thirty years ago, a dentist told me that using toothpaste is totally useless for oral hygiene, and that the only benefit it brings is the slight fresh sensation that we feel in the mouth for a handful of minutes. from that day on, i stopped using it.
shortly after, i went a step further and gave up shampoo, bubble bath and deodorant as well, and for years the only product i used to wash myself was marseille soap.
about one ago i a stopped using that too. to wash myself i use just water and a rough towel to rub my skin. from time to time i take also a sand bath (yes, like hens). when you stop using soap the skin needs about three weeks to reestablish its physiological pH levels. the reconstitution of the skin microbiota, which soap destroys just as antibiotics destroy our intestinal microbiota, takes about one month.
without soap the skin feels less dry, perhaps the first week i observed an increase in sebaceous secretion, but then the situation stabilized. as for smelling, i didn't notice any difference even during summer. and i work out hard every day so i sweat a lot, but i don't seem to smell more than before.
happy with the result of this experiment, i can say that the necessity of using soap is another example of universally accepted and never questioned bullshit.
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