Certainly. I’m not saying soap is bad by any means. It’s a tool for bathing just like any other. Not using soap to wash your body doesn’t imply unhygienic anymore than not using a scrub brush makes you unhygienic.
What matters is that you wash regularly, get rid of grime, dirt, excess oils and dead skin buildup.
There’s many paths to hygiene. For most people, the one with soap is the easiest and the only downside is “now moisturize”.
Persistent advertising from cleaning product companies since the 50s have heavily pushed a level of cleaning and perfuming well beyond what’s actually necessary for hygiene.
My body wash company would like me to use a silver dollar sized portion. I get better results from a dime sized portion and a moderate firmness silicone brush.
addictedtochaos@lemm.ee 4 days ago
the question is: are they sick and thus the skin is out of whack, or are they sick because the skin is out of whack?
angrystego@lemmy.world 4 days ago
The amount of oil your skin produces naturally is usually connected to genes and hormone levels. It’s ok to have more oily or drier skin. It’s diversity, everyone is built differently.
addictedtochaos@lemm.ee 4 days ago
no and yes to that; there are tall people and small people, but that is usually not a medical condition.
everyone is built the same. and certainly nobody is built to have life detrimental skin conditions; yes, severe gene defects exist. But if you are swaetting a lot and you stink like a skunk, there is a very good reason for it. and the reason is:
something is hindering homöostasis to work properly- and that is usually a thing you ingested but don’t need, or a thing you did not ingest, but need. plus toxin exposure.
angrystego@lemmy.world 4 days ago
Yes, I agree, of course there can be those kinds of patological skin conditions. Those are extremes though. Most people with oily skin are perfectly alright and are just an example of natural variation in genetics. I don’t want every person with oily skin to think there’s something wrong with them. But they ARE in greater risk of developing a skin condition if they don’t adopt hygiene appropriate for their skin type, so advises not to use soap or shampoo can be very bad for them (and good for the dry type of skin people at the same time).