I use Shampoo and body wash.
And I only use shampoo because I got a itchy head skin sometimes.
But I also shower very hot (sometimes my skin is a bit red) :p
this post was submitted on 11 Jan 2026
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We do? I wash my head and asshole with the same stuff I use on my horse.
I shower and wash with dish soap since I'm 12
How do you have any body oil remaining on your skin??
Yes, and I'm not dead yet honestly if I just die right now I don't think anyone will care
Soap and conditioner have opposite and incompatible roles. Soap strips away dirt and oils. Conditioner replaces the oils stripped away by soap that your hair needs, to maintain health.
You don't really need separate shampoo and body wash, you could wash your hair with standard bar soap. You do need separate conditioner.
Shampoo+conditioner combined together can either clean or apply oils to the hair, but chemically, it cannot do both, despite marketing.
Soap (although of course some soaps are actually detergents in disguise) can't necessarily replace shampoo. Soaps can react with hardness in the water and leave the residue on your hair. Detergents like shampoo do not react in that way. On the other hand, replacing your soap with a detergent like shampoo or body wash would be fine.
So basically shampoo/soap + conditioner is used to first chemically strip off natural oils and then replace them with chemicals.
Being a short haired dude I struggle to understand how hair, which is basically dead tissue would benefit from moisturizing, though I guess adding oils and silicone will probably make it look more glossy. And obviously give soap more stuff that needs to be removed on cleansing.
I dunno, this seems like a situation that is engineered purely for marketing purposes.
As a woman with long, curly hair, if I don't condition, I go from having nice curly waves to a ball of unmanageable frizz. I've also had to experiment with different shampoos to get the results I want, to clean my hair without damaging it. It definitely isn't engineered for marketing purposes. Ask anyone with long, curly, or kinky hair and they'll tell you how important their hair routine is. If you have short, straight hair, it probably doesn't matter nearly as much. Your hair is fully replaced in a few weeks. I need to keep my hair healthy for years. My hair is down to my sternum, and it took years to get this long. If I didn't take very good care of it with the right soaps and conditioner, it would not be able to be this long or this nice.
Reducing it to just chemicals and chemicals is well, reductive. Basically everything is a chemical. Your natural oils are chemicals. Sweat is a chemical. Dirt is chemicals. We need to wash out some chemicals, but we don't want dry scalps or damaged hair, so we need to use the right soaps and the right conditioner to remove those bad chemicals and replace them with chemicals to mimic our natural oils until they build back up. Most people probably don't need to wash their hair as often as they do, but conditioning is definitely not a marketing scam.
as a guy who often has shoulder length straight hair, if I don't condition, I go from having nice flowing waves to a frizzy dry mess that won't stay in place and just sticks out every which way
most recently I am trying the whole no shampoo thing, so we'll see how that goes
The struggle is real. I'm curious how that will go. My hair gets way too oily.
Being a short haired dude I struggle to understand how hair, which is basically dead tissue would benefit from moisturizing
What about leather, could it benefit from applying a layer of oil? Or wood? Or rubber? Or cast iron? Living tissue is not the only thing physically affected by moisture levels.
Oil seals in moisture to prevent hair from drying out, which, obviously, will change it's texture and elasticity. The skin on your head naturally produces grease to keep your hair moisturized, but when you wash with soap, it strips that grease out. If you shower regularly, you need to replace it.
I used the word "health" because it is commonly used to describe hair texture. You won't be medically unhealthy if you don't use conditioner, but your hair will probably be dry as shit and frizzy.
It's not about glossiness. I'm guessing you don't have frizzy hair, but it removes that, and allows hair to clump into locks, instead of a big cloud. If you have straight hair, then yes, the main benefit is being shinier.
I've seen pictures of people from the past with my hair type, from the time before conditioner. I will buy conditioner. Styling goops too. Do you mean everyone should cut their hair so short it doesn't matter? I like having styled hair - will agree it's culture/marketing but so what?
Could use shampoo as body wash, sure, not so different. I don't use natural soaps because in hard water they do more harm than good. Conditioner is a non negotiable. Sometimes I just rinse and condition, but never wash without conditioner-ing.
My husband keeps his hair very short but that involves haircut every two weeks, it's not cheaper overall.
I don't know, if you consider it as dead tissue, it makes sense it would break down over time, and certain oils could slow that process down.
Better question, how much body hair is required before shampoo becomes the default for everywhere?
It woild never happen as shampoo is meant for not just hair, but oily hair.
Even if you had the hariest of backs, it would probably be overall better for you to use soap.
“Jack of all trades; master of none”
"But better at all than a master of one."
This is the answer.
Well, If you’d like a woman’s perspective- it will do nothing but strip your skin and hair like extra strength laundry soap. Soap in general is really good at removing oil and dirt but it doesn’t distinguish. That is why conditioner is needed, to put back what the shampoo took out. Mixing them together make them both ineffective. As for soap, most body washes may make your skin soft, or have a certain scent - but you still have to wear lotion after. It’s the body wash’s conditioner so to speak. Shampoo can be modified to be less damaging, be safe for color, skin conditions or treat dandruff.
That’s why 3-1 is a gimmick. You don’t have to have 113 products. Just a shampoo, a conditioner, any soap at all and a good lotion.
I’ll tack on that some folks need a separate face wash, as the harshness of regular soap can screw up sensitive/dry skin.
Still, fully agree. Any singular soap is going to be better than a hodge-podge “all-in-one” bottle of god knows what.
Or they need more gentle body wash.
Realistically, most face wash products just (typically "sensitive skin") body wash diluted enough to work in a foaming dispenser.
Pro tip: Check if your face wash manufacturer makes a body wash with the same ingredients. If so, it's pretty good odds you're paying 5x the price/oz for something that's diluted ~2:1 with plain water - so 15x the price of the actual cleaning product just to not have to dilute it yourself.
I agree with that, besides- if you use bar soap you HAVE to have a face wash if you catch my drift.
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Same goes for cleaning your house, you can choose to a buy a single bottle of multipurpose cleaner and clean everything with that. Just pour it over dirty dishes, dirty laundry, sticky floors, smelly toilets. Just kidding of course, but there is a balance. You don't need handwash, feetwash, neckwash and bellywash because those areas are rather similar.
If you have sensitive or acne prone skin you better get something gentle for your face. If your hair doesn't gets clean with body wash (or you get dry or oily skin if you wash your body with shampoo), better get another product for that.
That leaves you with 1 to 3 cleaning products (bodywash, facewash, shampoo). If you not only want to clean, but also want to care you'll need 1 to 3 caring products (body lotion, face cream, conditioner). But capitalism means you can get 1 to infinity products, it's good you're questioning what you do and don't need.
3 in 1s are very water down. If all you want to do is remove grease from your hair and body, they are fine. You could use any generic men's body wash for the same effect.
If you're more concerned about your appearance and scent, them specialized products will give longer lasting and more noticable affect. Most people that use the all in ones don't particularly care if their hair has that extra bounce, or it looks shiny for the rest of the day if not longer. And also, they probably don't have longer hair that needs extra protection so brush or combs can glide through them and split ends are usually not an issue with shorter hair.
Various special products do more than all that even, but for most guys and some girls even with shorter hair, it's not worth the extra hassle to apply them all when basically any form of soap will remove the excess oil and leave them smelling clean.
Or their hair is straight, and don't understand frizzy conditioner-free hair. I'm a dude. My hair is not particularly long. I still like it to form locks, and not a cumulus cloud.
I used to use normal shampoo. Gave me horrible dandruff.
Then I tried out various anti-dandruff shampoos, which didn't make a difference.
Switched to curd soap, which made my hair dry and straw-like.
Switched to Aleppo bar soap, which made it oily.
Then I tried out the last option - nothing. I wash my hair once a week with only warm water, then brush it. And it's never looked better. Your results may vary.
My other half goes approximately the same approach. Only warm water every three or five days, the once oily hair gets much better, needs less washing, and very little dandruff too. I like simple method, at least it worked for us. :)
Body wash - Ass balls dick armpits 7x a week
Water - everything 7x a week
Shampoo - 1x a week
Conditioner - occasionally
Works good for me
If I do anything strenuous or dirty I will soap up my whole body.
Same except conditioner almost every wash unless I notice my hair getting oily/grimey, then I shampoo only
Shampoo cleans your scalp moreso than your hair. Conditioner makes your hair nicer moreso than your scalp. Both of them have unique needs because they're on your hair rather than just your skin, which is where you use soap.
Body soap everywhere. No shampoo. No conditioner. Infusion23 leave in conditioner after towel drying hair. ezpz
Each of us react differently to different cleaning products so you have to find the ones your skin and hair react to the best. You will find that will change as you age.
I get 3 in 1 but only use it as face and bodywash. I have long hair that doesn't play nice if I don't use decent shampoo and conditioner. But the 3 in 1 stuff isn't any more expensive than other bodywashes and there's enough fuzz everywhere else that I like a little conditioner in my soap.
[Happy Chewbacca Noises]
For me and my skin/hair/scalp, using no products when showering besides the occasional, situational use of a facial cleanser (always at the end) is best for me. I have very sensitive skin and I react poorly to most products.
After I stopped regularly using most products in the shower I stopped getting dandruff (my scalp is very healthy now), my short hair is always very soft (but never oily), my acne improved significantly, my skin isn't dry or irritated anymore (nor is it very oily in certain areas), and I have almost zero body odor (I'm somebody who sweats very little and has low body odor regardless - but I've still noticed an improvement).
I shower daily and use a deliberate, thorough washing routine, starting at my face and scalp and working downward to redistribute natural oils across my skin. I sometimes use a clean washcloth for exfoliation. This approach has worked well for my skin’s sensitivity and oil balance. I still use soap when it is reasonable and necessary to do so.
Have I bought into Big Soap capitalist propaganda without even noticing??
The skin’s oil layer (sebum) and its flora (microbiota) are critical to skin health, but I don’t think most commercial products are designed to support them.
Shelf space.
That is, filling the shelves at the supermarket with the illusion of choice. Manufactures want the most shelf space they can get so that you spend the most time looking at their product, but a huge shelf of the same product is also a turn off, so variations of a products are churned out. E.g. sensitive, no fragrance, varied fragrances, coloured hair, curly hair, 2in1, 3in1, pre-rinse, post-rinse, ad infinitum.
This is not intended to invalidate all the other replies talking about some of the technical differences (real or perceived).
They're mediocre products only used by men who don't give a fuck and suicidal women (I'm the former sometimes). If you have long hair, for instance, the "shampoo part" of this magic liquid will barely wash anything.
Go ahead and try a few 3 in one, see if you like any. But I would suggest diluted apple cider vinegar for hair, and biodegradable soap for the body, that's as simple as I've been able to get it.
Apple cider vinegar for fiber (like conditioning hair, and soften clothes) was my favorite thing to learn last year. Its crazy how good they work tbh
How else do you increase market share? Invent a need and product fill it
Scalp is skin so any wash that's safe for one is okay for the other. Hair is a different beast entirely. The ends of long hair are much older than the cells on your skin, and they need moisture plus detangling. However if you have very short hair the damage done by using a cheap 3 in 1 product will be cut off before it becomes noticeable.
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