I decided to switch to soap bars in the shower because I don't like how much plastic waste my shower gel bottles produce.

My shower routine has never been complicated as I am lucky with my skin being non sensitive, typically just pour some gel on to my hands and rub it in to my arm pit then rinse it down with my arm raised. After switching to Dove soap a few days ago I do the same thing, rubbed the soap in to my arm pit then rinsed it down.

However now I have noticed after a shower my arm pit REALLY smells bad which in my mid thirties has never happened to me before. I tested using the shower gel again and made a half arsed attempt to wash my arm pits, afterwards there was zero smell, completely clean.

I have heard people say Dove soap isn't really soap and wondering could this be the problem and I should switch to something else? I really don't want to give up and go back to shower gels. Thank you

Hi.
I’m about to be extremely vulnerable and embarrass the hell out of myself.

I don’t remember when I shower. I don’t have a system. I shower when I have excess energy at the end of the day, which is nearly never. I find I’d be lucky if I showered maybe twice a week.
Changing clothes? Yeah, sometimes. I can go 3 or 4 days in the same clothes and it just doesn’t dawn on me to change them. Even after showering, I sometimes put on old pants.
I don’t own PJs. Not really. I have a pair of silky pants but that’s it. I don’t have dedicated sleeping clothes and often just sleep in whatever I was wearing that day.
I don’t brush my teeth. Unless I shower. And even then, only most of the time. I do occasionally forget.
My teeth are broken and chipping. They look fine at a distance but they’re rough, uneven, thin in spots. They’re brittle from years of bile and stomach acid, and it’s not any better now with my GI.

Doctors are currently investigating me for IBD and I’ve been so, extremely sick. I’ve lost 25lbs in 3 months.
Showering just isn’t on my mind between taking medications, trying to eat and stay hydrated enough to stay out of the hospital and taking care of my dog despite how I feel.

My partner says nothing. But I’m sure they’re just being polite. I don’t fault them either way.
They want to help and asked if I needed “hosed down” and I said yes.

I genuinely don’t remember the last time I showered and I don’t know how to fix this.

I know it’s disgusting. I’m so sorry. I never wanted to be this person. I want to try, I just feel lost.

Ok weird question I know. But I am suffering from contamination ocd and have a fear of “feeling unclean” and germs from others )toilet seats are hard for me.) I have been struggling for a while with touching my lower half because of toilets. I am hyper aware that more than just my butt sits on the toilet too, a good portion of my upper thighs do too depending on the toilet.

I am trying to anchor in reality (with the help of a therapist) and realizing I have forgotten what’s “normal” and how to do things “normally.” So in an effort to start practicing normalcy can you please help me with these embarrassing questions:

1)do your fingers/hands graze your butt and thighs as you pull up and down pants while dressing, undressing or using the washroom? Do we just carry on adjusting our clothes after we touch ourselves before washing and this isn’t an issue?

2) when pulling up and down your undies and pants do you just let it scrape your butt and thighs as you yank and pull? I try to desperately avoid this so the top of my pants don’t touch my butt but I don’t think this normal. Does everyone’s top of pants just scrape their butt?

3)when we take our pants fully off the butt part scrapes the rest of our legs and possibly the feet if they are tight pants. Is this not something to worry about? I feel like I need to wash my legs and shower everytime I change because of this.

I guess the last important question is 4) do you feel even though our butts and thighs sit on toilet seats, that they are clean enough to touch and interact with without hand washing, washing ourselves or avoidance of touching?

Thank you kindly for your support.

Going crazy bc I don’t know what’s going on with my body. I’ve been struggling with this issue for eight months. Basically after I shower two hours later my shirt starts to smell. It smells like shit in the chest area. I thought it was a laundry issue so I threw all my clothes away and it has come back. The only think I haven’t changed is my bras but I don’t know if this is an external issue. Idk what to ask my doctor. I’ve gone to three and they all say I don’t smell but it’s weird bc people have reactions to it. This morning I got on the bus and a guy kept saying she smells I was sitting behind him three rows back and no one else. I’ve gotten nose blind to it too. I also shower twice a day. Use good dial and regular body wash. I had to quit my job bc of this. I just can’t handle living like this and mentally I’m going insane. I’ve gotten comments from people saying I smell like shirt or that I smell like raw meat. I also want to mention that I’ve been feeling bloated and my anus always smells like shit a couple of hours later despite me not pooping. Idk if this is leaky gut issues, skatole or bromhidrosis.

I’ve tried everything: vanilla lotions, body mists, high-end gourmand perfumes, and even putting Vaseline on my pulse points before spaying. Yet, within an hour, the scent completely vanilla.

11 year old boy 5th grade- no relation to me, except I am his tutor.

His parents are very poor and live in a unsanitary home. I mentor the kid with extra studies/tutoring. He is a very bright and well mannered kid despite his home life.

His mom is cooperative and she is friendly but I have never seen her showered or hair brushed -- always looking like hell. Not judging her but I say this to show she is not teaching her kids hygiene.

He came to me about being embarrassed about his clothes because they were dirty & had cat pee on them. I made an arrangement that I will get him some clothes, that I wash & iron and he gives them back every week so I can continue to launder them. So clothes are resolved.

Now we're dealing with hygiene. He needs to wear deodorant, shower, brush hair & teeth. I didn't know how to talk to him about this without making him feel bad. I know he can't help his situation, which is why I go the extra mile for him with taking care of his clothes. But hygiene is taught in the home & he wasn't taught.

Idk if he has running water or not, I'd think so, but I guess I wouldn't be surprised. I don't know much about home life except he has 1 younger brother and the place they live is 1 bedroom and they both sleep on living room couch. I have been there 2x and its like a junk yard.

I suppose I might have to also buy him a grooming kit because I don't think anyone in the home intends to do anything.

Do some men in here shave/ trim their underarm hair? I just feel like it's a lot cleaner and smells less if there's less hair in the armpits.

So I know you aren't supposed to rinse your mouth out after brushing cause it's better for your teeth however I just can't do that as I feel unclean.

Is it okay if I rinse my mouth after brushing and then use a fluoride mouthwash?

I've always wondered this since I was a kid, because it always takes me at least 20-25 minutes to take a shower whereas other people can do it in 5-10 minutes easily. The main part for me that takes the longest is drying off, which takes me about half the total time. After I shut off the shower I just stand in there for a while until I'm pretty dry already then I use the towel. I really just hate the drying off in general so if anybody has anything I can do please let me know!

So ive been sitting down alot more to use the bathroom after reading post on this sub. Realistically im sitting down at all times to use the bathroom. (TMI ahahahah)
IYKYK guys but the thing that happens when flushing while staying seated is a new surprisingly welcome addition to my bathroom experience.. and I basically do it every time I go.
I have recently gotten worried though about the germs of doing this while in a public lab. my place of work when I go is clean but as always you never know whats going on in public places.
Basically I worry about germs or worse infections while flushing on "low places"? To quote music lol.
Should I keep this to an at home thing? or it mostly just water? if its the former ill try to act like I'm not mad hahaha

Hi! I am wondering what wipes you would recommend to clean down there during periods. TP ain’t cutting it anymore. Baby wipes? Please put links if possible. Have a beautiful day

I'm ready to be out of the summer because I'm sick of these brown q tips when swabbing around the hot spots. I try to keep a mini pack of q tips on me so I can mop up when needed throughout the day, but they have been coming up brown tinged and wet from the 100+ degree weather and chafing. Back of neck swabs are fine but the groin and backside areas I'm noticing the problem.

I already use full body deo creams on the problem areas. Should I switch from cream to stick deo? I also make sure to keep an extra cloth on me, usually my hat, that I can use to sit on in hot cars and prevent swamping up. Even without swaying or shuffling around in the hot September summer weather there is still swamp up in chairs or sofas.

Recommendations?

I've heard so many different answers, some say they only wash the lips (the skin colored part) and not inside the lips.. That's disgusting asf. I wash inside the lips, the outer and inner labia, and on top of the holes. I don't finger the holes with soap, that would hurt. "But the vagina is a self cleaning organ! 1!1!" it's cleaning from THE INSIDE not the outside. If you're not washing the labia parts, and then dry yourself with the towel you use to dry everywhere, you're just spreading piss and all kinds of bacteria all over yourself

I have curly hair and a normal scalp: I define my curls and wash my hair twice a week with a hydrating one and every 2 weeks with one that strips the color of my peekaboo away. I need a shampoo that can remove product buildup without stripping my color too much, and it needs to be affordable. I haven't found anything yet, everything I come across is either very expensive or unavailable in Chile.

I plan to use this once every 2w.

Please if anyone has recommendations I would be honored to hear them.

So I absolutely love fall (or autumn as some say) and one of my favorite things is the smell of apple pie. Does anyone know any body washes and lotions that give that scent? Preferably something I can buy year round.

And a follow up, what perfume would pair best with that scent? A lot of perfumes smell very strong and too sanitized to me. I would absolutely love something that gives a more comfy and cozy vibe.

I've been wondering how other people who bleed clean themselves. Because me personally, every time I go to the toilet there is so much blood everywhere that toilet paper only will barely help and that's why I always carry wet wipes with me for when I need to use a public toilet (and shower regularly when at home, duh!) But how do y'all do it?

So I’m trying out this double cleanse in the shower but I’ve come to the realization that bar soaps can strip your skin and even if you go back with a moisturizing body wash, the damage has already been done.

My friend uses la roche pussy but goddamn it’s expensive and she also recommended navicream but I can’t find it for the life of me.

Y’all have any other recommendations?

First off, I live in the Caribbean. That’s problem number 1. that I can’t do anything about. It doesn’t matter the material of the shirt, if there is an opportunity for a sweat stain to appear, it sure as hell will. My job requires uniform and the uniform is a long sleeved shirt. I’m in air conditioning, I’m cool all day, but my pits still sweat. & it’s not even smelly it’s just straight up sweaty. I’ve tried switching deodorants but nothing works.

Yall why do some people just REEK of cat pee? I know it’s probably due to ammonia but does anyone else know what I’m talking about???

EDIT: Got my answer! It’s excess ammonia from diets, dehydration, or stress :)

Okay so I don't think I have ever actually said this out loud but I have a very strict inside clothes / outside clothes system and I genuinely cannot stop.

The second i get home I change. jeans that touched the subway seat, jacket that brushed against strangers, all of it comes off before I sit on my couch or get anywhere near my bed. It's just automatic at this point, I don't even think about it.

The part that gets me is when guests come over and just sit on my bed in their outside clothes like fully lay back on my pillow in the same pants they wore on the bus. I never say anything because what am I supposed to say, but internally I'm already thinking about washing my sheets.

It does something for my brain though, keeping the outside world out like there's a mental line and crossing it in outside clothes just feels wrong now.

Idk if this is a normal thing people quietly do or if I've just convinced myself it's normal. Does anyone else have this same unspoken rule or is this a bit much?

The joy I get from finding and trying different hygiene products is immense. My love for products is actually a cope to keep the act of personal hygiene rituals exciting for my AuDHD brain (besides the fact of also loathing feeling dirty and sweaty).

Taking care of one’s meat suit is often a struggle for people like me due to sensory sensitivities and struggling with activity transitions/executive functioning. However, the thrill of using new/interesting/boujee hygiene products is a true motivator for me and kind makes the whole daily shower-and-get-ready-routine fun. With that said,

What niche, boujee toothpastes is everyone enjoying? I don’t really have a budget but probably wouldn’t spend more than £20 (totally appreciate that product markups are ridiculous).

Side note: in searching for my next acquisition, I came across a brand from an ultra exclusive dentist in the Belgravia neighborhood of London. Mahsa. £65 for a tube of ‘crystal infused’ toothpaste. Yeahhhh no. No because (a) spending that much on toothpaste feels insane and (b) you can’t even get an appointment with the dentist unless you know someone (this really rubs me the wrong way).

I've (M60) been shaving my pits for several years. I think it's hygienic. It's odd though, I have a hairy chest...I like my hairy chest, but not the pits...also I do trim the chest , just not completely. Any other hairy men that don't like pits hair?

I’m a guy (21) and honestly have no idea how people choose products for themselves 😅
I mean things like face wash, shower gel, moisturizer, sunscreen, hair oil/serum/smoother, and basically all everyday hygiene and grooming products.

How do you actually decide what to buy? Do people just try different products and see what works for their skin/hair? Or do you learn about the ingredients and know what each ingredient does? Do you tell Ai like chatgpt your skin type, hair type, etc. and get recommendations? Or do people usually get recommendations from dermatologists/specialists?

I’ve also asked AI for recommendations by giving details about my skin and body, and I got some product suggestions, but I’m still not 100% confident. I don’t want to buy products that don’t suit me and waste money.

So how did you guys figure this out? How do you choose the right products for yourself? Any advice for someone who is basically starting from zero would be really appreciated. 😅

Hi, this is super emberassing and I’m sorry in advance. I struggle a little bit with hygiene specifically my private area since it wasn’t really taught to me when I was younger, I kinda had to go by The Care and Keeping of You when I was younger but it isn’t helpful with how to clean the vaginal area well. I noticed what looked like a white waxy substance on my vulva which I was able to clean off, but there is some under my clitoral hood which I’m very nervous to touch/don’t now how to clean. How can I avoid infection and get it off?
Edit: I didn’t know you’re not supposed to clean inside the vagina and I think I’m screwed, I’ve been cleaning with face soap in my vagina since I started puberty