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I used to shower daily but now in my dotage I really don't need to. BO is a thing of the past. I can go 5, 6 days without getting ripe. In my 20s though I sometimes showered twice a day. It really depends on your phase of life, activity and anxiety levels, etc. It would be a different story if I didn't have air conditioning and a desk job.
The OP can't possibly know how often the niece bathes, I'd presume, unless she smells like she doesn't bathe. If it's a problem, have a conversation about it. It will quickly become apparent whether she doesn't give a fig, or if self loathing is involved. Ultimately though as an adult, assuming she is functioning (earning a living, paying taxes, not frightening small children) if she wants to smell like a pigsty that is her affair.
You try to tell someone they have bad hygiene in a polite way that you know how. No one wants to be around other people who stink. If the stinky person doesn't listen, he/she will either figure it out in time or not.
IMHO twice a week is fine for many women assuming one doesn't participate in activities or work that gets them dirty or sweaty. Once a week might be stretching it as the oil will build up in the hair causing a potential less than fresh smell.
Americans are overly fixated on this kind of thing.
It never fails that immediately after the building has been sanitized by the cleaning crew at work someone will comment how "clean" it smells. No, it doesn't smell CLEAN it smells like chemicals!!! Its ridiculous the extent people have been conditioned by our culture that they can't even recognize something THAT simple.
I used to shower daily but now in my dotage I really don't need to. BO is a thing of the past. I can go 5, 6 days without getting ripe. In my 20s though I sometimes showered twice a day. It really depends on your phase of life, activity and anxiety levels, etc. It would be a different story if I didn't have air conditioning and a desk job.
The OP can't possibly know how often the niece bathes, I'd presume, unless she smells like she doesn't bathe. If it's a problem, have a conversation about it. It will quickly become apparent whether she doesn't give a fig, or if self loathing is involved. Ultimately though as an adult, assuming she is functioning (earning a living, paying taxes, not frightening small children) if she wants to smell like a pigsty that is her affair.
I'm not saying I doubt you, you're one smart dude and your posts on a certain other forum have always make me smile. And sure, one's hormonal profile changes at certain points in one's life and can definitely impact such things as hormone production and sweating/constituents of sweat. But you're aware that sense of smell dims as one gets older, correct?
Well, in Europe, they have the ingenious bidet to clean the only parts that really require daily cleaning.
Europe: smarter in every way!
Well, a little hard to wash the armpits with a bidet, though. That's where a soapy washrag comes in - and the pits still need it for practically everyone.
To me, people who don't care about their hygiene have no confidence nor pride in themselves and what they are capable of.
Depression is like death while alive. You can be intelligent, aware, have a good idea of what you should be doing etc. Once it is triggered and get a hold of you emotionally, the physical "living dead" bio-chemistry follows? then you feel out of it. You love to shower, know what you are supposed to do, but you feel dead. Ones you push your self to the shower, it will bring you to life better than before. Water is more than cleaning, there is a healing element to it.
No, she doesn't wear black all the time. She wears jeans and tops like most girls her age.
After reading people's posts, I'm thinking that this is probably laziness and a stage that some young people go through. My niece is not a go-getter by any means. Maybe she doesn't feel like she needs to bathe since she rarely exercises or works up a sweat.
I'm not around my family other than holidays, but this topic came up several times and we have been baffled by this behavior. I know we can't truly understand what drives other people's behavior, but it's interesting to get other people's objective opinions.
One poster mentioned that many people have skin problems because they wash too much with harsh chemicals. I don't disagree with you, but I think going 5 days without a bath or shower is too long.
In some hipster circles it is considered chic not to bathe. I don't know why... But like, half of my coworkers at one of my old jobs just didn't bathe. It was constant b.o. All the time. One girl said that she thought it was better to smell "natural", another guy biked everywhere and didn't want to bother showering on the daily. I worked with a lot of intelligent, college educated, smelly people. I think it's a phase. Some of my coworkers were alcoholics though, and whiskey sweat has a very distinct odor to it - so that might have been part of the issue.
You DO realize that the majority of people around the world don't bathe daily, right? Cleanliness, hygiene and daily bathing is very much a "western" thing. Go to China, South America, Africa, France, etc.. you'll meet plenty that don't have the same standards as we do.
I also bathe daily -- yet it should be noted that it's a social problem. Perhaps it's not so much a drug/mental health issue as much as it is a "she's never been socialized or ridiculed enough to know it's expected" issue.
Have you made it known to her how badly most of us think of people who don't bathe?
OLD POST but it brings up an interesting point
occasionally, in this global economy of ours, we will get someone from Germany, france, Romania, china, south korea etc in our office for a few months...training or whatever...and its unbelievable the differences in personal hygiene
we had a guy from france who wore the same clothes 2-3 times in a row, and had the worst body odor ive ever encountered...office manager had to tell him (just once) that he needed to bath every day...actually hurt this guys feelings...he did and it was fine for the last 2 of the 3 months he was here...he claimed that back home, people only bathed once a week or so...maybe we are too pampered LOL...but man that was the most god awful body odor I ever encountered...I couldn't eat at my desk
occasionally, in this global economy of ours, we will get someone from Germany, france, Romania, china, south korea etc in our office for a few months...training or whatever...and its unbelievable the differences in personal hygiene
we had a guy from france who wore the same clothes 2-3 times in a row, and had the worst body odor ive ever encountered...office manager had to tell him (just once) that he needed to bath every day...actually hurt this guys feelings...he did and it was fine for the last 2 of the 3 months he was here...he claimed that back home, people only bathed once a week or so...maybe we are too pampered LOL...but man that was the most god awful body odor I ever encountered...I couldn't eat at my desk
That guy was full of it. I've met tons of exchange students and people from overseas. Bathing once a week and wearing the same clothes 3 days in a row is absolutely not normal.
I might give a break to a dude living in third world conditions, but France isn't one of them.
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And sure, one's hormonal profile changes at certain points in one's life and can definitely impact such things as hormone production and sweating/constituents of sweat. But you're aware that sense of smell dims as one gets older, correct?
