Tips on Cleaning the Body

Many hygiene routines are considered a matter of common sense to adults after a lifetime of having been impressed into memory. What often needs tweaking a bit are the details of those regimens. For instance, some cleansers work better for specific skin conditions than others, and the way some cleansers are used are often more of a bad habit than good hygiene.

Body Acne Prevention

• As beneficial and important as regular exercise is, the sweat such activity induces can cause acne breakouts on the chest and back. Keep the length of time between ending a workout and showering as short as possible to avoid trapping excess bodily oil secretions (sebum) and bacteria on your skin via sweat-drenched clothing.

  Vigorously scrubbing any acne on your chest and back won't help it clear up any faster. In fact, the irritation such scrubbing is likely to cause makes the breakout worse. Wash your torso gently, and use a natural cleansing agent designed to unclog pores, such as liquid black soap, rather than a harsh deodorant soap. Liquid black soap is found in health food stores and in the natural section of major supermarkets.

  Washing the bacteria and sebum out of your workout clothing soon after your workout is also recommended to remove the bacteria and sebum that causes pore clogging.

Facial Pore Cleaning

• Washing your face at least once a day--and twice on hot, sweaty days--is necessary to remove grime, dirt and dead skin that needs sloughing off. Don't simply use a facial cleanser, and stop there. While washing gently with a nonharsh, fragrance-free facial cleanser is a must, it's just as important to use a follow-up astringent, a substance that can further clean and shrink the pores.

  A wide variety of expensive astringents exist, but one of the best astringents is amazingly cheap: witch hazel. A 16 oz. bottle of witch hazel frequently sells for under $2 in 2010. Moisten a cotton ball with witch hazel, and gently scrub your face in a circular pattern. When the witch hazel has dried, follow up with a noncomedogenic moisturizer.

Hair Washing Frequency

• Unless your hair is wet with perspiration on a daily basis, washing it every other day is actually healthier for your hair than daily washing. The conventional wisdom is that daily shampooing is necessary for clean, healthy hair. While that remains true for hair that is damp with sweat on a daily basis, daily shampooing under drier circumstances can strip hair of essential oils, leaving it dry, brittle, weak and limp. Shampooing every other day strikes the perfect balance between hair which is too oily from infrequent washing, which leads to sebum buildup on the scalp and facial acne breakouts, and overly dried out hair. Following with a good, natural conditioner also helps to keep your hair moisturized and soft.