How often do you bathe or shower?

Have you heard the recent chatter about taking a shower or a bath every day?  Or not?

We'll just say this: if it's generally hot where you live, or when you work up a sweat, this is probably a moot point. Perspiration drives most of us to the shower, in the interest of personal freshness. It's also therapeutic.

We were born in Nigeria, where bathing at least once, and often two or three times a day, is standard practice. It can be hot year-round and unwashed sweaty bodies are no fun to be around.

In many parts of Africa, children are sent to boarding school, at the secondary school level. If they were lax about daily baths before then, they learn to do so very quickly, even where running water is hard to come by. I remember transferring to a boarding school in England, decades ago. We were assigned bath days by dorm room: just two or three times a week. All the foreign students from tropical countries were shocked at first, but shrugged it off - as kids do, and were happy to comply.

So, we get it, we tend to embrace the showering/bathing norms on which we were raised. And that can be cultural or based on geographical location and access to water. Of course, grown-ups discover their own preferences too, in spite of their backgrounds.

Wherever you fall - in the camp of those who shower daily, or those who observe a different interval between all-over cleansing routines - clean skin is the basis for any good personal care regimen. Especially with skin sensitivities or conditions.

Daily moisturizing should also be a given. That is, if you want to keep dry, sensitive, delicate skin at bay. 

Shea butter and oil-based moisturizers work best on damp, freshly washed skin. Shea Smoothing Skin Butter penetrates the skin to deeply hydrate as well as form a protective barrier to prevent water loss. It feels like a mini-spa treat, moisturizing you to smooth, glowing, sweet-smelling skin. All over, all day long.

To your skin's health!

Eva & Rufina, Makers

Chez Africa | Shea Beauty Blends