What Happens If You Don't Shower for a Month?

Every morning or every night. Before going out. Definitely after the big game.

For most people, showering is routine. But for some, it’s religion.

But if lots of showering makes you feel divine, your body might be the real miracle worker. The average human spends more than a year of their life in the shower. And according to most dermatologists, that’s way too much.

But how else are you supposed to keep looking and smelling your best? While it’s no secret that scrubbing removes dirt, sweat, and harmful bacteria; it also strips away natural fats and lipids that hydrate your skin.

The more you shower, the less time your body has to replenish this healthy layer of moisturizing bacteria. So if you stop showering, will your body just clean itself?

Um… it would be healthier… for you…but not for everyone else…

Once you give up showering, you’ll start to see a difference in as little as three days. Your skin will be noticeably drier, and your hair greasier. One of the first signs of “progress” will be that your hair will stay in place when combed back, no product needed!

After going 5 days without showering, you should probably start warning people before you enter a room. Then again, they’ll smell you coming. If you’re doing this challenge without deodorant, then put the savings towards a T-shirt budget.

Sweat stains will be so bad that your shirts will be “one wear and throw out” items. After 10 days, you can throw your comb out too. Your hair will be so greasy and matted that you won’t be able to run a brush through it; which is both good and bad. Your scalp would be so itchy that any relief would be welcome, but at the same time, any contact with your head will no doubt show how bad your dandruff problem is.

By day 20, it’s hard to believe you’re human. Friends and family no longer acknowledge your existence, and you can barely stand your own smell, let alone your appearance.

Days and nights of scratching your dry, itchy skin will be obvious from festering sores on your body. And if you thought you were past getting acne, congratulations, you’re 13 again!

You’re ready to give up, but just wait a little longer. By the end of the month, after rinsing only with water, the layer of healthy bacteria that your body produces will be completely restored.

The acne goes away on its own, and your skin will probably start looking better than it ever did when you were showering. But will it have been worth it?

Probably not. You’ll still smell terrible.

While sweat doesn’t actually emit any odor, it does produce fatty acids and proteins that your skin bacteria feed on; it’s their metabolic process that gives off that nasty smell.

So yeah, keep using soap, keep showering, but maybe dial back how often you do it. Why dedicate a year of your life to standing in the shower, when you can free up some of that time to watch more ‘What If?’