Since we apply body wash (I like liquid, rather than bars) to our largest organ, our skin, daily, I wondered whether the chemicals in body washes are a concern.
What chemicals are safe, if any, and which should we be on the lookout for?
What do you use and why?
My wife makes tallow soap which I use. Most of the time I donāt use anything but hot water though.
The Romans used to scrape dirt and oil off their skin, bathe in hot water, and apply olive oil afterward. Soap wasnāt actually invented till after the collapse of the Empire, if I have that right.
I learned to my surprise that it is animal fat that tends to give soap its harshness. The first soap made with plant fat was Castile soap, made with olive oil, and it was prized for bathing, because of its gentleness on the skin.
In The Dirt on Clean, by Katherine Ashenburg (which is a fun read, by the way), it appears that various bathing habits are possible without ill effects, all the way from not bathing at all to the American habit of a thorough daily shower with lots of chemicals.
During the plague years, French doctors became convinced that bathing was actually harmful, and they recommended wearing linen clothing as a substitute. Louis XIV was considered exceptionally clean, because he changed his linen shirt three times a day. But as Ashenburg remarks, āat no point in history does it appear that the human race ever became too smelly to reproduce.ā A lot of our ideas on the subject of cleanliness apparently boil down to habit and custom.
I buy the 4 pack of Softsoap Bodywash from Costco, and it lasts us a few weeks. My hubby prefers bar soap and I buy him Ivory, my 18 year old has extremely sensitive skin and I buy her Dove Unscented Bars (because her Dermatologist told us to buy those).
I was advised to use Dove by my novice master at the monastery, because we were in a high-mineral area (not too far from Rosendale, New York, where the cement mines are, so the soil, and hence the well water, is very high in calcium and several other minerals). I found I had to buy unscented, because the regular Dove makes me choke. Iāve used Dove unscented ever since.
Wonderful in your 20ās and maybe 30ās. Too harsh after that. Trust me, I decided to take a walk down memory lane. Ouch!!!
So, what a coincidence. Korean neighbor, 74 years old, with the best skin I have ever seen, brought me a gift. Plus 12 masks. Looks pretty natural to me. Korea has an entire line of cosmetics, she brought me some last month. This soap looks really soothing.
That looks awesome, that should be so nice to bathe with =). That was very sweet of her.
I use olive oil soaps, most recently Iāve been buying the Kiss My Face brand. I have super sensitive skin and I havenāt had any issues with the different scents Iāve tried so far.
Used the soap, and then the mask. ROC, move over. I have used Retin-A for years, then ten years off, then ROC - I have to research these new products. My skin is beaming!
I will, some seem to be on the Korean website, others on Etsy. I am sending my neighbor a HUGE thank you card and will find out exactly what I need to use and where I can find it.
Iām lucky, still able to use the Peppermint on my body, not on my face though, I use a generic sensitive skin cleanser there. I also use the Tea Tree Oil to clean in the bathrooms
I have been using Vanicream cleansing bar (bar soap) for the last several years. Vanicream also makes a lotion for dry skin. According to a dermatologist is saw, itās the best because it contains no harsh chemicals and is easy on the skin.
Nice soap, but hasnāt made me any more handsome or sexy. I suppose I smell better.
I only use (mild, unscented) soap on my few āfurry bitsā and infrequently. Our society has a marketing-driven obsession with so-called skin care products.
