12/31/09: Welcome boingboing readers and a hearty thanks to Mark Frauenfelder for the feature. For those interested in the dietary and fitness aspects, check out the Overview, and also see results from some of the readers.
01/04/11: Welcome again boingboing fans, a bit more than a year later. Thanks to Sean Bonner for the link and congrats on his success. I still have no idea why it works so marvelously for some, marginally or not at all for others (though I think they are decidedly minority given the many comments and emails). At any rate, I had tweeted Mark Frauenfelder and emailed him about an update post I did just a few days ago, so this is opportune and coincidental. Here it is: A Most Successful Self-Experiement: Over 18 Months Soap and Shampoo Free. For those who might be interested in the other aspects of my "Free the Animal" life way…such as fat loss, strength gain, awesome sleep, getting off meds & more, stay tuned for a beginners primer at the top of the blog by Friday, 1/7.
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Well it’s over six months, now, and I really don’t want to do this post.
Why? Cause it’s too weird, I fear. We don’t live in caves without modern convenience, I’d not want to, and I loath the possibility of paleo becoming a Luddite-esque religion. I blogged about that (The Paleo Principle is Neither Authoritative nor Dogmatic), and it got picked up by Sisson in a Weekend Link Love issue.
So, I guess, take this with a grain of salt. I’m merely reporting on my own experience.
I haven’t used soap or shampoo anyplace on my body for six months, save hand washing in advance of food prep. That’s it. let me just report my observations and leave you to judge.
- Took about two weeks to normalize. That is, I felt my hair was greasy and skin oily up to then.
- Now it’s intermittent. It’s perhaps a function of water hardness, but sometimes skin and hair feel squeaky clean, and other times indeterminate.
- Even when I feel greasy/oily in the shower with just water, once everything dies out, it’s always all the same — fine; soft & dry.
- My skin & hair have never been softer. Never.
- If anything, my hair is less "greasy" than ever, yet shampoo hasn’t touched it in over six months.
- Private parts. Have to address this, of course. This is the biggest benefit of all. Surprised? You’ll just have to try it, because I’m not going to elaborate. That’s why they call them "private parts." OK, a clue: maybe it’s the constant cleansing that’s the cause of the sweaty-stinky problem in the first place? If for nothing else, I’m soap free for life on this point alone. I feel as though I’ve been scammed — and liberated. I can’t explain further. You’ll just have to try.
- You’ll save a lot of money, especially you chicks. Grils: you can Google about no shampoo. Lotsa links.
I could go on, but ultimately you’re gonna self-experiment or not. But if you do, give it at least a month. Weirdness cleared up for me in two weeks or less, but we’re not all the same. I suspect that women who wash furiously and slather all manner of lotions might take a year or two to normalize.
Alright, I know this is out there and it has NOTHING to do with anyone’s success in a paleo plan and should not be taken as even necessarily desirable. I will surely not expect anyone to try it. And you can have at me if you want. I’m just saying that I’ve tried it, I waited a long time to mention it, and in the end, I’ll never use soap or shampoo on anything but my hands for the rest of my life.
Later, and maybe TMI: My wife now mentions more than ever before that "you smell good." OK, I had to post that only because some might worry on that score….
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anon 
Alcinda Moore 
Darcy Fitzpatrick 
watou 
Brian 
Jedidja 
Dana 
Michael 
NikFromNYC 
Chris 
William S Dean 
Deanna
Couldn’t agree with you more! I’ve been experimenting with this for a couple of months and have to say that my old dry cracked skin has cleared up nicely. Only time my skin dries up now is when I do use soap. Haven’t let on my secret to my wife yet, but she has not said a word (and believe me, she would if I stunk).
A fellow money saver with better skin because of it.
I haven’t used soap on my face in years. My aunt had wonderful skin at age 90 and said she never used soap, just plain water. I rarely use make-up, so that’s one problem I don’t have to worry about….but even when I do, warm water takes care of it nicely.
I thought about doing the no shampoo deal, but I color my hair, so I have no choice but to shampoo….at least every few weeks when I recolor. I only shampoo about once a week, so it’s a start.
Truthfully, I never thought about not using soap on my body, but I haven’t used deodorant in a long time…..I find I really don’t need it! Big difference from my younger days when I’d use Mitchum!! But then again, back then I was always sticking my armpits in someone’s face (I’m a nurse), so was more aware of it.
Yay!! I’ve been “poo”-free for 11 days now. I’ve used baking soda/water to wash and apple cider vinegar/water to rinse twice so far. My hair (past my shoulders) has responded extremely well. My husband is also in it with me. Funny, though, I never thought to stop using soap on my body. Hmmm, maybe will need to try that as well. Glad to hear it’s working so well for you!!
Cheers!
what about people that use hair product such as gel though? without shampoo that will sit in your hair
Can’t tell you Jason. Nothing I’ve ever loather more than hair products. All I’d say if you want to try this is to make sure they are water soluble. If that’s the case, no prob — except how that might affect the oil level from the fact of the substance. Otherwise, water will wash it al out.
Jason,
People who want a “natural” hair gel, I suggest pure aloe vera gel. No junk and moistens the hair.
Jason,
I went shampoo-free for close to a year many moons ago (scalp problems forced me back into it) and found that once my hair got over the two-week initial oily phase, it was both soft AND pliable. Where my hair is so fine, I find after I shampoo I absolutley must use product or I wind up with flat, wispy hair that falls straight with no shape or style. Without shampoo, I could make my hair do whatever I wanted, and it was still soft and healthy to the touch.
If they don’t wanna use soap or shampoo, do you really think that hair gel use is an issue????
Try using 100% pure aloe gel (clear – not the green stuff) as gel. Works great and you can find it in large bottles at Wal-Mart, etc.
It is a weird one.
I have not been using conventional bar soaps, shampoos, or deodorant for about 5-6 months (vary rarely when not at home).
I’ve been using saponified oils for washing both my body and hair. I only wash my hair about once a week (maybe every two weeks), and generally only wash my privates and armpits. Everything seems better to me.
I partake in many dirty/greasy activities, so it would be pretty hard to ditch soap completely. Cool that you have 🙂 Skin is the largest organ of the human body. Slathering it up with a bunch of chemicals can not be a good idea.
I hate to break it to you, but ‘saponified oils’ is another word for – Soap.
‘Saponification’ is the process by which fatty acids are converted to soap.
Look it up.
Yes, but “saponified oils” may be soap, but what we now call soap is usually not soap at all, but instead made from petroleum products. Here is a very entertaining video explaining the difference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6E19OUBNhM
Haha, awesome reply. Knowledge is power!
What a coincidence! I’ve been wondering about this for a couple months now – if the same ideas about paleo that work for the diet would also work for bathing.
Richard, can you provide a few more details:
1. How often do you bathe with hot water, and for how long each session?
2. Do you use any sort of wash towel or scrubber to exfoliate, or anything else in the shower besides hot water?
3. Are you using deodorant at all? If so, how often?
4. If no to 3, do your armpits reek like those one stereotypically associates with not bathing. For example, I got stuck in a dorm room with an Indian who smelled unbelievably bad and stunk the room permanently. He claimed to bathe regularly and use deodorant, but then I don’t understand what caused the horrible, nauseating, repugnant odor. Your thoughts on this?
Brian:
How often is once per day — twice usually when I have a workout at the gym — unless a morning workout when that’s may shower for the day. Length just depends.Sometimes I like barely warm and other times hot. But usually not for more than a few minutes. That’s another thing. Showers are just relax time. No real work, anymore.
No exfoliation at all, except fingernails. I find that in the winter when I begin to wear long pants I get some ingrown hairs on the thighs. I scrape ’em away with fingernails. If they bleed, they bleed.
I do use an Old Spice stick deodorant. Never, ever an anti-persperant in my life.
4. Too much curry?
On that last point, when I was a navy officer doing lots of work with Koreans in the S China Seas, we used to note that when they came aboard there was a distinct smell. We always attributed it to the Kim-chi they ate, spiced with lots of garlic. Probably what you eat has some bearing on how you smell.
When I eat anything from the Allium family (onions, garlic etc), my armpits reek, even after I’ve washed them. On karaoke nights, I have to avoid eating anything Allium-based earlier in the day.
Yes. and it ties into #4 question above. There are definitely foods that will make a lot of people have some kind of body odor.
When Europeans first started visiting Japan, the Japanese complained that they smelled like animal fat. Everybody smells.
throughout college and sometimes in high school I just did not bathe regularly. Every other day was the most often, and that was in summer. I worked out, hard. I rarely wore deodorant. I did use scented oil when I shaved my face and kept my body hair trim – and I smelled good. Weird, I know, but my female friends and girlfriends and, yes, some gay friends were totally in love with my smell.
I think it’s because of the exercise and young-man-pheromones. The healthier you are the better you smell. And yeah, everyone stinks from their food – eat lots of veggies and pineappley fruits and you’re going to smell less. Eat too much meat and you’ll be pungent.
Yep, curry in particular, kills your armpits.
Coming in late on this, but–
A few years ago I was reading an article about a city in the U.S. (don’t remember which) where there were both a large African immigrant and a large African-American population. The article talked about how they interacted with one another and about some of the feelings the AA folks had about the immigrants–you know, the whole “you are from my ancestral land, how do I relate to this” kind of thing.
One of the bits they mentioned was that to the immigrants, the AAs smelled very different. They weren’t sure what to make of that. I believe it was attributed to the differences in eating habits.
Just another data point. And yeah, I believe what you eat makes a difference in how you smell. Just cutting sugar out of your diet can change your smell. I’ve heard all kinds of stories, for instance, about people who went no-sugar and suddenly mosquitoes stopped bothering them.
Yes, Koreans consume a lot of garlic and I have heard this.
On the flip side, many Asians will tell you that they think caucasians smell of cheese 😀
So diet really does play a big part I think.
IF YOU SHAVE YOUR ARM PITS YOU WILL NEVER NEED TO PUT ANYTHING ON THEM, I HAVE NOT USED DEODERANT/ANTI- PRESPERENT IN 2 YEARS. MY WIFE THINGS IT IS GREAT , THERE IS NOTHING LESS SEXY THEN A BIG STINKY ARMPIT
Hmmm….well then you know what that implies about private parts…..:-)
The awnser to that is also yes :-0
I made a huge breakthrough with deodorant use. Cologne companies almost all make a deodorant version of their fragrances, usually a gel stick, but they charge $14-$17 each (!). I found that using their spray cologne as deodorant works wonders. I wonder how much it has to do with the lack of additives versus merely how much more concentrated it is. It’s amazing how at a stage in an active day at which I just know I’d not be able to stand being around myself, I still smell like flowers.
NikFromNYC – the alcohol in the cologne kills the bacteria that make you “stink” – if you rub hand sanitizer on your pits – the same thing will happen.
Lemon juice will do the same thing. Cut a slice and squeeze the juice out.
Nick, I wouldn’t do that, Cologne’s are full of toxic chemicals that enter the body through the skin. Many of the chemicals are not even listed on the packaging. For a natural deodorant go to the Akoma website their is a recipe on making pure and natural deodorant using no chemicals whatsoever only natural organic ingredients.
Your roommate may have eaten too much garlic. If you eat a lot it will start coming out of your pores and one person can stink up a very large room. It has a horrible chemical smell, not like B.O.
#4—I would be willing to bet the smell was from his clothes. If it reeked even when he wasn’t there, he wasn’t doing laundry very often.
Later, and maybe TMI: My wife now mentions more than ever before that “you smell good.” OK, I had to post that only because some might worry on that score….
LOL! As I was reading the above was the first thing that came to mind. I was all ready to comment until I saw your addendum. 🙂
I have read this off and on over the years from various authors but never tried it. I do however make my own shampoos with coconut soap and herbs and the difference has been amazing. I also notice a difference when I use the shampoo for soap on other body parts.
I will have to take it to the next level and go without soap at all (except for hair – my homemade shampoo helped stop the thinning and my hair filled back in).
I don’t think your post is weird at all. One of the old time herbal axioms (yes I am deeply into the use of herbs for serious disease) is that if you can’t eat or drink it, don’t put it on your skin, since your body is quite capable of absorbing things through your skin.
Now, see, that’s weird to me. 🙂 I’ve never understood the pineapple and coconut oil treatments. In general, I’ve always loathed any substance on my skin apart from soap in washing. I’ve almost never even used any hand lotion.
I’ve always laughed at my wife and other women who take a shower and then inundate their skin with perfumed substances.
They call it “cream.” Why would one want cream on their skin? 🙂
LOL! 🙂 I use saponified coconut, not coconut oil for soap. However I do like using coconut oil for my skin after a shower. Just another avenue for saturated fats. 🙂 But my diet makes for very soft skin.
My wife now mentions… “You Smell Good”
Watch out with that.
From personal experience I’ve found that, if your significant other loathes your smell, then paleo will greatly amplify the problem!
Similar topic: how much of attraction is smell/pheremonal?
I recall old articles about divorce prediction: if one or both people in a relationship didn’t like their loved one’s natural smell, then chances of divorce were quite high. Paleo might greatly alleviate this problem, since if we never disguised or removed our natural odor, then couples with incompatible smells would never hook up in the first place.
Relatedly, ladies, if you are on the Pill then watch out because apparently, it affects how you perceive the smell of the man in your life.
http://www.livescience.com/culture/080812-contraceptive-smell.html
Best route, if you must be on the thing, is don’t go on it til you are settled down with a guy. Obviously this wouldn’t apply to women using it for therapeutic purposes but if you’ve been paleo long enough, the chances for that are probably diminished.
“I will have to take it to the next level and go without soap at all (except for hair – my homemade shampoo helped stop the thinning and my hair filled back in).”
Michael, can you tell me more about your homemade shampoo that stopped your hair from thinning?
“Skin is the largest organ of the human body. Slathering it up with a bunch of chemicals can not be a good idea.”
I agree. I’ve been thinking lately about this. A lot of the moisturizers that women use (including me) have an omega 6 oil base,like soy oil. I don’t think this can be good and I think it probably may contribute to health problems. Lately I’ve been doing some thinking about making my own coconut, olive, and palm oil based moisturizers. (I already do that for soaps.) However, the only area where I haven’t “converted” is in my facial moisturizer and makeups… that one may be tough. I just really like commercial products. However, I do think that it is worth thinking about.
I have no idea how long it would take for a woman who has been slathering for decades. I’ve never put anything on my skin after the shower since Clearasil as a teenager with zits (wonder why…).
My skin has always been pretty soft and then hella soft once I began taking K2, like overnight and sometimes ridiculously soft. Bea now tells me that I have perfect skin. Perfect, and I think she’s right.
Just like the inside of your body likes saturated fats, the outside likes it, too. Cacao butter (which you can eat) is a high saturated fat that the skin just loves…at least my skin does.
A good oil for to put on one’s face is rosehip seed oil. There are claims, if you use it consistently for a few weeks that it is rejuvenating, wrinkle-reducing. I find that it does wondesr for my skin–although, wrinkles have never been (probably won’t be, if the women and men in my family are any indication) a problem for me.
Years and years and years ago I stopped using commercial/manufactured skin- and hair-care products. Really, a lot of that stuff is not about “care”; even the natural or organic products are harmful–many of them still contain parabens.
So many cultures have made good use of food for their skin and hair.
I forget which people it is that did this: Slather olive oil over their skin, then with an edge (like a dull knife or a flat implement made of bone or shell) scrape the oil, from bottom to top, to clean the “dirt” off. (In the novel, “Wicked”, because she could not have water touch her body, the author described a similar method that the Wicked Witch of the West used to clean her skin.) Sometimes, after I’ve bathed in a tub of water with sea salt and a few drops of an essential oil added, while my skin is still damp, I’ll pour some olive oil on to a damp washcloth (for exfoliation) and run that all over my body–you wouldn’t believe the dead skin cells that come off during one of those sessions.
the greeks did this olive oil treatment, I would guess many Mediterranean cultures also did this. I also remember hearing about some HGs in Africa that would make a special “spa trip” to certain plants for exfoliation and moisturizing. The women would go in groups and treat themselves and each other. I think it was some kind of reed thing for the exfoliation and some melon or nut thing for the moisturizer.
The “nut thing for the moisturizer” is [probably] shea nut butter (the French call it karite, I think). It is a great moisturizer–it keeps me from getting the “winter itchies” — which is ironic, given that shea butter is an near-equatorial African product. I have been through a few brands; the best that I have found is one made by a company called Ah Shayh.
Yes, the Romans did it too.
Roman bathing was actually rather ingenious: first, the pores were opened in the sauna, then the Roman’s slave would slather them in olive oil and scrape it off with a strigil. Then a massage (sweet!) and a dip into a mildly cold pool for a rinse. Sometimes, a dip in a frosty pool after than to seal the pores.
Olive oil is great on your skin, the Roman bathing system still works well…
Monica, I used to use a chemical free line of skin care products, but hated the expense and wanted something even more natural. As an esthetician, I understand cosmetic chemistry, and knew that natural oils are best for the skin, and that most commercial products don’t contain them, or not in high enough levels to do any good. So I made my own moisturizer from organic extra-virgin olive oil, aloe vera gel, and a little tea-tree oil, and it’s been amazing. My skin is better than it’s ever been – so soft and clear. I have combination oily skin that is prone to occasional hormonal breakouts, but since using EVOO my skin hasn’t been oily at all.
People with oily skin have it because their skin is actually dry – the lack of moisture causes the skin to produce excess sebum to make up for it, which causes the person to strip the oil off their skin, and the skin reacts by producing even more oil, and so on. Using oil to moisturize feeds the skin and it stops producing so much oil. Coconut oil is a good moisturizer too, but I found that it wasn’t quite rich enough to keep my skin moisturized all day.
There is a short transition period when you stop using the commercial stuff, but your skin quickly normalizes and you wonder how you ever did it any other way. As for makeup, switching to mineral makeup has made all the difference in the world. It has natural SPF protection, is water soluble, and actually helps feed your skin, besides looking completely natural and not at all like “makeup”.
RD
What’s the ratio you use for your olive oil, aloe vera gel, tea-tree oil moisturizer? Inquiring minds, you know.
William
I didn’t measure when I made it – I mixed it intuitively, which is also how I cook. But I’d say 1/2 cup EVOO with 2-3 Tbls. of aloe, and 5-6 drops of Tea Tree should do it. You really can’t mess it up – if you find that it’s not as moisturizing as you’d like, cut the aloe a bit. Rose oil also makes a great additive, for very dry or sensitive skin.
Hope that helps
Monica,
I’ve always suffered from dry, sensetive skin and went through oodles of facial cleansers and lotions.
You say you use oils on your body already, use them on your face too!
I found some recipes by Googling “Oil Cleansing Method”. I use a mixture of 10% Castor Oil and 90% Almond Oil. (The castor is a must because it’s a cleanser). I smear it on my face and then put a warm/hot wash cloth on my face and wipe it off. If my face feels like tight I use a little Almond Oil as lotion.
My skin has never looked more supple and healthy. No more dry skin, even in a Midwest winter!
Give it a try 🙂
I have acne and I do this and I love it. I use half castor and half coconut oil and coconut oil as a moisturizer. My skin looks much better. If I use anything with glycerine or “acne treating” whatevers I start to break out way more.
Coconut oil also makes a nice hair treatment.
Wow, this is simultaneously earth-shattering and yet completely logical. I seriously color my hair and can’t stand the nasty, straw-like feeling I get when I wash my hair every day. Right now I’m on my third day without washing, which is usually pretty good for me, but after this post, I’ll see if I can extend it longer.
I find that my hair needs less product to style, but it doesn’t look dirty or nasty.
I also wear makeup regularly, and not always lightly, either, but I wonder if I could get away with washing gently in the evening and then just splashing water on my face in the morning. Especially in the winter weather, that might be something to try.
Of course, now what am I going to do with all that pretty-smelling stuff in my bathroom?
Yea, Deanna, don’t know what to tell ya. I didn’t even realize the HUGE complications for women until I posted this and then started getting a clue from the comments.
I suppose it’s an idictment on men. How sad that women feel the need to make themselves up every day. I suppose for many, they just like it — and a few transies too…:) and more power to ’em.
Wow, well I’m just going to stay light hearted about this can of worms and hope I don’t say anything too offensive to the grils.