SOAP BAR OR SHOWER GEL

 

SOAP BAR OR SHOWER GEL

I prefer to use a soap bar in the shower rather than its younger liquidy siblings, body wash or shower gels. Call me old-fashioned and as indeed I am, in my seventies, I do not mind.

The soap, once you hold in the hand, you can use it with eyes shut. The eyes are usually shut under the shower. No fumbling with plastic bottles and caps. No risk of two thirds of gel in one’s palm ending up (down!) cleaning the floor rather than one’s corpus. What a waste! 

And that is just a tiny annoyance compared to the fact that the slimy gel makes the floor more dangerous than the aptly named “Harakiri” skiing slopes in Mayrhofen, Austria, its snowy slope has a gradient of 78%! 

Yes, the soap bar sometimes slips out from one’s fingers but that is rare if one is a regular user and does not change the brand too often. The varied brands have an irritating habit of coming in different weights, shapes, and sizes playing havoc with our kinaesthetic memory. Luckily by the time you are as old as me you should have found your favourite soap.

 The soap, sliding slowly and smoothly on one’s skin under the warm
shower produces an immensely luxuriant and hedonistic experience. The only danger here is forgetting the ticking of clock and emptying the hot water tank!

The bodywash and gel on the other hand remind me of a hurried and harassed, utilitarian lifestyle. For me, these bottled concoctions will not do.

I use the word “concoctions “deliberately. If you care to look at the ingredients listed on the bottle you will understand what I mean. To fit the extensive list on the label they miniaturise the fonts so much that to read them with ease you will need nothing less than an electron microscope! Does one really wish to rub all these chemicals on skin and pay a premium for the privilege?

Lamentably some manufacturers are putting many of these chemicals in the bar soaps as well but like for like the list is still much smaller than that in the wash and gels.

Essentially, a soap or a gel is there for removing the dirt, sweat and excess grease from the body surface. And the bar does that better, cheaper, and safely.

Oh, I forgot that by using the soap you are also Saving the Planet by reducing the use of plastic waste, which is producing new rubbish mountains on land, clogging of the waterways and creating mega plastic islands in the sea.

In case you, the dear reader, object to my occasional emptying of the hot water tank, I am planning to put an electronic timer chip in the shower and use a renewable source of energy. Just waiting for the G-20 countries to fork out some dough to a poor pensioner in the spirit of COP26!