If you have the time and the resources but aren’t showering twice a day as an adult, you’re practicing less-than-proper hygiene.

I’m not talking about those who don’t have a home or 24 hour running water or who live in extremely cold weather conditions or war torn territories. Even those who neglect their showering because of depression or any other physical or mental health issue. Not applicable to those who have to live in dorms and share a bathroom with half a dozen people. You do what you need in order to survive. Not even applicable to those who live in really dry weather or have some preexisting skin conditions. I’m not gonna question any of these. Also, I’m not talking about hair baths. Hair stuff varies a lot from person to person. You take hair baths as frequently or less frequently as your body signals you to do.

That being established, I believe that we need two showers, just the way we need to brush teeth twice a day, to have a proper hygiene. There was an example which said, brush your teeth in the morning to keep your friends, brush your teeth at night to keep your teeth. I believe the same thing applies for showering. I come from a tropical place. Humid climate, lot of sticky sweat, dust and pollution. 40% of the world population is in the tropics. We even have a lot of spicy food in our diets which increases the tendency of sweating or generally having a higher core temperature.

One of the showers, you pick and choose which one according to the structure of your day, can be just to have a decent level of presentability, like one in which you just sort of spray the rest of your body. Short like less than 5 minutes, normal temperature water, not too hot, not too cold, even if it’s just a rinse (no soap or mild soap) and you’re out fresh. Fresh inner wear after each shower; as for outer clothes, well that’s a judgment call. The second shower (roughly 10-12 hours apart) can be more detailed, like up to 10 minutes. Here you use soap and clean the whole surface of your skin. Scrub, rinse, use your favorite products, whatever.

I personally do my big shower at night before bed/after gym and my little shower in the morning before going to work. There are some days, when work gets overtime and I skip the gym. And I take the big shower in the morning in preparation of such a day but I skip the little one at night. I don’t smell bad, I wear fresh clothes and a deodorant, I rarely use any of my clothes more than once before getting them washed, and I definitely change my inner wear no matter what. But I still feel a little… funky, almost stale, when the next morning begins. And no, I don’t have BO or any other skin issues. I come from a culture where people are extremely blunt about telling people openly if they stink, so if I had an issue, someone would’ve mentioned it. It actually did happen once when I was a teenager and neglecting my health because I was sorting through some problems in my family. But never has anyone mentioned it to me as an adult. Although it has been mentioned to others in front of me, several times.

I hope, if there are any comments which disagree with my POV, that they remain constructive and free from personal attacks. There’s no need to trace my preference to shower twice a day with some imaginary history of childhood trauma or abuse.