Those who give up the daily shower smell stronger at first and then often think washing more is the solution, said Hamblin. You can break this cycle. “After a while without intervention, a new balance is created on the skin and in the hair.”
The dermatologist Marion Moers-Carpi from Munich welcomes the theses on the whole: “We expect a lot from our bodies. Many wash themselves too much, too hot and too long.” Twenty minutes a day in a warm shower is unnecessary and not good at all. People who already have skin problems such as neurodermatitis should definitely be more careful, she emphasizes.
Moers-Carpi, like Hamblin, says that daily scrubbing removes from the skin the oils that the glands produce to protect the skin. This makes your skin drier, and you may end up using moisturizers to create an artificial version of the oils. You can actually save yourself the intermediate step.
She herself showers about twice a week and uses little soap, says dermatologist Moers-Carpi. The concept of the protective acid mantle, which has been announced for a long time, is now controversial among dermatologists. She personally recommends curd soap, which was frowned upon for a while.
Last but not least, the Munich dermatologist points out: “Ask your grandparents how often they washed themselves. In the past, bathing was usually only announced once a week. And they weren’t all stinky people either.”