We've come a long way from the lye and tallow concoctions of our fore mothers. Think about that next time you reach for your two in one nurturing nutrients skin healing body cleanser.

Soap Is...
Ever blow bubbles in a glass of milk? How about take a whisk to a bowl of cream? Proteins, plus air, makes soap bubbles. Soap cleans by bonding chemically with some of your dirt and making things so slippery some of the other dirt slides off.

Soap, What Soap?
Folks used to bathe less, much less, so it made sense that their soaps were powerful. Early Colonists thought too much water on the body was a bad thing, which it may have been when you lived in a drafty house and wore homespun wool. For much of the 20th century the same soap was used for washing you, your hair, AND the floors.

Americas Puritanical Obsession with Suds
Contemporary Americans are hygiene freaks, due in part to the savvy ad campaigns of soap companies and the abundance of cheap water delivered to our door. The majority of Americans bathe and wash their hair once a day. It's not hygiene driving our soap use its vanity, because as a nation we don't wash our hands NEAR enough, and when we do, it's often with antibacterial soaps that many folks wrongly assume offer hours of protection from germs.

Humans didn't evolve wearing a shower cap. There are links between eczema and other dermatologic ugliness and using soap products. Is it an urban legend that Mr. Bubble and super soapy bathes can lead to yeast infections in ladies? Sometimes when applying antiperspirant I wonder if the aluminum in it will give me Alzheimer's?

Squeaky Clean? Need Lotion
Soap removes dirt and oil (sebum is the proper name for human oil). Our skin needs some of that sebum and hence MANY soaps now are marketed with "lotion" or skin softening ingredients. This soap delivered lotion is separate from the body lotion we apply to our showered and squeaky clean bods because if we didn't we'd itch like crazy or crack at the elbows.

Think of the millions of people trapped in the I MUST BATHE VERY DAY WITH SOAP THEN APPLY MOISTURIZING LOTION AFTERWARDS. Think of the millions of dollars made by nice people whose job it is to make you aware of just how dirty you are.

Dermatologists & Hairdressers United Against Soap?
Dermatologists LOVE Cetaphil brand skin cleanser. My Doc loads me down with samples of it and urges me to use it. It's the same texture as an egg white but could never make a meringue. It's the #1 Dermatologist recommended soap and it's not soapy at all. That's a very interesting thing to consider.

My hairdresser COMPLIMENTS me and tells me I am SMART because in the winter I may go 3-4 days between washing and blow drying my wickedly thick and chemically treated hair. He said "too many people wash every day and it just strips their hair".(Insert visual of him shaking his well coifed head here) Not only is he one talented dude he taught for years at a well regarded beauty academy.

Oh That Smell Was YOU?
I am not anti soap, I am pro "think about what you're doing." Wash when you're dirty, try to use less products overall, it's better for you, the environment and your pocket. Am I am hypocrite? Maybe. I do bathe, sometimes every day, sometimes every other or every third day. I apply lotion after I shower, especially to my defoliated gams. In the summer I may wash my hair every day, but I wash it as needed, not out of habit. I wash my hands often, but probably not enough

As you can clearly see from the product reviews I use soap and other skin products. I don't habitually bathe upon awakening each day, though I know many nice folks who do.

Why Pick On Soap
My encounters with marketing types makes me look closely at ALL media messages. I'm a reader and enjoy social history and I am interested in hygiene through the ages. Amazing the things people got accomplished when they didn't spend an hour in the bathroom removing natural sebum and BO, and germs and crud.

IMAGINE Joan of Arc's body odor. Her success as a French peasant warrior may have had something to do with folks swooning from the smell when she raised her sword. Perfume wasn't unknown to the ancients. People like to look good, smell good, and taste nice things.

In Conclusion
The current culture of soap and cleanliness is a relatively new phenomenon, about as old and pervasive smog. Think about it next time you see an ad urging you to get zestfully clean or apply vitamins to your freshly scrubbed skin

 

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