Life Without Soap

Because I exhibit narcissistic and vain tendencies, time for a little beauty update.

So it's been 6 weeks since I started my little experiment of no soap. I've only used soap on my hands when preparing food. In all honesty, and for the sake of full disclosure, while it's been 6 weeks of no soap, it has *not* been 6 weeks since I last used shampoo. More like two.

Yes, yes I cheated. Hey! I was only trying to ease into no 'pooing o_o

Well back to soap. When I say no soap, I also mean no baking soda or any other cleaning agents besides tepid/cold water and a loofah. I only use hot water when I'm feeling the need to really clean up.

So after these six weeks, I have come to one firm conclusion. I will NEVER go back to using soap on my skin. Let me just say this, despite the terrible drying chlorinated water I have, my skin has never been softer, naturally better smelling, or better looking. I've also noticed that I don't have as much of a body odor when I exercise and/or sweat. Now I haven't made an objective somebody do a sniff test, but I used to gross myself by doing my own sniff test, and I no longer do.

What I've realized after doing a little digging up, is that soap, while it dissolves and cleans dirt and natural skin oils, it also kills all the weaker bacteria on the skin, especially the antibacterial stuff. However, it doesn't kill the stronger bacteria or fungus. So what you do is create an imbalance in the microorganisms that naturally populate your skin. It's like abusing antibiotics, only in this case, it's selective. Thus, even though sweat by itself doesn't have a smell, the body odor causing bacteria which thrive on sweat are given free rein. So you have to constantly use the soap to keep from getting a nasty body odor. If you stop using it for a little while, you'll no longer need to.

The HAIR!! Oh the hair. It's getting better I swear. But I'm afraid due to my cheating (it's really hard on my ego to tolerate the greasy transition period), I'm not yet there.

I feel like I'm currently half way there. My entire scalp is fine oil wise, except for the crown. However, last week I switched to cold showering instead of using hot water. I like it. I noticed that hot water exacerbates oiliness on my face and increases it, so I figured it must be doing the same with my head. The result is that if I ignore the not so flattering roots, my hair after air drying looks gorgeous. It's got shine, clear looking curls/waves, and most importantly, no frizz. I even brushed it with my usual plastic pins brush, and it didn't static! How awesome is that? I can finally brush my hair between washes. And while not so gorgeous after a whole day wrapped with a scarf, it's now much easier to give back its volume by fluffing it. The natural hair oils are really great hair products (pun intended?).

Anyway, I have been noticing a slow but noticeable decrease in the oiliness, so this time, I will not cave to shampoo anymore. If I get the urge, a simple reminder of the last time I used my ultra gentle for dry hair shampoo should discourage me. I'd wanted to pull my hair out because my scalp felt so itchy and dry, especially the areas that are now fine (besides my crown) and my hair got so frizzy it looked like it went through a static shock!!

Sigh, I hope that one day soon I'll be both oil and soap free.

And one final note, please let me know if this is too much information. I realize most people would rather not discuss personal hygiene unless they're brandishing a shield and armor of shampoos and antibacterial soaps to ward off the strange looks and accusations of uncleanliness, but I feel that it's better to be honest about this stuff, and put it all out there. The fact that my friends still often take the initiative of approaching me for a big hug or kiss, tells me that I'm just perfectly fine.

Cheers