Here's Why Showering Every Day Is Worse Than Not Bathing At All
It's a debate as old as time: Should we or should we not shower every day?
Well, dirtbags, rejoice!
Scientists have confirmed that showering every day can seriously screw with your skin and overall health.
(Not to mention, it's really weird to clean yourself constantly. It's just, like, are you sorry for something? What are you trying to wash off?)
So, here are all the different ways showering every day can ruin your health:
1. You can give yourself acne.
Human beings have something called a microbiome, which is a collection of bacteria and other microbes that live in and on the human body.
This microbiome is basically like your skin's ecosystem, and disruptions to it (like showering every day) can be damaging to your skin and even cause breakouts.
While there's not a lot of research regarding the ideal number of showers you should take a week, one thing does seem clear: There's plenty of evidence that proves you don't need one every day.
2. You won't smell as bad as you think.
Just like people, there's good bacteria and bad bacteria, and getting rid of ALL the bacteria by constantly showering really screws with your body's balance.
Most women know the pain of taking antibiotics and then getting a yeast infection.
Antibiotics get rid of all the bacteria in your body, and by doing so, it disrupts the balance of good bacteria needed for a healthy vageen.
So, don't confuse the idea of being clean with being sterile.
One reporter for The Atlantic quit showering, and though at first his body smelled like a barnyard sex party, after a while, he just started smelling, well, neutral.
I mean, I'm not suggesting we all quit showering because that is repulsive. But, I am saying we can take it down a notch.
3. It dries out your skin.
If you shower every day, you're using soaps and exfoliants that can leave your skin feeling and looking dry.
That's because when the water evaporates from your body, it strips away a lot of the moisture.
Dermatologists say the more you wash, especially under hot water, the more dry your skin can become, as you are literally ridding your skin of the natural oils it needs to stay moisturized.
Dry skin can become cracked, leaving you not only looking haggard AF but also LITERALLY wide open for germs and diseases to get in there.
Gross.
4. You're ruining your hair.
If you're ruining your skin, you're ruining your hair and (surprise, surprise) your nails.
Once again, when you shower every single day, you are ridding your skin of the natural oils it needs to stay moisturized.
It might seem like you need to do it, especially if you have oily hair. But as it turns out, your hair might be oily BECAUSE you shower every day.
When you wash your hair too much, your scalp goes into oil production overload, producing more to make up for the amount you are washing away with every shower.
You can actually train your hair to be less oily, but it's going to take some patience and persistence.
Listen to your body. It actually knows best.
If you can manage going a few weeks with extra oily hair, your body will equalize, and pretty soon, your hair will thank you for your sacrifice.
5. It can ruin your manicure.
When you shower in hot water, your nails expand, causing your freshly polished nails (which have dried to the natural curve of your regular nails) to crack.
Since hot water is the worst enemy of nail polish, obviously you need to be using a base coat. But even so, the water will get underneath the nail and cause the paint to lift and crack.
If you want to preserve that pretty pink manicure, consider cutting down on your shower time.
In fact, given all the reasons listed above, maybe you should cut back to three showers a week max.
Honestly, if not for you, do it for the rest of the world. Saving water is good for the earth, too.
