Soap dodger: meet the doctor who says we have been showering wrong
Hand-washing aside, James Hamblin has not used soap for five years. He warns that our obsession with being clean is harming the microbiome that keeps us healthy
www.theguardian.com
Why he did it:
Hamblin's new regime got him thinking about modern notions of cleanliness, what is natural and how these two issues are, frankly, all over the shop. Stigmatism of body odour began as an advertising strategy that helped quadruple the sales of Lifebuoy soap in the 20s. A century later, we still live in fear of anyone detecting the slightest hint of BO on us. We are more perfumed, moisturised and exfoliated than ever.
...
He says the key to the success of his experiments, which saw him all but give up deodorant, was his "slow-fade" approach. "As I gradually used less and less, I started to need less and less," he writes. "My skin slowly became less oily, and I got fewer patches of eczema. I didn't smell like pine trees or lavender, but I also didn't smell like the oniony body odour that I used to get when my armpits, used to being plastered with deodorant, suddenly went a day without it." As his girlfriend put it, he smelled "like a person".
And an interview:
What does Era think, are we all just sheep for continued use of cleanliness products? Have we been duped by Big Soap all along? The weaning off period would be a challenge, but given that we're in the middle of a pandemic maybe that's your opportunity.