I’ve got curly hair, and wash day requires a bit of work. I apply styling products to sopping wet hair, so they’re in the shower. I don’t use all of the products every time, but they all need to be in there.
One sulfate-free shampoo
One clarifying shampoo
Four bottles of conditioner (depends on what my hair needs that day)
One bottle of lightweight styling lotion
One bottle of curl cream
One bottle leave-in conditioner
One bottle of gel
One bottle shower gel
One bottle face wash
Me:
One bottle of scented Old Spice shampoo
One bottle of scented Old Spice body wash
One bottle of Cetaphil skin cleanser
Bar of Dial soap for the naughty bits (old habit from my hospice days. We learned in CNA training that bar soap has superior antibacterial properties. No idea if it’s true but it’s a habit by now.)
Bottle of Aussie shampoo that I used to use but don’t anymore and I’m too cheap to throw out.
Bottle (actually looks like a toothpaste tube that hangs from the shower head) of Avon shampoo that I used to use but don’t anymore because it aggravated my rosacea. But im too cheap / lazy to throw out.
Wife:
Bottle of shampoo
Bottle of conditioner
Bottle of dandruff shampoo
A different bottle of conditioner for Reasons.
Kid 1:
Bottle of Axe shampoo
Bottle of Axe body wash
Kid 2:
Bottle of Axe shampoo, different from kid 1
Bottle of Axe body wash, different from kid 1
So that’s what, 13 bottles and 1 bar of soap for 4 people.
I wish Irish Spring made a shampoo in their original scent. I’d be on that like holy on the Pope and get rid of half my hoard.
I used to use head-n-shoulders combined shampoo and conditioner as both shampoo and body wash. Then I did a little casual reading here and there and got the impression that shampoo and conditioner may (or may not) be basically existing to justify the other’s existence, in a wax on/wax off sort of way, and there’re people who propose that neither is necessary. (It’s called the “no poo” movement, by people who clearly are completely sober and serious.) After reading about this, I decided to experiment, and stopped using the shampoo. Now, some no-pooers try various replacement substances that seem less chemically, but I’m a dude with short hair so I figured I could go cold turkey. So I did. The upshot of this was that after a couple weeks of greasy hair it all cleared up, got fuller, and lost some of its curl. Probably the most remarkable part was when during a haircut the hairdresser asked me with interest what shampoo I used. When I informed her of the poo-free thing, her response was basically, ‘huh’.
Now, the alert among you will note that giving up the shampoo resulted in me being soapless too. I was aware of this, and kept an eye on the situation to see how showering with just high-pressure water would effect things like body odor. The result was…I now have to shower daily, not every other day. That seems to be pretty much it. I have a sedentary life and don’t sweat much and it seems to just work out. I’d do something about it if I had to but it seems I don’t.
I do keep an old bottle of shampoo around in case I have some kind of emergency (like if I got something nasty in my hair). But it doesn’t live in the shower.
I live alone. I currently have a little more shampoo than normal and I’m out of the soft scrub that I usually keep in there, so right now I have one bar of soap and three bottles of shampoo.
I have plenty of shelves though, so it’s not a problem.
1 bottle each of shampoo and conditioner, 1 bottle of Dr Bronner’s peppermint liquid soap, 1 bottle of citrus body wash for guests and a bottle of cinnamon toothpaste because I like to brush my teeth in the shower. That’s it.
I was visiting my sister this weekend. It’s her, her daughter, and her granddaughter. I didn’t count but there were probably twenty or thirty different products around the shower.
My supply is much more limited. In my shower, I have a bar of soap and a bottle of shampoo. At my sink, I have a bottle of liquid soap and a tube of toothpaste.
Four. A bar of Ivory for my husband, a bottle of body wash for myself and my brother-in-law, a bottle of coal tar shampoo for me and a bottle of regular Head & Shoulders shampoo.
