Personal hygiene: If you reek, don’t speak

Why personal hygiene is important and shouldn’t be ignored

KARACHI:

If you look around, you will notice that cleanliness and hygiene are often ignored — maybe the person sitting on your right didn’t brush her hair, or the person on your left didn’t wash his face in the morning.

Why does this happen? Is it so hard to clean up before leaving the house? In a city where power outages and high temperatures leave us lethargic and sweaty, it’s our responsibility to keep ourselves fresh and, above all, clean. Here’s how:

Breath issues:



Bad breath is a major turn off. People will not want to speak to you and will be repelled by you. If you don’t believe in brushing your teeth or in the power of a refreshing mouth wash, keep mints or gum on you.

Deodorant — what’s that:



A misconception people seem to have is that body sprays are enough to beat the sweltering heat. They aren’t. Roll-on deos are a must-have and they must be used at all cost. Body sprays are just the icing on top — but they are to be applied on the skin and not your clothes. If you want something to spray on your clothing, then use perfumes.

Do your laundry:



Yes, there are people who don’t believe in washing their dirty clothes. “I just wore this shirt once, it doesn’t need to be washed.” Guess what, it does. In winter, you might just get away with wearing a shirt twice without washing it but in summer, it won’t go unnoticed.

Wash your hands after meals:



After gorging on nihari and other aromatic desi food, most of us feel just washing our hands with water (no soap or sanitiser) will do the trick. It won’t. It’s time to stock up on some sanitisers.

Cut your nails:



Extra long (and dirty) nails are not acceptable and are simply gross. The first thing people look at are your hands and feet (after your face) and the first impression might just be the last. Getting regular manicures and pedicures is probably a good idea.

Brush your hair:



In only takes two minutes. You don’t need to get crazy with the perfect hairdo or hairstyle but running a comb through your hair before leaving the house will do the job.

Showers:



A shower a day will keep the stench away. Invest in anti-bacterial body wash which will fight the germs and keep you clean. If you want to go the extra mile, get your hands on a bottle of foot or body scrub and exfoliate all the dirt away.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 27^th, 2013.

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