Am I missing key shower steps or is hygiene tok excessive?

[AurielleBaies]

I’ve been watching hygiene tok and now wondering if I’ve not been showering myself properly all my life.

Saw a woman who uses an unscented bar soap for sensitive areas, antibacterial bar soap for smelly areas, then a body scrub, then a shower gel applied with a African net sponge, then lightly dries herself and applies body oil, then a body lotion, then a glycolic acid treatment under arms and under boobs and then FINALLY clinical strength deodorant. The video was called something like ‘how to not stink this summer’. I’ve never even done half those steps in one shower. I shower at least daily using a bar soap/shower gel and I do exfoliate every other day.

am I missing something?!

Absolutely. Anyone who isn't bathing in acid is frankly letting us all down.

Personally I finish my routine with a full immersion sheep-dip and then I take myself out to the back garden and set myself on fire, just in case of any remaining germs.

She knows - the post is joking about it

Derma500 in the shower, E45 moisturiser after ...... And that's it. Apart from shampoo and conditioner for hair wash once every 10 days.

Am I missing something?

This is so funny

I don’t want to 👍

I currently have a hip issue and mobility is down the pan due to pain. As a result today is the first day I’ve washed properly in 10 days.

In soaked in the bath, washed with shower gel. Washed my hair with shampoo and conditioner. Shaved my pits and washed my face.
I used a flannel for cleaning.
I feel fucking fantastic. Basic as hell but glad to be able to stand properly.

these people are doing this for several reasons

1. extreme self care. When life feels rough doing multi step cleaning routines can feel like taking control and achieving something.

2. marketing and influencers. Influencers hoping for the brand sponsorship and regular Janes copying.

3. there’s also this underbelly of racism that white people don’t wash properly and aren’t clean. In reality this is simply due to cultural differences but also due to genetic differences, we treat our hair and skin differently. As a result some people are having to ‘prove’ they’re not the gross white people and wash daily with lots of stuff to extremes to show they’re not l like them

Like this article on medium or the countless social media posts about it that have been doing the rounds for the last 5 years or so.

What a faff. Just use a tub of swarfega, that’ll sort you out.

To be fair I’ve read that some men refuse to wash their arse as “it’s gay”

See I did think this, but no the ingredients in soap break down the bacteria in sweat that shower gel doesn’t have, then the shower gel to give moisture and a nice smell 🤷🏼‍♀️

People have been washing very successfully for many years before TikTok, so I think you’ll be fine.

Well, clearly not! As apparently we’ve all been going around stinking every summer

I mean have you gone to public places in the summer? At least 30% of people do stink.

I think there’s a difference between people who shower and wash normally vs don’t shower at all or frequently enough. Because agreed, there are a lot of smelly people out there.

Same can be said in winter though, the smell of breath, musty clothes, bad breath etc.

Yes! I think I'm fancy cos I have shampoo AND conditioner these days. No soap, now shower gel, no face 'cleansers' either. I do not stink.

Soap, water and a basic moisturiser is all you need. Everything else is a choice and up to you.

I use Dettol soap on underarms, then regular soap elsewhere. Shampoo/conditioner every day. Deodorant obviously. Always use body lotion after a shower, and a couple of times a week I use those scrubby cloths (maybe Korean or something?).

Since peri I found shower gel didn’t cut it and while I’m not a particularly sweaty person if I did sweat it had a weird onion-y smell, despite showering daily. The Dettol soap has knocked that on the head, and I use the scrubby cloth on my underarms to make sure there’s no buildup of deodorant/AP.

Yep this too but that’s just ‘men’ no specific culture tbf.

An unravelled shower puff.

Yep. I do most of the stuff listed, it’s normal. What are the rest of you doing? :O

Soap and deodorant.

Soap and water and if feeling very bad - a flannel

deodorant Usually but not if just hanging around at home

everything else seems pointless - becuase if it was much better you would know by talking to your best friend or whoever was clearly cleaner

the vast majority of people who smell bad it’s because of all the chemical rubbish they have - do teens have no sense of smell? -

Like I don’t get it. Obviously the Tik Tik appeals to skincare people - but nothing in there is remotely out of the ordinary. M

Woman uses soap on sponge/exfoliating product. She does not use anti bacterial soap in sensitive areas. Uses chemical exfoliator and moisturiser on skin, and then deodorant… errrr yeah?

her video title is click bait and a bit rude, mind

I was told quite firmly by a doctor after I had a few UTIs that I was not to use any product, even femfresh, on any part of genital areas. Not even outside. So the beauty industry talks bollocks on the subject.

I don’t use anti bac soap anywhere

I rarely use anything exfoliating/ at most a flannel but that’s rare

I don’t use anything like chemical exfoliation

I don’t use any moisturiser except a few times a year - usually fast change in weather

why do you need all that stuff? I guess you need moisturiser as you have destroyed your natural skin processes?

I think the majority of us agree that the cleantok 100 step routine is a bit much for most of us. But…a certain few people on this thread not even using a soap or shower gel to clean their bodies? Just water? 🙃