Personal hygiene habits like bathing, cleaning properly after number two, and removing unwanted hairs can keep you clean and smelling fresh.
But if you have no idea what personal hygiene means, it is how you take care of your body daily.
And in this post, we’ll discuss bad personal hygiene.
And steps to practice good hygiene as a woman.
We’ll also cover feminine care routines, bathing routines, shower essentials, and extra hygiene practices for your period.
Let’s begin with some examples of poor hygiene.
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Examples of poor hygiene
- Bathing once a week or every other day.
- Showering without a sponge, brush, shower gloves, etc.
- Not using deodorants.
- Not brushing your mouth thoroughly.
- Washing your hair under the shower and leaving your whole body unwashed.
- Keeping hairs in your underarms and pubic area.
- Wiping with toilet paper after number two.
- Not bathing during your period.
- Applying lotion to dirty skin.
- Wearing dirty clothes, and lots more.
Now, let’s talk about good personal hygiene.
9 Good personal hygiene habits
1. Skincare routine
The easiest and most effective way to maintain good hygiene is by taking regular baths or showers.
Some people argue that showering daily dries out the skin.
But I believe it’s important to balance cleanliness with skin care.
Washing off dust, excess oil, and sweat is essential.
And there are plenty of moisturizing products to keep your skin hydrated.
Another thing to consider: washing and rinsing your hair without cleansing your entire body doesn’t count as a full shower.
It’s important to take care of your whole self, even if it takes a little extra time.
Bathing/showering every day
Showering daily is a significant part of my hygiene routine.
When you shower properly daily, you wash off skin secretions that make you feel icky and uncomfortable.
And you’d not only smell fresh, but your skin would also feel clean, refreshed, and ready for clean clothes.
Some of my favorite shower products are exfoliating gloves, moisturizing soap bars, and shower gel.
Check out this list of shower essentials and how to use them.
Brings me to the next point.
Body exfoliation
Washing with just soap and water is not enough to clean your body.
So try extra skin exfoliation with exfoliating gloves and soap.
Sometimes, use a foaming drugstore scrub with bath or shower gloves for additional exfoliation.
I use exfoliating gloves every day, and they clean my skin thoroughly and prepare it to get the full benefits of moisturizers.
This would help your skin glow naturally.
Recommended posts
Exfoliating Gloves: How To Use, The Benefits.
Skin moisturizing
It is funny that most people don’t moisturize immediately after bathing.
If you want to get the best from your moisturizer, use it immediately after washing your skin.
That’s the best time for the skin to rehydrate by absorbing the cream or lotion applied.
Stop applying moisturizers 30 minutes or hours after your shower. You are wasting your product.
Aim to moisturize your skin while it is damp so that it can soak in all the moisture and get hydrated.
2. Facial skincare
Caring for your facial skin is an integral part of good personal hygiene. Let’s look at a few ways to do that.
Face washing
How do you wash your face? Are you using soap?
Washing your face daily with soap and water removes oil, dirt, dead skin, and leftover makeup and may prevent breakouts.
So make it a habit to wash your face daily in the shower or handwashing basin.
I advise you to use the shower as the water is spraying out instead of splashing water from your handwashing basin to your face.
Something in me believes it’s not hygienic.
If you must wash your face in the handwashing basin, run the water into a clean bowl first, then do your thing.
Or cup your hands to collect water directly from the tap to splash on your face.
Face exfoliation
Do you exfoliate your face weekly or once in a blue moon?
Make it a habit to exfoliate your face at least once a week.
You can use many excellent drugstore face exfoliants to unclog your pores.
Facial exfoliation will leave your skin glowing and moisturized.
Face cream
Honestly, I’m one cream or lotion for the whole body and face kind of person.
Maybe occasionally, I’d buy a face cream, but it was hardly routine.
Just recently, I got a face cream. I use it at night or in the mornings when I’ve got nowhere to be.
And I wonder why I didn’t get one a long time ago.
So if you can, please get a face cream to moisturize after washing and exfoliation.
This can prevent drying and keep your gentle facial skin plump and hydrated.
Moreover, body creams and lotions were designed for the body, not the face.
But if you prefer to use the same cream for both body and the face, that’s fine.
Do what works for you.
Facial hair removal
Believe it or not, facial hair removal is part of personal hygiene for women.
And you can remove facial hair painlessly with flawless finishing touch hair remover.
I use it, and I highly recommend it as part of your beauty routine.
After removing facial hairs with flawless, wash, exfoliate, and moisturize your face.
Recommended posts
How To Use Finishing Touch Flawless Remover For Perfect Results.
Face masks
Once in a while, treat your face to a face mask.
If you prefer a mud mask or a charcoal peel-off mask, that’s fine.
Just use what works for your skin and pamper your face.
Recommended posts
Charcoal Peel-Off Mask | How To Use For Amazing Results.
Skip foundation
I understand if you love to wear makeup all the time.
But sometimes, you have to give your skin a break.
Let it rest.
Especially when you are at home.
Then maybe once in a while, wear makeup without foundation.
But continue your regular face care routine. You’d love and appreciate what this can do for your face.
Additionally,
Remember to wash off makeup before sleeping at night.
This can reduce breakouts and help you wake up fresh and beautiful.
3. Hair removal
Another personal hygiene habit you’d want to cultivate is removing unwanted body hair.
Depending on how fast your body hair grows, make removing unwanted hair part of your hygiene routine.
As a lady, you want to remove underarms and pubic hairs. This can help reduce sweating and body odors.
Waxing or sugaring is my preferred hair removal method.
But if you are used to shaving and would like to know more about why I choose to sugar wax, read the post linked below.
Sugaring vs. Shaving – Which Is Better, And Why.
If you prefer to keep pubic hair, that’s fine; it’s your choice.
You may also like How I Lightened My Underarms Naturally – Tips To Lighten Dark Armpits.
4. Bathroom routine
What is your routine after using the bathroom, especially after number two?
Are you still smearing stuff around your butt with toilet paper?
That is poor hygiene, and it can be detrimental to your health because toilet paper does not clean you thoroughly.
It still leaves stuff that can introduce harmful bacteria into your feminine area.
So try hygiene habits like washing with a bidet or using flushable wipes.
This can keep you clean both in front and behind down there.
Stop going about with clean clothes and #2 smeared butt. Lol.
Also, remember to wash your hands with soap and water after using the bathroom at home and in public places.
Recommended posts
5 Ways To Use Bidet As A Woman To Improve Personal Hygiene
5. Feminine care routine
How you care for your female parts is what we call feminine hygiene.
So to maintain good hygiene down there,
- make sure to avoid feminine care products
- rinse your private area with clean water without soap
- Trim or wax the hairs down there, etc.
Recommended posts
7 Feminine Hygiene Tips For A Better Down-There Care
Menstruation hygiene
Now it is time to increase the volume of personal hygiene for the people at the back.
If you have poor hygiene habits, it would be unpleasant when you are menstruating.
So some menstrual hygiene tips that prevent odors are:
- showering every day,
- rinsing down there with water before wearing a new pad or tampon,
- Removing pubic hairs, etc.
Also, read How To Take A Shower During Your Period – 7 Easy Steps.
Skip wearing underwear
Another good hygiene habit for your feminine area is going commando (or without underwear) so that your feminine area can get some air.
This can reduce sweating and prevent infections and foul odors down there.
So whenever you are indoors, try not to wear underwear.
And some nights, go to bed without them.
That’s the most comfortable way to sleep. Lol.
6. Nails: mani-pedi
How do you care for your nails?
Another aspect of personal hygiene is taking care of your nails. So, create time to get a manicure and pedicure at home or professionally.
If the salon mani-pedi is way over your budget, you can get one at home by buying the right tools.
Here’s a list of what you’d need to get a mani-pedi at home:
- A manicure set (contains nail clipper, nail file, cuticle trimmer, and nail scissors)
- bowl of water
- hand scrub
- nail polish remover
- hand soap
- cotton balls
- hand cream
- nail polish oil, top, and base coat
- foot spa
- foot cream
- pumice stone
- foot file
- pedicure brush
- shower gel
- pedicure scrub, and
- towels.
7. Oral hygiene
Dentists advise brushing after every meal.
If you ask me, I’d say it is a tedious and unrealistic thing to do every single day.
After enjoying a delicious meal, imagine running to the bathroom to brush your teeth.
Sure, some people do that.
Anyway, aim to brush in the morning and at night before bed.
Also, remember to floss regularly and rinse with good mouthwash.
This keeps your breath fresh for hours.
And you’d also feel comfortable talking to others instead of killing them with a nasty breath.
8. Emergency bag
Because we are human and life happens, you must have an emergency bag as part of your personal hygiene routine.
The emergency bag contains most items you need for good personal hygiene.
Here are a few must-have items for your emergency bag:
Sanitary pads
Your period may catch you when you are out and about.
So be prepared for it.
Add a couple of sanitary pads or tampons to your emergency bag.
Pantyliners
While I’m not a regular pantyliner user, I use them on the last few days of my period.
And I know some people use them on ovulation days.
So make it a personal hygiene habit to always have a few with you.
Quick sweat hack: if you sweat a lot in your underarms, stick two pantyliners on your shirt armpits. This would soak up sweat and keep your clothes dry.
And… that’s another reason to have pantyliners in your female emergency bag.
Flushable wet wipes
These will be very useful when you use public bathrooms.
Or need to wash your hands, and there’s no water.
You don’t want to wipe with toilet paper and smear the stuff all over your butt.
So invest in a travel wipes dispenser to carry a few wet wipes in your emergency bag.
Face wipes
This may not be necessary since you don’t go about cleaning your whole face and wearing makeup from scratch again.
But just in case you have to, keep a few facial wipes in your bag.
Because you might want to wipe your face clean and feel fresh.
Hand sanitizer
We’ve all been there—in a situation when you need to wash your hands but cannot find anywhere to do it.
That’s where your hand sanitizer comes to the rescue.
Add a travel-size one to your emergency kit to sanitize your hands after using a public bathroom.
Or sanitize your hands as you deem fit.
Hand cream
Remember to keep a hand cream in your emergency bag to moisturize your hands whenever you wash them.
Deodorant
Thankfully, deodorants come in travel sizes, too.
So buy one and add it to your personal hygiene emergency bag.
You will be glad you have deodorant when you need to freshen up on hot sunny days.
Q-tips
I normally use Q-tips to clean melting eye pencils when I’m out.
So you can use it to wipe excess eyeliner, eye-shadow, and lipstick.
Lipbalm
If you don’t use lipsticks that last all day, you’ll have to reapply your lipstick at some point.
But if you don’t have lipstick, a lip balm would do.
If you don’t like regular clear lip balms, you can buy tinted ones.
They’re pretty and will keep your lips moisturized all day.
Now, add it to the emergency bag.
9. Wearing clean clothes
One more thing to do to improve your hygiene habits is to wear clean clothes.
Some of us like to wear a shirt twice before washing it.
I used to do that, too, but I stopped long ago when I started getting weird skin infections.
Also, wearing dirty clothing with all the sweat and oil is very uncomfortable.
Just thinking about it makes my skin itch.
Anyway, make it a habit to wear clean clothes all the time.
Recommended posts
7 Easy Tips To Smell Clean And Fresh All Day
Why It is Important To Have Good Personal Hygiene
- Having good personal hygiene is great for your physical and mental well-being.
- It also makes you confident with yourself and around people you know or don’t know.
- Good hygiene practices such as washing your hands may protect you from contracting cold and flu.
- Regular showering with soap and shower gloves can help you prevent bad body odors.
- Bathing and wearing clean clothes feel very good. Trust me; you’d love it.
- Washing with water after number two or before wearing a fresh, sanitary pad/tampon keeps you fresh. It can also help prevent odors in your area.
Let’s wrap up! Personal hygiene routine for every lady
Boom! Those are 9 personal hygiene habits you must practice to care for yourself properly.
I hope this helps you kick poor hygiene to the curb and learn good hygiene habits.
How do you take care of yourself?
Please share with us.
Also, remember to share this post on Pinterest and Facebook.
Thanks for reading.
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