Welcome to Day Two of our journey to a more relaxed beauty regimen (AKA Skankville). Monday we gave up cotton balls and Q-Tips, today we're giving up our daily shower.
Say what?
Yup, goodbye daily shower, hello armpit washcloth. Yeehaw.
That's not to say that you should give up the daily shower every day. But pick one day - any day - each week and declare it To Hell With Personal Hygiene Day. My THWPHD is generally Sunday, but I also throw in an occasional weekday, just to shake things up.
Think of all the hot water you'll save. Not to mention soaps, shampoo, conditioner and whatever else you might slather on yourself when you're all alone behind the curtain. Don't tell me.... I don't want to know.
And if you already have a sanctioned THWPHD, then make it a double. Pick another day during the week where you feel comfortable stinkin' it up.
What? Already got TWO? Sounds like you're ready for the Trifecta. Do it up!
The first week will be tough. You'll feel like pigpen, with a little black cloud following you around and wavy lines radiating from your head. You'll get used to it, though. Pretty quickly, in fact. Hopefully your friends and family will too :-)
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Let the Devolution Begin
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18 comments:
As it happens, I decided to skip my shower this morning. I often skip one of the weekend days as well. I find this an easier thing to do in the winter, but I'm trying to work it in this summer too.
This is precisely why I decided to grow my hair out - fancy ponytails make the every other day shower more presentable at my work.
I don't shower everyday. I actually only take two real showers every week where I wash my hair, and then I shave once a week. Is that gross? The other days I just rinse off in the sink or I jump in the shower and rinse off/wash my pits and then jump out. The 2 minute shower.
I'm loving this series of posts . . . except I was going to write it over at my own blog. Humph!
I think the idea of trimming back instead of totally giving up is a great one. I started doing this with my contact lenses (with all their solutions that come in oodles of plastic bottles). I just can't give them up completely but I now wear glasses two to three days a week instead.
As to skipping showers, I only shower every other day or every third day. I have to admit, though, that I do look a lot more presentable on the shower days.
I have done this for years. I don't know why, but I've never felt the need to shower or bathe everyday -- must go back to childhood when we only took baths every other day and washed our hair (b/c it was long and hard to manage) once or twice a week. Now, in the summer it's harder, and I find myself showering more, but in the winter it's super easy to only shower every other day and sometimes every third day -- it's great for your skin in the winter. I also do lots of sink baths when I skip a shower -- a bit of water and castille soap and tea tree oil in the sink, and a nice little sponge bath. I do this for my 3 year old son as well -- he gets a bath every other night, and a sink bath on off nights. In the winter, unless he's filthy, we will probably switch to every third night.
Another thing we do is share bath water. I like a shower best, but it seems so wasteful to let him be the only one using a bath tub that is half full. Last night, my husband bathed with him, and then I got in after he got out. Three dirty people, and only one bath tub half-full of water -- yay!
Another great tip -- use a refreshing body spray to freshen up -- I use water and lavender oil in a spray bottle to mist my hair, body, and clothes when I need a little pick-me-up!
Erin
I'm down to a once-weekly, 5 minute shower & hair washing, and I couldn't be more pleased with the results. I have a skin problem that is exacerbated by hot water/frequent bathing, and it has all but gone away. I've also found my hair to be MUCH healthier, shinier, and fuller since I started this regimen (and quit using conditioner). I never thought I could quit using conditioner--my hair is down to my butt--but I realized that if I just comb out my hair before stepping into the shower, it's easy as pie to comb again once I come out of the shower!
All other nights of the week, I wash up with a small basin of water and a cloth, though if I've been out in the garden, I'll sometimes wash my feet under the tub spigot. :)
I encourage everyone to at least try shorter showers. I call them one-song showers. I pick my a favorite song, put it on the stereo, and shower until it ends.
Thrilled to see this post!
-Kelsie
Ok, I live in the armpit of the south, (Mississippi) and there is no way I could do this during the summer months, (3/4 of the year, or almost summer, summer, still summer and Christmas). We have had highs of upper 90's for, oh a while now. Combine this with humidity thick enough to let me drink the air instead of breath it. In the time it takes me to walk from my car into my office, I am sweating all over. I would be willing to try this in the winter though. Maybe.
I only shower about every 3rd day - on the other days I give myself a "whore bath", as my granny used to call them. Like Britta, I've grown my hair out because it's much easier to pull it up in a ponytail than to try and style it every day.
I'm also enjoying these posts - keep up the good work!
As a child in the South, we got weekly baths unless we were extra dirty (we are talking middle-class family here) so I've always known I didn't need to wash daily. So for most of my life I showered every other day until I cut my butt-length hair in my mid-twenties and discovered that I had to wash my hair if I didn't want to walk around all day with very unsexy bed hair (we're talking hair smashed into faux monk's tonsures) -- water alone didn't do it -- so I got in the habit of daily showers. Boy, once you start daily it is hard to stop. I'd rather sleep a few more minutes than bathe so my natural laziness has helped me transition back to fewer showers and my showers are a lot shorter since I started washing my hair only twice per week. But there are some times a sink wash just won't do it -- certain times of the month or when my romantic life, mmm, intensifies, shall we say.
I've always been an everyother day bather.
I do feel the need to at least rinse off after being in the garden all sweaty and really dirty.
In every season except summer I only take a real shower every other day and just wash out my pits on the other days. If I haven't sweated profusely in the summer I also only go every other day. I hated having my hair in a ponytail all the time, so now when I do take a real shower I make sure once a week or so that I have time to blow dry my hair too (remember, no judging - everyone contributes in their own way).
Anonymous/Erin - I love the idea of the sink bath mixture you suggested - but where do you find castille soap and do you have to rinse the kid afterwards?
Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap is what I use -- I buy it at my local co-op/health food store. I buy the lavender scented kind, and add it (a tiny bit goes a long way) and tea tree oil to a spray bottle to use as a wipe solution for my cloth wipes (for my 3 year old and myself, my husband will do a lot, but won't do cloth toilet paper), and I use the same type of mixture in the sink. I just use about 2 drops of castile soap, a couple drops of tea tree oil, and I don't rinse it off . . .
Erin
Yes! Dr. Bronner's for sponge baths is the best, because you don't have to rinse if you only use a teeny bit. Bobbi, I love that your grandma called it a "whore bath." I'm going to start using that term from now on! It's much more exciting (and less nursing-home-esque) than "sponge bath." :)
When I go to the gym, I shower there - they have a rainwater tank and so have spare water. Otherwise it's four minutes every two days, though of course I shave every day (or my woman won't kiss me).
This "whore bath" has piqued my interest, though, it sounds very interesting.
I could go with shorter showers but not showering everyday? My co-workers and husband would not thank me for that! I am an absolute grouchy bear if I don't have my morning shower! I have tried not to take a shower so I could wake up later and it was a disaster every time in terms of my attitude.
I gotta have it!
For whatever reason I decided to wear a polyester shirt today. And I haven't showered in two days and have plans this evening. I smell, but only if I stick my nose in my armpits - which isn't something I should be doing while I'm at work. But I have my womanly odor enveloping me.
If some women smell me all our cycles will be in sync next month.
EEEEEEEEEEooooooooooh! I am a manly plumber, and trust me need my daily cleaning. Maybe on the weekends I can get away with it but pppppppppppppppppeeeeeeuuuuw.
We switched to 2 showers/week a few months ago. The other days we do a washcloth cleaning with a shallow basin of hot water. I add baking soda to mine. No rinse necessary. Our water use has really reflected this change. The only downside is less water from the shower available to flush the toilet. That will be a non-issue when we get a composting toilet set-up. :)
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