Hygiene 101: This Is How Often You Should Really Be Showering

How often do you shower? Do you step into le douche every single morning without fail, or do you occasionally spend the extra 10 minutes in bed and skip your daily wash down?

Well, if you fall into the latter category it turns out you’re not alone because a recent survey found that four out of five women don’t wash every day and many gals go a full three days without showering.

Reckon that’ll leave you a tad stinky? Not according to two hygiene experts who say that skipping the shower is actually a good thing.

In fact, Dr C. Brandon Mitchell, assistant professor of dermatology at George Washington University, says you should only be showering “once or twice a week,” explaining to Time Magazine that “Your body is a naturally well-oiled machine. A daily shower isn’t necessary.”

Also speaking to Time, Dr Elaine Larson, an infectious disease expert, agrees and warns that showering too much can actually cause some nasty health side effects. “Dry, cracked skin opens up gaps for infection-causing germs to slip through,” she explains. Eek!

Add to that, over-showering is also said to strip the skin of good bacteria which keeps it healthy, while at the same time you’ll also be drying out your hair.

So what’s the final verdict on daily showering? Both experts agree that as long as you’re giving your hands a regular scrub you don’t need to have a shower every day, but that you should pay extra attention to your arm pitts, bum and groin area when you do.

Another excuse to spend an extra 10 minutes in bed? We’ll take it!

• Hygiene