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This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Salisbury chapter.

Today I’m going to talk to you all about a topic that many aren’t comfortable discussing or maybe are too embarrassed to ask about, hygiene.

It is extremely important for a woman to retain her hygiene. Maintaining hygiene is not only important for your physical health, but your mental health as well. Although keeping up with your hygiene may be simple for many, others may not know how to do so properly, or they struggle with a few problem areas.

Today I’m going to give you a few pointers on how to keep things fresh, because to keep it cute, you must keep it fresh.

Basic Body Care

  • First things first, you should shower DAILY. It doesn’t matter if you shower for 10 minutes or 45 minutes, its important that you shower on a daily basis to not only smell fresh but to get rid of any unwanted bacteria or germs on your body.
  • You should use a bar soap and a body wash when you shower. Bar soaps are essential to help give your skin a deep clean. However, some bar soaps are just for cleansing and don’t give the skin much nourishment (i.e. Irish Spring, Safe Guard) so you should follow up with a nourishing body wash like Dove, Olay, or Caress that have ingredients that are made to pamper your skin and give it extra moisture.

 

  • Exfoliate your skin for an extra deep clean and to remove dead skin two to three times a week. You can use a loofah, an exfoliating scrub, or an exfoliating net.
  • Make sure you moisturize your skin when you get out of the shower with lotion or even body oil to prevent the skin from drying out.   

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Feminine Care

  • Along with cleaning the rest of your body you should clean your feminine area every day.
  • You should NOT use scented soaps in this area (These can cause itching, burning irritation, and throw off your pH balance). 

 

  • Only use mild soaps like the unscented Sensitive Dove Bar Soap, or a wash specially formulated for that area like the Honey Pot Feminine Wash, its 99.9 percent natural. Other feminine washes are great too, just be careful using them because they can throw off your pH balance. 
  • Make sure you thoroughly dry this area after showering, because leaving it damp is gives bacteria an opportunity to grow. 
  • Take cranberry extract tablets to help prevent UTI’s and keep things fresh down there.

 

  • Wear cotton underwear the majority of the time. Cotton allows this area to breathe which prevents odor. If you want to wear your thongs or lacy panties from time to time that’s okay, just be make sure you’re not wearing them too often.
  • Keep wipes in your purse or backpack. When you use the bathroom, wiping with wipes afterwards makes you feel extra fresh throughout the day. (This is optional but recommended.)
  • Remember hair harbors odor, so I recommend you shave or wax it off. If you’re totally against removing hair in this area that’s fine, you just might have to wash down there a bit more often.

 

  • If you feel that you’re not as fresh as you would like to be down there, try taking a bath with two cups of apple cider vinegar, and soak for at least 20 minutes, this will help regulate your pH balance and get rid of odor (No, you won’t smell like vinegar afterwards).
  • If you are smelling strong odor from this area, make an appointment with your gynecologist ASAP because you could have an infection.

 

Armpits

  • Wash your armpits daily.
  • Put deodorant on every time after you shower.
  • As I mentioned before, hair harbors odor so be sure to remove it.
  • Exfoliate under your arms, this helps release deodorant that gets trapped in your armpits and minimize the darkness you may get from shaving.
  • Deodorant can buildup under your arms even if you are showering every day. To prevent odor causing build up, once you dry off after showering put alcohol on a cotton round and rub it on your armpits; this will get rid off any bacteria and build up.

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Oral Hygiene

  • Brush your teeth every day.
  • Don’t forget to brush your tongue, the tongue holds more odor causing bacteria than any other part of your mouth. Some toothbrushes come with a device on the back of it that is meant to scrub the tongue with or you could invest in a tongue scrapper.
  • Floss, floss, floss.
  • Mouthwash can help prevent cavities, kill bacteria, and even whiten the teeth (This is optional but HIGHLY recommended.)

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Other Tips

  • If you have big boobs or thighs that tend to sweat, try taking some corn starch or talc-free powder and rub it between or under those areas.
  • You can use a dry spray to prevent chaffing and sweating between the thighs, just make sure you have underwear on when you spray it, so it doesn’t get into your feminine area.

Well I hope this was informative for you, so you could use these tips yourself or even to help a friend in need. If you have any other questions about hygiene, you can find several hygiene routines on YouTube and/or Pinterest.  

Nabria Milbourne

Salisbury '20

Nabria is a transfer student from Wor-Wic Community College. She is currently a junior at Salisbury University majoring in Communication Arts in the Public Relations and Strategic Communications track, while also minoring in Marketing Management!
Nadia Williams is a senior studying Political Science, Communications and French at Salisbury University. She enjoys writing about policy, media and culture. She hopes to use journalism as a tool to empower others to play an active role in their communities.