Bathing In Bacteria: Journalist Ditches Basic Hygiene For A Month – With Amazing Results
Julia Scott swapped shampoo, soap and deodorant for a bacteria water spray and was shocked by what she discovered (after her armpits stopped smelling like onions)
We wash ourselves with soap, clean our hair with shampoo and conceal body odour with deodorant.
But have you ever stopped to think that actually we don’t need any of that stuff – and considered just living with the bacteria on our bodies?
One US journalist did exactly that and was shocked by what she found.
Julia Scott, from The New York Times, ditched all hygiene products for a month (including shampoo, soap and deodorant) and instead embraced a pro-bacteria lifestyle.
She sprayed herself with a ‘living bacterial skin tonic’ – essentially a bacteria water spray every day for four weeks.
“The tonic looks, feels and tastes like water, but each spray bottle of AO+ Refreshing Cosmetic Mist contains billions of cultivated Nitrosomonas eutropha, an ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB) that is most commonly found in dirt and untreated water,” she wrote.
AOBiome, the bio-tech start-up that created the bacteria spray, said that people used to have the natural bacteria on our bodies before we started washing it away with soap.
Pre-soap and shampoo days, the bacteria acted as a natural cleanser, deodorant and and immune booster on our bodies.
At first, Julia didn’t notice any changes despite not keeping up a regular hygiene routine – except greasy hair.
“People began asking if I'd 'done something new' with my hair, which turned a full shade darker for being coated in oil that my scalp wouldn't stop producing,” she said.
The lack of deodorant also became an issue and friends noticed her ‘onion-smelling’ armpits – but before long, her body began cleansing itself WITHOUT products.
She said she actually smelt better after using the bacteria spray – and her skin (plagued by years of anti-acne products) began to change in a positive way too.
By the end of the four-week experiment, the journalist ‘embraced’ the pro-bacteria lifestyle and felt repelled by the whiff of the chemicals coming from her beauty cupboard.
“On the last day of the experiment, I opened it up, wrinkling my nose at the chemical odor,” she said.
“Almost everything in the cooler was a synthesized liquid surfactant, with lab-manufactured ingredients engineered to smell good and add moisture to replace the oils they washed away."
Instead, she invested in a fragrance-free shampoo and basic soap – but of course, once she started using these, the ‘good’ bacteria washed away.
The best part of the experiment is that it’s not impossible for anyone to achieve. It’s how people used to live – but the greasy hair, smelly pits and dirty hands aren’t exactly for the faint hearted.
Would you consider going pro-bacteria? Let us know in the comments or on Twitter, now.
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