Post: #1

According to a British trend that has been going on recently, bathing or showering only once or twice a week can help fight skin diseases and have naturally clear skin and too much bathing can be bad for you because of lots of chemicals that soap and shampoo have.

Quote:The disturbing new trend for 'cleansing reduction' which involves bathing just once a week

'Cleansing reduction' means reducing showers to once or twice a week

Benefits can include keeping good bugs which help fight disease intact
Although showering less is fine, you need to regularly wash your hands
Prince Harry once admitted he hadn't washed his hair for two years

Daily showers could become a thing of the past, if a new beauty trend called 'cleansing reduction' takes off.

Instead of bathing every day, proponents whittle their washing habits down to once or twice a week on the grounds that too much cleansing can strip the skin and hair of essential natural oils.
While it might sound disgusting, it would seem that cleansing reduction is catching on, after a poll for tissue manufacturer, SCA, found that 41 per cent of British men and 33 per cent of women no longer shower every day.

Shower optional? 41 per cent of British men don't wash every day according to a poll by tissue company, SCA

The poll also revealed that a filthy 12 per cent said that they indulge in a 'proper wash' just once a week.

It is the younger generation who are leading the trend for joining the great unwashed, with 37 per cent of teenagers admitting to taking a 'shower in a can' - that's a quick spritz of deodorant to you and me - on a regular basis, according to market analysts, Mintel.

An RSA blog on the subject also attracted some illuminating responses, including one committed soap dodger, who revealed that they washed only 'when dirty, sweaty or smelly, so if I've been gardening or out for a vigorous bike ride, or if it's just very hot weather.'

Disgusting as it might sound, going for long periods without bathing is nothing new, according to Lancaster University sociologist, Dr Elizabeth Lancaster.

According to Lancaster, daily showers are a relatively recent development and less than a century ago, a weekly bath would have been considered perfectly adequate.

'Now we think nothing of showering once, twice or even three times a day, before and after work or going out and after the gym,' she said in an interview with the Times.

'It has embedded itself in our routine and become an essential, not an optional, thing to do.'

Soap dodgers: Both Prince Harry and Jessica Simpson are said to prefer using dry, rather than liquid, shampoo

Popular: Batiste's dry shampoo, £1.49, has become a festival season essential and is a life saver for travellers

While dermatologists worry about the impact all the washing could have on your skin, green campaigners have long argued that reducing the amount of time we spend in the shower would benefit the environment.

Waterwise, an NGO dedicated to reducing water consumption in the UK, argues that having fewer or shorter showers 'will use less water and less energy' and will also 'reduce your carbon footprint, which helps prevent global warming.'

Its long-running 'Shower Power' campaign has attracted some celebrity supporters too, most notably the former children's TV presenter, Kriss Akabusi.

But while preserving the environment is driving the soap-free trend for some, for many more, it's simply because they're too lazy to get up early for a wash.

A survey by the Global Hygiene Council last year found that 58 per cent of British men regularly miss their morning shower because they are too idle or too rushed.

Likewise, sales of time-saving products such as dry shampoo have soared, with Asda reporting a 37 per cent rise in sales.
What's more, they add, one in five products are bought by men - possibly including Prince Harry who once revealed that he hadn't washed his hair for two years.

Squeaky clean? Prince Harry arrives at Westminster Abbey for the coronation celebrations - hopefully after a shower
Clean? Prince Harry arrives at Westminster Abbey for the coronation celebrations - hopefully after a shower

With some hairdressers arguing that too much washing strips hair of sebum, resulting in a lank and greasy look, it would seem that he - and fellow dry shampoo addict, Jessica Simpson - might be on to something.

Interestingly, a study conducted by the University of California found that too much washing can actually be bad for you, because it strips away beneficial bugs that the body uses to help ward off infections.
'A vigorous daily shower would disturb the natural bug flora of the skin as well as skin oils,' revealed John Oxford, Professor of Virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry.

Nevertheless, Oxford told the Times that he was concerned by a study released by the Hygiene Council that found nearly half of the population wash their hands less than five times a day, saying it means our hands carry 'as many germs as a toilet bowl'.
But despite his dim view of sink-dodgers, Oxford still doesn't think we need to shower as much as we do.

'As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, showering or bathing every other day would do no harm.

'Even twice a week would not be a problem if people used a bidet daily as most infectious bugs hang around our lower halves.
'We pay too much attention to the body beautiful and smelling good, with perfumes for men and women,' he added.
'We should wash to stop cross-infection, not for grooming reasons.'


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Also another article talks about the same thing:

Quote:How Often Should You Shower?
How often should you shower? Showering on a daily basis – and sometimes even more – is the norm for most people. However, that doesn’t mean you have to! How often you should shower is a personal decision made up of many factors.

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Most people tend to take one shower every day, sometimes even more. In our modern world, hygiene is often held in the highest regard, and a shower a day tends to be the norm in order to maintain the high hygiene standards that makes most people feel comfortable about their bodies. Some might see this as a good thing, but studies have shown that many people now shower too much. The more frequently you shower, the more harm you just might be doing to your skin.

How Often Should You Shower?
In the question of how often you should shower, the answer is a very individual one, based on several factors that are unique to your body and circumstance. Here are a few things to consider when you are trying to decide how often to take a shower.

1. Your Lifestyle
How you live your life makes a big difference in how often you shower. For instance, if you work in a job that means you are sweating a great deal, then a shower once or twice a day might be a necessity for you. If you are frequently working outside, getting a lot of exercise or in a messy environment, showers can be great. But if you are sedentary and don’t come into contact with things that might get your skin dirty, then showering less might be just be fine.

2. Your Culture
A great deal of our showering ideals come from the culture we grew up in. For instance, those in Australia are often called the “cleanest people on the planet” because they rarely go a day without a shower. However, those in third world countries might go for a week or more without one, and that is entirely acceptable to those in the home, village or town. Religious and cultural beliefs might play a big part in how often you feel it is necessary to shower.

3. Your Skin Type
When you are deciding how often to shower, let your skin lead the way. If you have extremely oily skin, then showering more than once a day might be required. But if you have very dry skin, showering might actually make that worse, so holding off to every other day could be your normal need. When you do shower, make sure that you use the right kind of soap and water temperature for your skin. You can figure this out over time and with some experimentation.

4. Other Factors
There are other factors that go into the question of daily showering. Elderly individuals might be much more sedentary than their younger counterparts, and therefore they might need to shower much less. But those who are very active need more frequent showers. Women who are menstruating might choose to take more than one shower a day to feel clean, while small children might need a bath only once every few days. Those who have certain medical issues should consult a doctor on whether they need to bathe more or less often.

Finally, remember that how often you shower depends greatly upon how you feel about yourself and your hygiene. If you feel you need a daily shower, or even a twice-daily one, and you simply feel too self-conscious without doing that, then by all means, continue doing what makes you feel good! But if you aren’t sure about showering every day, there is nothing wrong with that either.

Why Showering Less Might Be Good for You?
What happens when you shower too often? Depending upon your skin type, your body might face consequences of showering too much. There can be benefits to skipping the daily shower and instead, just cleaning your body when it really needs it.

Before you turn on the tap, here are a few benefits to less showering to consider:

1. Keep Your Skin Moisturized
Your skin maintains a very delicate balance of living skin cells, dead skin cells and the lipids, or oils, which keep the skin healthy. By allowing your skin to do its own thing and not upsetting that balance with too much showering, you might actually be healthier. Showers every other day might allow your skin to create the proper oils needed to keep your body soft and supple, rather than too-frequent showers that keep your body dry and open to irritation.

2. Leave Beneficial Bacteria
Studies have shown that frequent showering washes away the colonies of beneficial bacteria that live on our skin. These good germs can help protect your body from the outside world, thus keeping your rate of infection low. The more often you wash away these bacteria, the more likely you will be to develop an infection of the skin.

3. Save Water
This is a big sticking point for those who love the environment. The more showers you take, the more water you use. The more water you use, the more stress is put on water systems, and the more the environment suffers. If you use harsh soaps or other chemicals when you shower, you are also adding those to water supply – the water that goes down the drain has to end up somewhere, and it always goes back into the environment eventually. Besides that, saving water can mean saving money for you, as it takes energy to heat all that water you use for the showers.

Though these are all compelling reasons to shower less, please keep in mind that staying clean is good for your body, and these suggestions should not be taken to mean that you should forget showering regularly. However, less just might be more for you.

So according to this. Less showering makes your natural oils become more balance and give you a healthy skin glow where as showering daily can offset this imbalance and cause you to get dandruff and dry skin.

Anybody up for climbing the no shower bandwagon?

Post: #2

It's true, just do a search for "acid mantle." The skin has a natural barrier which, unfortunately, 90% of the products on the market are terrible at maintaining.

Not bathing is one solution, but a better one is to find good quality products, which doesn't mean expensive ones by the way. Check here for some decent reviews: http://www.paulaschoice.com/beautypedia/

Post: #3

Next thing you know....we will be like Queen Elizabeth taking showers only twice a year.

As a person who is extremely active (doing work outside and running), my stench is too strong to not hide it. It might work for someone who doesn't move a lot but by the third day the smell is there.

Post: #4

Post: #5

Or you could just hop in briefly and shower with only lukewarm running water, while choosing not use any of those products (which are essentially all just petrochemical byproducts and other shit you don't need on your skin). A shower filter would also be a good idea.

Post: #6

(10-14-2013 05:42 PM)freewheeler Wrote:  Or you could just hop in briefly and shower with only lukewarm running water, while choosing not use any of those products (which are essentially all just petrochemical byproducts and other shit you don't need on your skin). A shower filter would also be a good idea.

If you live somewhere cold like Canada or Northern Europe, you'll need to use some cream. If you don't, your skin will dry out pretty fast and you'll end up looking like this:

Post: #7

the British also think brushing once a week gives them better teeth

Post: #8

(10-14-2013 06:10 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

(10-14-2013 05:42 PM)freewheeler Wrote:  Or you could just hop in briefly and shower with only lukewarm running water, while choosing not use any of those products (which are essentially all just petrochemical byproducts and other shit you don't need on your skin). A shower filter would also be a good idea.

If you live somewhere cold like Canada or Northern Europe, you'll need to use some cream. If you don't, your skin will dry out pretty fast and you'll end up looking like this:

Damn! I guess you can use a moisturizes after a shower.

Post: #9

This is old news for us visionaries, man. The establishment is finally catching up.

I haven't washed my hair in a year. There's a thread on that.

I also only use soap in areas like feet, arm pits, and crotch. Too much bathing is bad for your health.

There's no need to suds up the entire body. There's a separate thread on bathing habits or else it's in the, "No Shampoo Challenge" thread.

Post: #10

What's the deal with "dry shampoo?" Can anyone fill me in? Is it also unnecessary?

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #11

(10-14-2013 09:57 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  This is old news for us visionaries, man. The establishment is finally catching up.

I haven't washed my hair in a year. There's a thread on that.

I also only use soap in areas like feet, arm pits, and crotch. Too much bathing is bad for your health.

There's no need to suds up the entire body. There's a separate thread on bathing habits or else it's in the, "No Shampoo Challenge" thread.

do you use anything at all on your hair, maybe apple cider vinegar?

Post: #12

As Linda Blair explains in the Exorcist, the devil mixes truth and lies and the same is true of this thread...

Showering every day is fine. BUT, if you have sensitive skin and if you take hot showers, it's a great idea to use a moisturizing cream after you shower. You should put the cream on when your skin is still moist but not soaking wet -- so towel off very lightly before moisturizing.

Soaping your entire body all the time is NOT a good idea. It's enough to use soap only on select parts of your body as detailed in MikeCF's post, and it's best to use noncomedogenic soap like Purpose or Cetaphil under all circumstances.

Everyday use of commercial shampoo is harsh on your scalp. But you can use things like J&J baby shampoo and other specialized shampoos daily if you like.

Post: #13

ACV is too acidic for your hair.....I think.

Post: #14

Supposedly washing your hair is good for guys with receding hairlines and chronic hair loss.

Sometimes it seems like the opposite, when I wash too much it forces loose hairs out.

Post: #15

(10-14-2013 11:09 PM)Cattle Rustler Wrote:  ACV is too acidic for your hair.....I think.

i sometimes use half acv/ half water, i wouldnt put straight acv on my scalp. I occasionally use it as an aftershave lotion as well

Post: #16

My skin was real dry and flaky when i was using Irish Spring soap but it smelled great. I can shower twice a day with Dove sensitive skin soap and not have problems. It just gets way to hot and humid here to do something like this. I usually take a nice relaxing shower in the morning and a quick one at night. Sometimes 3 during summer when youre literally sweating within minutes of stepping outside. Ill start just cleaning the main stank spots at night but gotta get the whole body fresh in the morning.

What exactly does washing to much do to your health? I wonder if people in cold climates dont shower daily because its uncomfortable and you dont really get stinky/sweaty. Reminds me of the thread where European posters were talking shit to mechanico for taking multiple long ass, hot showers every day. Gotta do it big in America baby

Post: #17

People think about stuff way too much...

People are also pretty fucking stupid. They realize too much cleansing (using chemical products) is hurting their skin so instead of the most logical course of action of not using said chemical products, they decide its best to just use them less frequently.

"Hey man, it hurts when you punch me in the face everyday. Do you mind only punching me in the face twice a week? Thanks bro"

Post: #18

(10-15-2013 10:15 AM)AntiTrace Wrote:  People think about stuff way too much...

People are also pretty fucking stupid. They realize too much cleansing (using chemical products) is hurting their skin so instead of the most logical course of action of not using said chemical products, they decide its best to just use them less frequently.

"Hey man, it hurts when you punch me in the face everyday. Do you mind only punching me in the face twice a week? Thanks bro"

I agree that people think about it too much, but not all products cause problems. If you have dry skin and live in a warm climate you might get away with using only water, but a lot of people need to wash and use cream.

Either way, you can go to any drugstore and buy some Cetaphil wash/soap and cream (if your skin is dry), and T-gel shampoo. Dermatologists prescribe those two brands whenever people have skin allergies. Cetaphil soap (solid) can be used for shaving, so you don't need to carry extra stuff.

Post: #19

Shower daily, use soap or shampoo never.

There, its solved.

Post: #20

(10-15-2013 01:17 PM)germanico Wrote:  Shower daily, use soap or shampoo never.

There, its solved.

Bathing only once a week is gross. Especially if you do sports. I guess the OP doesn't do any sports and doesn't sweat. I mean as you say you don't have to use shampoo everytime

Post: #21

I've hardly ever used in years. My hair looks great, feels nice, holds shape really well with only a bit of wax. The few times I've tried shampoo I felt like my hair was dead.

I do a rinse with ACV every week or two though, keeps dandruff at a minimum without cleaning out too much natural oil.

I also tried going soap-free but a few weeks in several girls made comments, now I'm back on it. I never used soap outside of pits/groin though, even in high school. Do guys really think their shin is going to smell bad unless they get some suds on it?

Post: #22

Showering once a week is beta.

A true ALPHA showers once a year. That way he has a big smell and makes his presence known. Everyone around him can smell his Alpha-ness and smell how he dominates the room and others get out of his way.

Post: #23

(10-14-2013 10:20 PM)Beyond Borders Wrote:  What's the deal with "dry shampoo?" Can anyone fill me in? Is it also unnecessary?

To add to this question, what are you non-soapers doing for your face? Anything special? Maybe an occasional baking soda scrub would suffice?

I've cut back on the showering and especially using soap. Mainly use it on my pits, groin, and feet now - but I sometimes at least rinse off twice a day due to the Cambodian heat.

Beyond All Seas

"The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.
To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you'll be lonely often, and sometimes
frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself." - Kipling

Post: #24

(10-14-2013 09:48 PM)MidWest Wrote:  

(10-14-2013 06:10 PM)DaveR Wrote:  

(10-14-2013 05:42 PM)freewheeler Wrote:  Or you could just hop in briefly and shower with only lukewarm running water, while choosing not use any of those products (which are essentially all just petrochemical byproducts and other shit you don't need on your skin). A shower filter would also be a good idea.

If you live somewhere cold like Canada or Northern Europe, you'll need to use some cream. If you don't, your skin will dry out pretty fast and you'll end up looking like this:

Damn! I guess you can use a moisturizes after a shower.

I don't mean to be a party-pooper (or maybe I do? ); however, I suspect that the person in this picture (woman? man? - kind of looks like a woman to me) has a lot more going on in life rather than merely failing to use creams.

I am kind of disinclined to use creams, and maybe that is getting to the subject of this thread. If your body is naturally producing oils and bacteria, then creams may likely screw with that. However, if you are having some problems with dry skin, then maybe there are some diet and life style issues.

Back to the picture, there looks like there could be an issue of over exposure to the elements; however, i am of the inclination to bet that if we were to look further into this persons lifestyle history, there would likely be diet issues that may play a key role.

I hope that none of the guys on the forum would age like the person in the picture, but if a guy were to screw up his metabolism in some way (which I believe diet plays a large part), then probably these kinds of physical manifestations could occur?

For example, people who drink a lot of alcohol, do drugs and smoke sometime turn out like this as they age, and street people sometimes turn out like this... but street people will frequently have a lot of diet problems, as well as the other issues of the ingestion of abusive substances.

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live in a body like that; however, mostly seeing these kinds of images creates an incentive for me to take measures to minimize the long-term possibility of developing such physical / monster attributes.

Post: #25

(10-18-2013 10:34 PM)JayJuanGee Wrote:  However, if you are having some problems with dry skin, then maybe there are some diet and life style issues.

If you live in California or Texas, there is no reason to use anything except maybe in Winter if you were born in dry skin. Winter in somewhere like Russia or Canada is a completely different story, and pretty much everyone has to use something. It's possible to He Man through it, but by the time you're 40 you'll look a decade older than you otherwise would have.

The picture is of a homeless he-she in Russia. That's what Winter does if you're outside long enough.