My parents are Dial soap folks. I am back to using bar soap (l'Occitane lemon verbena), and a fabulous scrubby TOWEL thing that someone on Instagram sold me. It's very pleasing.
I am Not a morning person. I am really made for the afternoon shift. Well, I am really made to recline and eat bonbons, but evidently that is not to be for part of the year. I have a vague admiration of Morning People, the way I vaguely admire marathon runners for doing a thing that I am both disinterested and incapable of doing.
Since becoming a father, I have become accustomed to applying various ‘cleansing products’ to myself that have - according to the packaging - been specially formulated for children. I’m not sure what effect this has had upon me, aside from my occasionally smelling like a fruit factory...
Many, many years ago I was a sound engineer at a big local radio station. We worked rotating shifts, one of which started at 6.30am (so I’d have to get up around 5). The breakfast show DJ was bright and chirpy (diddly-doop-di-doo), and there was often a look of horror on his face when I turned up in the master control room at 6.30. “Oh my god, it’s you”, he would say, rocking back and forth in his dj chair to the latest chirpy early morning top 40 tracks. Harumph.
We definitely differ on this one. I'm particularly sensitive (not allergic) to some perfumes, so I will not use 'random' soaps anywhere. I just hate to stink of something I cannot then get rid of, ironically even by washing.
The one I did use, I used from when it was first marketed in the mid 70's until vanished from the shelves late last year. Same smell for 45 years ;))
I've now found one that has no smell at all, to replace it.
My bath salts they've been making since 1908, so I think I'm safe there.
"I seem to use bathing as a kind of boundary or transition between different chunks of the day" - totally get that. When I get home from work, my routine is: wash hands, change clothes, brush teeth, and hydrate my face. It only takes a few minutes, but it really helps me transition from work to the normal family dinnertime chaos.
I was just going to read the first few sentences of this to see whatever it was about, then return to it later, since I was mid-task on something else.
I couldn’t stop reading. It was too much fun. Bravo.
I always encourage my husband to use my expensive and divine smelling unguents. Drugstore guy stuff, which he prefers, just doesn't smell the same. Especially the shampoo. I am a self-avowed hair sniffer, it is true. But not in a weird stranger sort of way. Maybe a little weird.
Ha - we evidently think alike, and I salute you.
Thanks for sharing!
My parents are Dial soap folks. I am back to using bar soap (l'Occitane lemon verbena), and a fabulous scrubby TOWEL thing that someone on Instagram sold me. It's very pleasing.
I am Not a morning person. I am really made for the afternoon shift. Well, I am really made to recline and eat bonbons, but evidently that is not to be for part of the year. I have a vague admiration of Morning People, the way I vaguely admire marathon runners for doing a thing that I am both disinterested and incapable of doing.
PRECISELY how I feel about morning people. Except for the admiration part. Mine is more "Go away".
As long as they don't expect anything from me. We exchange greetings, that is all.
My dad would buy different shower gels every time so that “microbes don’t get used to it” - whatever that means
Wow. I like his thinking!
Much the same as my experience, only the shampoo names have changed, and I wash my hair every shower.
Maybe that's why I seem to have less and less hair every day?
Ha :-)
Since becoming a father, I have become accustomed to applying various ‘cleansing products’ to myself that have - according to the packaging - been specially formulated for children. I’m not sure what effect this has had upon me, aside from my occasionally smelling like a fruit factory...
Yeah, I went through that phase :-) My son now has his own shower, and far more precise unguent needs than me...
Three unguent sightings in one story. Thanks
:-)
Many, many years ago I was a sound engineer at a big local radio station. We worked rotating shifts, one of which started at 6.30am (so I’d have to get up around 5). The breakfast show DJ was bright and chirpy (diddly-doop-di-doo), and there was often a look of horror on his face when I turned up in the master control room at 6.30. “Oh my god, it’s you”, he would say, rocking back and forth in his dj chair to the latest chirpy early morning top 40 tracks. Harumph.
LOL yeah, I would be you in that circumstance.
We definitely differ on this one. I'm particularly sensitive (not allergic) to some perfumes, so I will not use 'random' soaps anywhere. I just hate to stink of something I cannot then get rid of, ironically even by washing.
The one I did use, I used from when it was first marketed in the mid 70's until vanished from the shelves late last year. Same smell for 45 years ;))
I've now found one that has no smell at all, to replace it.
My bath salts they've been making since 1908, so I think I'm safe there.
Ah, that makes sense... and I'm glad you found an alternative!
"I seem to use bathing as a kind of boundary or transition between different chunks of the day" - totally get that. When I get home from work, my routine is: wash hands, change clothes, brush teeth, and hydrate my face. It only takes a few minutes, but it really helps me transition from work to the normal family dinnertime chaos.
Exactly! Some kind of physical activity always seem to work best for that... and what better than getting more clean.
I'm convinced you can write on *any* topic and make it compelling.
Thank you :)
This new (to me) Substack thingy is the absolute highlight of my day. One does not simply scroll through like Twitter but rather savour the content.
True!
Now I understand why poor alarm clock got so much abuse. ;-D
Kitchen appliances tomorrow?
Maybe... ;-)
I was just going to read the first few sentences of this to see whatever it was about, then return to it later, since I was mid-task on something else.
I couldn’t stop reading. It was too much fun. Bravo.
That's excellent to hear — thank you!
Even your shower thoughts are meta :)
You're brave to shave *before* stepping into the waking portal!
Yeah that is a risk, but otherwise I'd have to wash my face again afterwards, and ain't nobody got time for that.
Shhhh! Just use Paula’s - they are naturally formulated potions and concoctions AND will automatically get refilled ;)
Oh, you know Paula. She's smarter than that.
I always encourage my husband to use my expensive and divine smelling unguents. Drugstore guy stuff, which he prefers, just doesn't smell the same. Especially the shampoo. I am a self-avowed hair sniffer, it is true. But not in a weird stranger sort of way. Maybe a little weird.
Weird is good. But... wouldn't you want his hair to smell different to yours, or isn't that like sniffing your own head?
Well. I haven’t really thought of it that way. Off now to find a new botanically pleasing shampoo for his hair.
Shaving BEFORE the shower is the work of a madman.
How so? If you shave afterwards you’ve got to wet and then dry your face again. Before, you just wander into the shower afterwards and it’s done.