Hygiene advice for men and women

for shaving, it depends on what kind of shaving you are talking about. a nice manual razor works wonders for your face, and other "not complicated" parts of your body. You dont actually need to spend too much on razors either, there are alternatives to the insanely overpriced options out there that are 90% as sharp, for 50% the cost. I cant go back to an electric razor after getting my first proper shave at a barber back in the day, it just is unable to cut as close, and you dont feel nearly as clean. With a manual razor, with decent technique, you get a very nice silky smooth shave. Its actually not hard to use a manual razor either, especially if you know how to use a knife properly, and understand how to cut things. Make sure to use some kind of shaving cream or other lubrication (water doesnt count). Use minor pressure to keep the blade against the skin, dont push down hard, or it will dig and cut, just enough pressure to ensure that the blades glide against your skin consistently. You want to go slow and steady. Having some aftershave lotion/balm helps tremendously in keeping your skin nice and soft as well. If you are thinking about shaving for your "tender bits", unless you are comfortable with a open faced blade scraping against them, electric will do the job. They make proper body groomer electric razors that are designed for such use. A good quality electric body groomer will make the job easy, while presenting little to no danger of a "horrifying accident" happening. Just make sure you take your time, don't rush things. Also, when buying a grooming tool, you want to avoid most no-name brands, even if the price is tempting, do you trust that a no-name brand will keep your sensitive parts safe? for teeth, of course you want to at least get a decent toothbrush, electric toothbrushes are nice, since they are able to scrub your teeth better than a manual one, but they are not a requirement. If you are not convinced an electric toothbrush is better, go scrub some grout in your bathroom. Try it with just a manual brush, then get one of those electric grout scrubbers (which is basically just an electric toothbrush). Let me know which one cleans the grout easier and better. Electric toothbrushes also are more brutal on your teeth if you have something like a temporary filling, so you want to completely avoid them if you have something like that. When brushing, do note that gum health is important, you want to make sure you are brushing the area where your teeth go into your gums, to avoid gingivitis. Gingivitis is where your gums would recede, and if it gets bad enough, your teeth would fall out... Dont brush too hard or too often, as it can be bad for your gums, you are trying to keep things clean, not . 1-2x a day is fine, more than that on a regular basis is overkill and more likely to be bad for your oral health. Also, dont forget to floss, getting crap between your teeth is a great way to get either inflamed gums, or is fuel for cavities. You dont need to floss as often as you brush, but you still want to do it regularly. For showering/bathing, of course you want to do so on a regular basis, however, taking multiple showers in a day is actually detrimental for your skin. Soap and other cleaning products are degreasers, and you need a certain amount of natural oil in your skin, else you have dry, itchy, chapped skin. Dirt cheap soaps and shampoos tend to be harsher on your skin, as they usually dont have any hydrating ingredients. If you feel your skin to be too dried out, a good quality lotion will help as well. Also, for fragrance, there are a million options out there, but there is a nice balance to have. you usually dont want to drench yourself in fragrance, as that is obnoxious to everyone. Just remember the nasty dudes in high-school that treat body spray like a shower in a can... deodorant and fragrance can only do so much if you, yourself already smell like a dead skunk. Choosing a scent is a personal thing. Since everyone has somewhat different tastes, either, ask for the opinion of your love interest/lover, or go for something that you find really nice yourself. In the end, you will always have at least your own opinion to fall back on. You dont need ultra expensive stuff to smell nice for a decent amount of time, but you might not want to get the cheapo $10 for a massive bottle option either, as cheap perfume has a pretty obvious signature. Also, if you didn't know, most super expensive perfumes are mostly a ripoff anyways, the actual cost of the product is a couple bucks at most to make, even with marketing and "R&D" added on. Personal hygiene should be something to actually pay attention to. You dont need to obsess over it, but a basic level will do fine. It is for both your own health, and for the sanity of others around you. Its a lot harder to make friends when the first impression you give, is that you are a complete slob that doesnt care enough to even keep yourself moderately clean. Think about it, would that give the impression that you would care much about others, if you didnt care about yourself? ...I just realized how much I wrote about this topic... On the actual opinion and personal use side of things. I lean more on the side of simple, but effective. I usually use relatively neutral smelling shampoo and soap that doesnt have a strong scent, and instead, I wear EdT whenever I'm out and about. I have a decent everyday scent of mainly yuzu (Japanese citrus, think between a lemon, orange, and grapefruit, but less sour), which is nice and fresh. Though, I am trying to branch out and find some other options. Harrys is my choice of razor, as I find them to be almost as good as the highest end easily available razors, but are actually worth the price (Flamingo is the women's line that they make). Harrys is a brand that was started because of the outrageous prices on razors to go against the grain ($2 a replacement head, vs $3.75 for something like a Gillette Proglide). My lotion of choice is Lubriderm, as it tends to be non-greasy, and is quite effective for everyday use from my experience. Of course, all of the things I talk about are in the context of me being in the USA. Edited for formatting

Sonicare. I'm on my third one. I've had one since college. I think in that time I only had one small cavity. They make a difference [AS DOES FLOSSING - SUBMIT, SUBMIT]. The Oral B ones that try to compete suck (tried one and went back to Sonicare).

The only problem for most people, is that a very nice electric toothbrush is both expensive to buy, and to maintain. The legit replacement brushes are damned expensive, combine that with the base unit I got, which was like $120 at the time.

It's definitely an investment, and you can find generic replacement heads in bundles. But would rather invest in preventative care than deal with the dentist bills + drill noise.

I get a supply of different Squatch soaps delivered every 3 months. Yeah, the commercials get carried away, but the soap is great. I used to just buy Dove soap in bulk thinking I was being a soap elitist, but then I looked up the ingredients in your normal soaps at retail stores compared to what's in a bar of Squatch. It's honestly kinda shocking. Bar of Dove soap: Sodium Lauroyl Isethionate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Tallowate, Lauric Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Water, Sodium Stearate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Sodium Cocoate Or Sodium Palm Kernelate, Fragrance, Sodium Chloride, Tetrasodium Edta, Tetrasodium Etidronate, Titanium Dioxide Bar of Squatch soap (Bay Rum scent): Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Natural Fragrance, Kaolin Clay, Sea Salt... THAT'S IT.

^^Been thinking about getting into soap making as well as hot sauce. I think I'm looking for anything I can do besides the soul sucking office job I have. lol

I want to make something like this, a cheaper one works but if I can get the geometry right why not go fancy with the steel and handle choice?

Shaving is fun, but do not do it too frequently. Even with aftershave, razor bumps are unavoidable. Learned that the hard way with my last date.