stop using soap

I haven’t used any soap or soap alternative for the past couple months, and I haven’t had any problems. I don’t smell, I don’t feel gross, and it saves me time in the shower. Also, I feel like my skin is less dry, although I’m not positive. Anyway, I would recommend it as it is cheaper and more natural.
I have two older brothers who have also tried this, one for about a year now, and neither of them have ever thought about switching back to using soap.
As far as not using shampoo, I’m interested in learning more about that. I’m trying to slowly transition by using shampoo now every other day, and in a couple weeks I’ll try to do it every few days until eventually I won’t need it anymore.

Well, I’ve used up the oatmeal bar I bought and frankly, I don’t think it did anything at all. I mean, I think it worked exactly as well as soap—my skin feels just as clean but no softer than before. And the oatmeal bar was pretty expensive so… I’m going back to Ivory.

I bought a honey-oatmeal scrub bar. Apparently, oatmeal has cleansing properties that are different from soap and less likely to needlessly dry out your skin. Plus, the exfoliating is great.

I’ve used it twice, not noticed any particular difference yet. We’ll see how I feel when this bar is gone.

About a year ago, inspired by a book I read, I stopped using shampoo. The theory goes, shampoo is a form of soap that works by binding to non-water-soluble oil molecules and washing them away. That’s great if your hair feels greasy all the time, but what if it doesn’t? Your hair needs a certain amount of oil to be shiny and manageable and not frizzy… some people produce too much, so they need shampoo. But if your hair tends dry or frizy, you shouldn’t be removing the oil, which isn’t inherently dirty.

And truth be told, my hair is much shinier and more manageable now, with nice solid curls instead of nappy friz.

So, can the same theory be applied to body soap? Once again, your body produces natural oils which aren’t inherently dirty. Am I needlessly drying out my skin by using soap? Should I be using soap if I don’t feel greasy or oily? I’m thinking of switching over to some kind of “gentle cleansing bar”, to see if it makes my skin soft and smooth. It’s worth a shot.