxMax i never met a woman who didn’t smell intoxicating, no matter how much she stunk.
couple of things:
since your hair is rock awesome and always moves in slow motion, many readers may elect to adopt your routine.
where i live, perilously close to Fairfax, Marin County, CA, last bastion of all that is weird in American life, i actually know two people who never bathe. fortunately, they moved to NZ last year, where, since the sheep outnumber the humans, they won’t be noticed as much.
one day, when my son was 16 and had not done his laundry in a month and his room was like the monkey house, a friend of his came over with something in a paper bag and disappeared into my son’s room. fearing the worst i did what any parent would do. i listened at the door. the friend said. ‘I’ve found something that is going to change our lives. it’s called FEBREEZE!
@turkfontaine I think my son had the same friend. bwahahaha. I need a shovel to clean his room out. At least he showers. Sometime at night, mostly in the AM b4 school.
this just relayed to me by Billy Wayne Haole- a grooming related question. ‘ shud ah exfoliate b’fore mah nightly moistuizin’ ritual, er in the mornin’ afore ah do mah chores?’
omg. i’m not going to say anything abt my personal hygiene, which is exemplary for whatever conditions i inhabit at the moment, but if cat’s blog was interesting, these comments are hilarious!
@NonStopMari That’s okay if you don’t mention anything. Just keep those talented twinkle toes of yours clean!
I think what we can learn from these comments is…to each his/her own! I prefer morning showers instead of evening ones. I know many evening shower people say they don’t like going to bed with the day’s dirt on them and think they wake up clean – but as much as I fight with my husband about nighttime A/C and lose, I still sweat at night sometimes, and if I sweat with the A/C on, so do a bunch of other people! Therefore, you are starting the day with a sheen of dried sweat on you.
That being said, I do not shower every day, and I definitely don’t wash my hair every day. Most of my reasoning is practical; I hate water, I hate wasting water, and I hate spending time getting ready, so cut out whatever I can in my morning routine. But if I shower at night, I have a harder time getting to sleep, plus I don’t want to have to spend that much of my already too-short evening taking a shower and then fixing my hair so it’s not a bird’s nest the next morning. So Monday morning I shower and wash, dry and flat iron hair, and the hair is good for the next day, sometimes for the next two days. I do get in the tub and wash my privates and feet, though, and use a towelette to freshen up under my arms wipe off any dried sweat from my night’s sleep. 😀
I have a feeling some of us would be horrified by the personal hygiene habits of our friends and coworkers, but as long as someone looks and smells fine, who cares??
@Bearcat Hahaha! My highschool teams were called the “Bearcats!”
As for night sweat vs. day’s dirt… I guess it’s a lesser of two evils thing.
@MaxMaxMax Mine, too! Uh-oh…
There are two basic types of sweat glands: those that produce a distinctly primate odor and those that produce little or no odor. There are variations among populations, just as there are for male pattern baldness and other physical traits. East Asians and their genetic descendants have the fewest of the smelly kind of sweat glands. I, on the other hand, was not so blessed. It isn’t just the European tradition of conserving water and saving time by not bathing except for Saturday evening in anticipation of Sunday Mass, now suddenly so in favor among fresh water conservationists and 21st century hippies, Europeans and their genetic descendants have the highest proportion of primate-odor sweat glands to those that do not stink. Combine that with a heavy beard, body armor, and conquest on horseback, and we are one very smelly people. Thank goodness for Sunday Mass and the Saturday night bath.
Hello Cat!
I have to bathe and shampoo my hair everyday before I go to bed.
I going bocha right now before H5O starts.
CAT: Bayfing is mo bettah as a couple! No need for Olympic gymnastics to get the back clean. Save watah. Bettah to go moi moi clean den stinky! Only pass on bayf when you pass out drunk! Next topic: do you share the same soap bar? or back to toilets…are seat covers really needed on toilets?
This blog title reminds me of a really dirty joke. =P
I would prefer my office mates to bathe every day and I’m sure they’d like me to as well. Also salespeople need to not reek. I had one come to my office to sell me something and all I could think of was to get him out as soon as I could.
Summer 1985.
Surfed everyday.
Didn’t bathe for two months.
Didn’t have any friends that summer, either.