Image by: Public Domain Pictures
By Robert Spencer
When we were kids, most of our mothers had a pretty hard time getting us to wash with soap. I remember distinctly getting yelled at for merely washing my hands with water. These days, it’s pretty hard to wrangle our bar soap away from us – despite this movement to swap from bar soap to liquid soap.
Yep, body wash.
It has such a girly connotation. I’m not sure if it’s the fact that when I hear the phrase “body wash” I picture my girl’s frilly pink wash pouf thing, that hangs on a hook in the shower or if it is because for the past decade, women were the only gender that had, so called, “body washes” commercialized toward them. Times are changing though.
#1) When Enough is Enough
One great thing that liquid soap has going for it is the fact that you can regulate how much you use depending on the bottle. Some bottles have a pump action dispensers which mean that as long as you do a bit of trial and error in the beginning, you know how much is enough. One pump for a quick shower. Two pumps if you’ve got a hot date and you want to be extra squeaky clean for when she wants to get down and dirty.
#2) Smelling Like a Rose
Those bar soaps that double as deodorant can be really harsh on your skin. It’ll dry it out and irritate sensitive skin. Liquid soaps that have fragrance in them generally aren’t as harsh. If you want conclusive results, you’ll have to ask your dermatologist, who can give you personal advice based on your skin chemistry.
#3) That Nasty Bacteria Stuff
If you share your shower with someone and you both use the same bar of soap, you can transfer bacteria back and forth. Sure, you both may live together and you probably swap some other bodily fluids but different rules apply when it comes to sharing things in the bathroom. You don’t share toothbrushes. You don’t share towels. You don’t share bar soap.
#4) Drying Out
Bar soap has a higher Ph level which means that it normally dries out skin more than liquid soap. Sure, we never worried about it before because there are things like lotion but come on. I don’t know a lot of guys that will use lotion every day. Not only that but when your skin is dried out, it doesn’t heal from injuries very well or very fast.
#5) Glycerin for Sensitive Skin
If you’ve got sensitive skin, then your dermatologist has probably already told you that you need to use a glycerin based soap – a specific type of bar soap. Next time you go and see him (or even your regular physician) ask him about the liquid soap that is specifically made for sensitive or dry skin.
Dove makes an excellent product for sensitive skin. It’s non-fragrant too, which means that you won’t come out smelling like your wife’s perfume drawer.
#6) All-In-One
For those of you that are always in a hurry, certain body washes even come in an all-in-one formula. What am I talking about? Shampoo, conditioner, and body wash in one. Hey, your body’s all covered in hair already anyway, right? Why not use the same product for everything? Some even take it a little further (like Nivea Pure Impact) by making it a shave gel also. Lather up, shave where you need, wash it all off. Five minute shower? Done.
#7) Smellin’ Fine
If you just want to smell good for your girl, check out Old Spice Pure Sport High Endurance Body Wash or Axe’s long line of great smelling products. Body washes come in all sorts of scents and they aren’t as harsh as bar soaps.
However, if you’re too stubborn to try it, bar soaps have the same hygiene effects as liquid soaps and when it comes down to it, that’s all that matters. Just make sure that you don’t share your bar with anyone else because, well. Ew.
Now it’s your turn. Do you use bar or liquid soap? Do you like one over the other? Or do you use a combination? Bar soap at home one day and liquid soap the next? Give us your input in the comment section below. We’d love to hear from you!