Question About Soap and Shampoo

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Would a bath be less rough on your skin?

[sheehs1]

My skin gets really dry in the winter too Ha.
Neutrogena makes a shower oil...that I use while in the shower along with a bit of soap for some areas !

I read in a dermatology magazine it was the best at helping dry skin in the winter.
My holistic doctor swears by nothing but simple olive oil on the skin. Have tried this too and it works.
If things get really dry from the heat in my home, I'll run a humidifier in my bedroom at night.

[haha]

Thanks everyone for all these suggestions. So far, I bought some Dove soap and Cetaphil lotion, I started using both of these and I'll see how I do. This just snuck up on me. I think the twice a day vigorous scrubbing is maybe more challenging than I realized.

Ha

[Rambler]

+1 on the Dove.

Also recommend Biore body shampoo. It may be available at your local Asian market.

R

[TromboneAl]

What I'm really saying is that the solution I'd choose would be NOT exercising twice per day. If you really want to exercise that much, why not do it all at once? Row then lift, or row twice as long.

Then you would shower once per day, like all us other clean-obsessed people.

[Sarah in SC]

We clearly need a few more dirty hippies around here.
I went a week between showers when we lived aboard, as we had to pay for showers ashore. I enjoy revisiting the lifestyle when we "go feral" for music festivals. Harley may be willing to attest that we didn't smell too bad.
You guys sure work hard to keep up ya' hygiene.

[haha]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC You guys sure work hard to keep up ya' hygiene.

That may be because some of us are single.

I would say though that in general women have much better personal hygeine than men, except men who are athletes or go to gym daily and therefor get daily showers.

In maybe 20 years of going to dances I only ran across one woman who did not smell good. I imagine that she must have had some sort of physiological problem that made her have BO. I knew one mid forties woman who had no sense of smell. She would go to her next door neighbors before going out and get a sniff test. Funniest thing is that maybe because she was anxious about it, she always smelled very good.

Ha

[HFWR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan Use simple soap ((Kirk's Castile ?), only use soap on portions of body subject to smelling bad.

Quote:

"...you don't always need a shower! All you really need to do is to wash the four key areas! Armpits, ***hole, crotch and teeth! Got that? Armpits, ***hole, crotch and teeth! In fact, you can save yourself a lot of time if you simply use the same brush on all four areas!"

I use Ivory in the summer, but Dove in the winter. Top that off with a slathering of Walmart-store brand lotion...

I think the combo of hot, overly-chlorinated water and low humidity plays heck on sensitive skin.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC We clearly need a few more dirty hippies around here. I went a week between showers when we lived aboard, as we had to pay for showers ashore. I enjoy revisiting the lifestyle when we "go feral" for music festivals. Harley may be willing to attest that we didn't smell too bad. You guys sure work hard to keep up ya' hygiene.

You certainly didn't. I can't speak for Don. Also, there was a heavy layer of dust covering everything and everybody, which may have acted to wick away the perspiration (see below, from your own collection). Also, mostly all I could smell was the beer on my breath. But you're right, it doesn't seem to matter when you're listening to good music and having fun. Ha, on the other hand, is acting civilized and trying to impress the ladies, who probably don't have quite the same sensibilities we do.

[tmm99]

I don't know what kind of water you have in your area, but I installed a shower filter that filters 99% of chlorine in water and that helps me with dry skin and burning eyes caused by cholorine in water.

[eytonxav]

Quote:

Originally Posted by haha At my age the last thing I want to do is undermine anything horny. But to skipping showers, how? On weight days I lift am, row pm. On all other days, I row twice. I keep the radiator off, and open up the windows, but exercise just makes you hot. I really can't get behind going around dirty. I am hoping that a better soap and one of these lotions will do the trick. I know I have probably not been too kind to my skin, I love a hot shower after a workout, and i like back brushes and abrasive devices to get all the sweat off. Remember, cleanliness is next to godliness.

May be you need a French girl friend, they wouldn't mind the not showering part

[Sarah in SC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley You certainly didn't. I can't speak for Don. Also, there was a heavy layer of dust covering everything and everybody, which may have acted to wick away the perspiration (see below, from your own collection). Also, mostly all I could smell was the beer on my breath. But you're right, it doesn't seem to matter when you're listening to good music and having fun. Ha, on the other hand, is acting civilized and trying to impress the ladies, who probably don't have quite the same sensibilities we do.

For the record, those are NOT MY CARNEY FEET!

[TN_INVEST]

On more than one occasion, i have been known to simply shower without soap.

Regarding lotion, I use the Neutrogena stuff on my face just about every day.

Bert Reynolds swears by Vaseline

[mh]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Khan Use simple soap ((Kirk's Castile ?), only use soap on portions of body subject to smelling bad.

is use this (castile type soap) as both soap and shampoo.
they have it at whole foods amongst other places
don't need much if it and it doesn't leave anything in the way of scum
or deposits in the shower either.


Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps Retail Store: Citrus Liquid Soap

[chemist]

I am a retired surfactant chemist. There is some substance to the Dove claims - the 1/4 cleansing cream claim is crap (it is 25% stearic acid which is just the acid form of soap - soap is sodium stearate). So that is just marketing garbage.

But the other 75% is sodium cocoylisethionate which is way milder than soap as it is more or less neutral pH whereas soap is highly alkaline.

FWIW most liquid body washes are also based on isethionate. Why they are so popular in europe I don't know - perhaps due to mildness.

Technically Dove and its competitors are known as "syndet bars". I believe they are significantly milder than soap.

[ls99]

Quote:

Originally Posted by chemist I am a retired surfactant chemist.

Mind if I ask a question? I've heard the expression surfactant, what makes a substance as such and how does it accomplish that.

Guessing at some form a of lubrication to break the bond between dirt and substrate. It has been a nagging question in my mind for years.

Thanks.

[TromboneAl]

On a related issue, once we work our way through our huge stock-up backlog of Lever 2000 soap from Costco, we will probably go to either body wash or Irish Spring since neither of those contribute to soap scum in the shower.

[omni550]

On a somewhat-related and humorous note...

Due to Jobs' recent passing, I've been reading a lot of Steve Jobs articles. While in his 20's, Steve had read that meat-eaters exude body odor. So he went on a 100% apple diet, thinking that he would not have to bathe/shower. After some time on this 'diet', he got some very strong feedback from the guys he was working with, indicating that yes, he DID have to shower as he was getting quite 'stinky'.

[chemist]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ls99 Mind if I ask a question? I've heard the expression surfactant, what makes a substance as such and how does it accomplish that. Guessing at some form a of lubrication to break the bond between dirt and substrate. It has been a nagging question in my mind for years. Thanks.

The term "surfactant" is an abbreviation of "surface active agent". Generally speaking it is a molecule with one part that is hydrophobic (water hating) and one part that is hydrophilic (water loving). So soap which is the sodium salt of a long chain fatty acid is a surfactant - the fatty part is insoluble in water and the salt at the end is water soluble. These molecules reduce the interfacial tension between oil and water and allow fatty and particulate soils to be removed from substrates.

Hope that made sense. It is not really lubrication but a way to lower the amount of energy required to break the attraction of dirt to substrate.

[LOL!]

Scrubbing to get sweat off? That's the problem. Even if sweat dries on your skin, a little bit of water dissolves the salt and away it goes. You don't need to use soap at all.

I learned from NPR that the Romans used a strigil to remove sweat. Maybe that would be sufficient for you?