With the cold snap that just passed there were quite a few places on campus with frozen pipes. Some of these frozen pipes were warmed up within a day or two. Some other, were not. My house in particular had almost no running water for almost four days. Luckily, this provided the perfect opportunity to try out as many tactics as possible to still remain and look clean without running water.
1. Find another source
Image via Pinterest
This is the most obvious solution. Some people I know went to a friend’s residence or the gym or even one of the larger residence halls that anyone can swipe into. It is still annoying because you have to travel and plan these trips into your schedule, but it works.
Now, what if all your friends are abroad or you just don’t have any time to trek over to the gym or took a solemn oath to never use those showers form the freshman dorms again?
2. Dry shampoo
Image via Reader’s Digest
This stuff is your very best friend. It requires absolutely no water and claims to still make your hair clean and nice smelling. I’ve had people swear by these products, but I’ve also had quite a few of them fail on me. For example, over use of dry shampoo will sometimes leave you hair with a white residue. So this one is a bit more of a gamble. And, what should you do if you lose that gamble?
3. Cover it up
Image via Little Miss Momma
If you’ve ever taken a good look at greasy hair, you’ll see that it’s usually the top that is a lot greasier looking than the ends. An easy fix, then, is to just cover your hair with a hat or bandana or, even, your own hair (see picture above)!
4. Use those products!
Image via Perfume Paradise
Deodorant, lotion, and/or body spray are your best friends in this situation. Especially if you aren’t getting too sweaty during the day, it’s probably that you won’t actually start to smell super horrendous in the few days before you’re able to find a place to shower. Those being said, never forgo the deodorant. If nothing else, it’ll prolong that smell at least a little longer. No to mention that it never hurts to put on some of the wonderfully scented body lotion. Even if it’s only for your benefit, it might help you feel a little bit better about yourself and the situation.
All of these tips are only temporary cover ups, but they’re useful as you work on a longer term solution. Hopefully you’ll never be in the situation where you’re stuck without water a few days before an important interview or anything. But, it never hurts to be prepared.