Unconventional Hygiene

[tortoise]

I was reading about skin microbiome and the effects of common hygiene products (shampoo, deoderant, etc) on the skin microbiome in November. The claim is that if we stop using these products, certain "odor eating" bacteria populations won't be decimated daily and they will crowd out the stinkier bacterias. Ever curious, I decided to experiment.

I stopped used shampoo, conditioner, styling product other than hairspray, body wash, bar soap, lotion, deoderant and toothpaste the second week of November, but the third week of November I applied deoderant one day.

I used exfoliation, baking soda, cornstarch, coconut oil, boar bristle brush for hygiene. I used hand soap on hands only.

6 weeks in my husband had not noticed a difference.

the 7th week, my family (myself, DH, DS10) got norovirus. DS2 did not. I was cleaning and disinfecting, and continuous laundry for days. After a few days, I "caved" and took a long hot bath for comfort and used shampoo, deoderant - pretty much everything on my list of things I hadn't used.

On the second day after the bath (and applying deoderant), I noticed a definite increase in underarm stink. I'm back to applying baking soda to eliminate that odor like in the first week or so of the experiment.

I noticed that conventional products are faster to use. However, they make me feel dependent upon them. I don't like that feeling. So after returning to conventional hygiene products for a day, I'm going back to the unconventional. It works. It's cheap. And more important to me, I can get those things without plastic packaging.

 

[Hinotori]

I asked hubby if there is anything he does hygiene wise that most people don't. His reply was wash his hands after using the toilet.

I laughed and had to put it here just because that's pretty much my experience in public restrooms too

 

[baymule]

We took pictures a few days ago.

 

[CrealCritter]

Yep Bays hair... beautiful Mine is about that long but thick and wavy. Soon to be all cut off and sent to wigs for kids so some little girl with cancer can wear my hair and hopefully brighten her day a little.

 

[tortoise]

Farm kids being healthier is not anecdotal. It's been proven in research.. There's a current research project underway trying to determine exactly why farm kids are healthier. DS3 was in the study from birth to age 1. They collected dust samples from our house and barn, samples from out floor, breastmilk, water, DNA, cord blood, blood, saliva, skin swabs, nasal swabs, nasal swabs of every respiratory illness, recorded our diet, animals/species on the farm and our exposure to the animals. IT WAS SO COOL! They got an extension on the study because the data sets were looking good so they're still tracking families and it will still be a few years to publication. It seems they are trying to find specific microorganisms related to reduced allergy, asthma, and respiratory disease in children.

 

[Icu4dzs]

Greetings all,
This coming from a long hiatus tells me that all these hygiene concerns have in some way never looked at the actual CAUSE of why we "stink". It can be limited pretty much to one concept, food and the spices we use to flavor it.
When I was in Vietnam (a few years ago now) the enemy could always tell where we were because they could "smell us." We ate red meat (when we could get it) and the things that we ate caused body odor as an attempt by the body to eliminate those substances.

One day, many years later when I was a medical student, one of the interns on the IM service with me was on call and spent most of the night up. When I arrived at the hospital, I had to report to him for the "change of the guard" and he had such horrendous body odor that my eyes burned, LITERALLY. He quickly noticed that my eyes were tearing and said, "I'll go take a shower and we can talk later." He was a guy who loved the traditional foods of his homeland and the spices contained therein were some of the most wonderful to eat, but certainly not the most wonderful to experience in someone after they had been eaten.

My point is that most of your "body odor" is caused by your food intake. It's well known that certain green vegetables "neutralize" body odor; alfalfa sprouts being one of the most notable.

So, the situation as I see it is this. If you consider what you eat and what you use to "flavor" it, you may be able to explain much of your UNPLEASANT body odor and if you change what you eat/spices that you use, it may become obvious that you will begin to notice a distinct change in how you "smell." AND so will your "partner" IYKWIM.

Red meat is pretty much at the top of the "stink" list when it comes to body odor. Now admittedly, you do need about 4 oz. of red meat/week to remain healthy (iron, etc) but when you sit down to a two pound steak after a "quarter pounder" for lunch, you are going to find that the "stink titer" will be noticeably greater. On the other hand, eating mostly vegetables, and lots of greens will eliminate much of that problem.

As for clean hair, that is also a function of what you eat. Try using Johnson's Baby Shampoo no more than 1-2 times a week and then make up your own mind.

We all have some specific odors that are natural and if you don't know that, ask your dog! He'll let you know that he can identify you in the dead dark by your odor. This is also true for other dogs who will smell YOUR dog and then not be as aggressive toward you because you are a dog PERSON. They really do KNOW!!!

You really don't need all those chemicals listed in the posts above to be clean. Throw a lot of that away and just use plain old Ivory soap (unscented). As I said, try just Johnson's Baby shampoo fewer times a week and then re-evaluate. You may be surprised.

Of course, I am NOT recommending that you eliminate tooth paste but Baking soda and salt was used for many years before manufacturers added mint flavoring to it and sold it to everyone.

A lot of "marketing and packaging" is involved here and it is BIG BUSINESS in this nation (and much of the world.).

Read the labels of everything you use and then consider whether or not you want to let your skin absorb all those chemicals. Of course, many of the chemicals named are naturally occurring substances that are listed as chemicals so you won't know what they really are...and will continue to buy them at outrageous prices. Again, more marketing.

Try what I've said for about two weeks. Then, one night just before a "really good time" ask your "partner" what they think? If they are not noticing anything offensive (to their interpretation of what is considered offensive) then you will have found that you have "hit the mark" and really don't need 99% of the stuff they have conditioned you to buy. The substances your body makes which are designed to "attract your "partner"" are called pheromones and they actually DO work. However, if you destroy them with all those chemicals, no one will ever know that they were there in the first place. Frankly, they are there to help you "attract a mate." Don't destroy them with all those chemicals.

Now, I am NOT suggesting that you fail to wash in a few "critical areas". One of the women I know explained what her MOTHER taught her called a PTA wash. (If you know what three items are included in PTA, I would add a second P (pits). I'm certain you can figure it out from there. For the guys, A little Ivory soap will keep that "jock itch" at bay and make sure there are no "dingleberries" left hanging around either.

Hope you find this helpful and useful.

cheers to all,
Trim sends

 

[milkmansdaughter]

I've been reading along on this thread since the beginning with much interest.
@baymule I also love your hair! And I really really like that it's long. I don't know why there's such an unspoken rule that white hair should be short. I think it's much prettier long. And I agree that it looked fabulous with a tan (and a great smile to boot!)
@tortoise thanks for the list of ingredients causing frizz. And for the whole thread. I was just about to reactivate it when the discussion restarted. The anti-frizz list is really helpful. I've tried different natural things. With varying degrees of success.
I tried coconut oil in my hair once as a conditioner, and figured it'd dry on a 2hr trip to my son's doctor. Nope! It looked like a 50's greased do! Ugh! Lol. In fact it "dried" with the hardened film of coconut oil so white cakey stuff in my hair. Horrible! Lol. Maybe that's why some people keep their hair covered! of course THAT was the day we ran into one of my son's doctors that treated him as a baby. He had a hard time not focusing on my hair. It was super embarrassing. So I just held my head up and ignored it, but it's quite humiliating actually to know it always looks bad.
I tried some of the Maui stuff, but it had bamboo rather than the stuff @Beekissed suggested. But I found that something in it left my hair a little too dry before the next washing. I just figured it was the bamboo, but maybe I'll have go back and look at ingredients again. Over time, I've tried vinegar, mayonnaise, coconut oil, baking soda, stuff with mint, rosemary, aloe, tea tree oil, CO.... My hair is past my shoulders but not straight at all. It's very BIG and wavy. When it's shirt, it's even bigger. I remember I spent a lot of money once for a family wedding. The lady was really excited and said she knew just what to do. She put giant curls in it. I almost cried when I saw it, knowing that once again, I'd look silly in the family puctures. Oh, and the look my dad had on his face! Kind of shocked! Lol! It was really really bad. Another time I spent almost $100 (a long time ago!) for another family wedding determined THIS time to look decent. I got a long spiral perm. And the only comment on my hair was "Oh, I thought you must have braided it last night!" I determined never to spend that kind of money again on my hair.
I've always had horrible experiences with haircuts, and never know how to ask them to style it. Over the years, I've only met two that cut my hair in a way that really worked with my hair. (well, three, but one cost an absolute fortune, and I'm just not willing to spend that kind of money on hair. I only went that time because my sister pulled me in.) Both of them are 1000 miles away. All my pictures growing up look terrible. it's quite embarrassing actually. My high school graduation picture? One side curled in toward my face, and the other side curled out. I just figured somehow, my hair was just meant to keep me humble...

I'm always pulling it away from my face, and it gets really hot and heavy. Soooo, I put it in a French braid or a pony tail just to keep it out of my way. I've had bangs most of my life, but I've grown those out. My hair is all different lengths because of the many attempts to "thin" it or layer it to keep it lighter. I'm refusing to touch it with a scissors right now hoping that just the weight will straighten and tame it a little. I've had some gray hair ever since hig h school. Cutting it short only makes it wilder. But keeping it long gets really hot, especially now that I'm back in Alabama.
My friend in WI is a hairdresser loves to play with my hair, but she likes to color it. And I'm not a fan because when you start that, you have to keep going back. I refuse to keep dumping more money down the tube.
Soooo, yeah...

 

[tortoise]

Sugar scrubs are more effective than salt scrubs because the sugar has glycolic acid in it. Sugar and sour cream mixed 1:1 is y favorite sugar DIY seems to work best. I leave it on as a Mask and wash off when dry.

I have keratosis pilaris a.k.a. Chicken skin, my skin douesn't slough as freely as normal and gets buildup of keratin. So I'm always looking at exfoliants!

One of my favorites homemade facials, which is definitely not for sensitive skin, is cream of tartar (tartaric acid) with enough lemon juice to make a paste. Leave it on for only a minute or until it starts to feel tingly. Rinse with baking soda in water to neutralize. Then rub on jojoba oil. I look so young and fresh wen I do this!

 

[tortoise]

Update for the curious:

We're hitting high 80 degrees to low 90 degree temperatures. I'm still not wearing deoderant (and the important part is not using soap or body wash that kill the odor eating bacteria). I have noticed that when I wear clothes that are not tightly-fitting in the armpit, I don't end up with damp clothes. Wet spots on clothing would be a deal breaker for me. So I've picked up some bat wing style tops and have been dry, comfortable, and nobody knows. Nice! The longer I stay on my plan of no body soap and no deoderant, the less and less odor of any kind I notice. Not just no offensive odor, but none.

Next experiment is if shaving makes a difference. When using soap and deoderant, shaving was a necessity. And I'd rather not bother if I don't need to. DH will be disappointed, but I will reply "hair grows places" which is what he said to me when I pointed out he really should trim his nose hair.

 

[baymule]

Oh....I get it now.....but cowashing? Stupid sounding term for what it is supposed to describe.