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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To ask about this (because I know we all love a person hygiene question!)

124 replies

Wetbankhols · 28/05/2016 13:31

Lately, I can't always be arsed showering and don't notice any particular difference in how I smell.

HOWEVER, when I shower regularly, I seem to notice I get a bit more inclined to need to keep up the routine, if that makes sense.

Do you think showering more can actually cause you to sweat/smell more?

OP posts:

PestilentialCat · 29/05/2016 20:14

links are groins

PestilentialCat · 29/05/2016 20:15

bloody autocorrect - LISKS are groins

Marmalade85 · 29/05/2016 20:28

Are you depressed?

wallywobbles · 29/05/2016 20:33

I found that I didn't feel dirty if I'd been for a run and then dried off again. Can't really comment on the smell but I'm sure no BO thanks to deodorant.

I always thought that was weird.

SabineUndine · 29/05/2016 20:38

I've noticed recently that if I don't wash my neck of all places, in the morning, I can smell it in the event. I find this kinda weird. As I'm a two bath a day person, it's not in itself a problem, but being able to smell myself like that seems odd.

wallywobbles · 29/05/2016 20:38

Cleavage BO not particularly nice though.

2sugarsandadog · 29/05/2016 20:45

Might miss a day at the weekend. But going to work unwashed is a big no no. As would be not washing my hair - but that's just me and the mess it looks if I don't ...

ClopySow · 29/05/2016 22:10

You might want to tell that to the millions of parents cleaning their childrens shitty arses with wet wipes HappiestMummy

ClopySow · 29/05/2016 22:12

I don't get cleavage BO, but sometimes in the summer, my tits smell a bit like vinegar. I'm not even joking. Vinegar tits.

nennyrainbow · 29/05/2016 22:40

If you keep washing your skin oils away, then your body compensates by producing more oil, so if you're used to showering every day and then stop for 2 days, your skin would be oilier than if you normally only showered every other day. Same with hair. It's about finding the balance that's right for you.
I only shower every day if it's hot weather: otherwise it's every other day. I hardly sweat at all normally so I don't feel it's necessary and I'm pretty certain I don't smell.

houseeveryweekend · 29/05/2016 23:31

I actually think theres some truth in saying its just whatever you get used to.... sometimes i shower too much, like twice a day because i just dont feel clean but then i have a friend who showers every other day and she is perfectly clean, she only washes her hair every three days and her hair looks great. I kind of want to shower less than i do because showering twice a day imo is pretty pointless and i know its just in my head that i feel gross if i dont. It also is really drying out my hair. I remember when i was a teenager and washed my hair once a week and felt fine! I think its just about how you are used to feeling and smelling.

houseeveryweekend · 29/05/2016 23:33

My family live in France and they all have bidets. Bidets are great i wish they were a thing everyone had here. I know some people have them in their houses but its not that common here i dont think.

GarlicSteak · 29/05/2016 23:45

Couldn't agree more, house. The one part of your body that genuinely gets crudded up with unfriendly bacteria, and we're all about washing it!

A German once told me "Only the British would be proud that they usually have bits of dried-up crap in their arses." Unkind, but true.

wiltingfast · 30/05/2016 00:00

Every other day here. No deodorant either usually. Don't smell. Don't sweat much tbh. Don't agree partners are noseblind as I def notice dh. He has to shower every day.

Ime a bo type smell can be more related to dirty clothes.

How does a communal bidet work house? Is there a stack of towels?

houseeveryweekend · 30/05/2016 00:18

yes my parents have a stack of small towels in each bathroom next to the bidet. Its not much different to a bath really i mean you are drying your clean bum arent you? they have literally hundreds of towels but id actually just reuse the same one for a few days like i use a bath towel.

houseeveryweekend · 30/05/2016 00:20

yes Garlic! if i had the money id get one in our bathroom. It saves loads of water as well because you dont have to have a full shower or bath again in the same day when you had one in the morning just because youve been to the gym or had sex or something!

hollinhurst84 · 30/05/2016 00:42

I shower every other day and wash hair every 2-3 days. Dry curly hair
If I've been to the gym or something then yes I would shower again. I do use anti bac soap which seems to keep me fresher for longer

mosteff · 30/05/2016 08:04

There is evidence now that there is also a skin "microbiome" that you are disrupting if you shower with harsh soaps everyday. See www.skinmicrobiome.net/

Science supports your not washing everyday, believe it or not. I'm not advocating walking around like a stinky pig - the bidet was probably the greatest human invention. Everyone needs a shower after a sweaty workout etc. But for an average day, I don't shower either - use a deodorant (not anti-perspirant). Btw, all hairdressers will say you can go four days without a wash if you don't have greasy hair - that is why dry shampoo is trending now.

Also, not true about the fact that you don't smell your fragrance after a few minutes only because you get used to the smell - fragrance changes from minute to minute when first sprayed, then a good fragrance lies close to the skin, (hence "skin scent") and you only get an occasional whiff like everyone else.

heron98 · 30/05/2016 09:26

I do not understand how you can not need to shower.

Do you just never do anything physical, even walking to the shops? that would make my feet stink if nothing else.

VulcanWoman · 30/05/2016 09:43

It's very easy to understand, everyone is different.

Original poster

Wetbankhols · 30/05/2016 09:43

You must sweat a lot

I had my hair done on Saturday so I didn't shower yesterday and I don't think I will bother today.

OP posts:

wiltingfast · 30/05/2016 11:37

People are different heron. Like some people getting spotty, or have heavy periods. People's skin and sweat levels are different.

HooseRice · 30/05/2016 11:41

My DD calls oxters "Oscars". She's 8 now, I really should correct her

GrandMarmoset · 30/05/2016 13:36

I agree op. When I'm camping, I'm a shower dodger as I hate communal showers and frankly, standards drop when camping. I also have noticed on these occasions that the less we shower, the less we need to. I suspect the use of soaps stimulates sweat and sebaceous glands much the same as shampoo does on our scalps. I barely sweat, which I know is not healthy, so it's not a great problem, but if it's particularly hot and sticky I would shower daily.

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