Wy My Toiletry Collection has Reached Absurd Extremes
After completing my morning yoga routine that takes only two laborious minutes, I head over my to bureau, pick up my bathroom caddy, and start the day with my toiletry routine; Cetaphil cleanser, then acne spot treatment, moisturizer, then onto body spray and deodorant. Can’t forget the Vaseline during the fall months! Throughout the day I add to this regimen with lipgloss and hand sanitizer. Later on at night, I dig back into my caddy once again for body wash and scrub on top of the classic shampoo and conditioner, along with more lotions and potions, face masks, blackhead strips, perfume, toners, and (sadly) many more. Not to mention makeup…
My bureau is covered with bottles and tubes and my bathroom caddy bugles constantly. When I travel for overnight trips, I require a minimum of two bags to contain all my “necessities” due to a fear that if I skip one night I will break out in pimples and red splotches.
You could call it a phobia or an obsession, either way it breeches on unhealthy. I am fortunate enough to have enough money to afford these various items and take the once in a blue moon trip to Sephora. In an age that promotes economic and environmental friendly habits, I can’t help feel guilty about the mass of products I have accumulated in my room at Connecticut College and back home. The list above only includes what I use now, but I have so much more stockpiled at home along with my mom’s cosmetic and toiletry collection and I that takes up shelves and baskets in our bathroom and bedrooms. From the very first face wash I used – Biore foam cleanser – after my first pimple, I now have amassed an enormous collection of products, some of which I still use while others I have promptly thrown out without hesitation. This realization disgusts me and prompts me to ponder why I have graduated from using only Johnson’s bubble bath and dove soap bars to multitudes of products.
I decided to start a mini psychological investigation to find out if others share this same habit or if I am the only one wasting my money and time in the shower. In the article “Could you live with just three toiletries?” published by the Guardian in April for 2017 by Sarah Shearman, she describes the start up company called Akamai. This company sells three products: “toothpaste, a soap bar for the face, body and hair; and oil spray for fragrance and moisturizing the hair and body” arguing that this is all customers need to stay clean. As much as I would like to clear out my cabinets and replace everything with only three simple products, I am not sure I would succeed. Shearman mentions that the growth in product lines means “more chemicals and water used in manufacturing, and more plastic packaging” much of which ends up in landfill. In addition, a lot of “scrubbing and dousing is not food for our bodies,” according to co-founder of Akamai Vincent Cobb.
Author of Clean Unsanitised History of Washing believes that the rejection of modern hygiene is not so simple and there are often cultural components to these habits. She explains that the “sense of insecurity, especially among women, that I might not be smelling perfectly is deep within our culture – and advertising makes enormous use of that insecurity.” I can only speak from a female point of view on this topic, but I do think there are societal expectations about hygiene that we may not be conscious of, but seep into our skin all the same.
I posted several questions pertaining to this premise on my Instagram story. Someone replied listing similar products which I am guilty of, but adding that if she did not use as many products in her routine she wouldn’t feel as pampered. The idea of a “pamper night” is not new in society; girls have been gathering together for nights of facials, mani pedis, and makeup do-overs whilst eating popcorn and chocolates and watching the latest rom-com for decades. This is a mean stereotype, but I will admit that it applies to me. This brings me to the question of whether one can feel pampered with fewer products and is feeling pampered an important or irrelevant part of hygiene?
Personally, all of my toiletries and routines bring me a sense of calm. As I rub body lotion onto my dry legs or smack a face mask on my dehydrated skin, I relish in these brief moments all to myself where I can focus on the circular movements my hands make as I wash my face each morning. My day, like most college students, is hectic and crazy. I am often overwhelmed and I find that beauty routines are a new form of meditation that has both mental and hygiene benefits.
So, if you are like me and have too many (non-magical) potions sitting on your bureau, do not fear: you are not guilty of a crime. We can work to treat this habit together, but for now treat yourself with a face mask as I am doing now as I finish this article!