Pick up your soap, it's time to pay attention to detail. Attention to detail is what makes all the difference when it comes to the amount of self-respect one has for themselves. Not only should you be practicing meticulous grooming rituals before you step out of the house and present yourself to the world, but you should also be taking care of yourself when you're at home when no one is watching. To pay attention to yourself and your hygiene solely when you present yourself to others means one thing; you lack a sufficient amount of self respect and esteem the opinions others hold of you more than the opinion you hold of yourself.
When you act in such a way that you demand respect of yourself regardless of who’s watching you, you build a healthy sense of self-esteem and self-respect.
Yes, we all want to make a great first impression and people's opinions DO matter to us, because after all, human beings have an innate desire to want to fit in, and feel a sense of belonging, there's nothing wrong with that. However, since there is ONE person who spends the majority of the time with you day in and day out, their opinion of you matters the MOST. And that person, is yourself.
How do you treat yourself? How do you see yourself? Do you cherish the fact that you even have a fully functioning body? Do you treat yourself with self-respect? You shouldn't only clean and organize YOUR living space when people are coming over, your space should be in order at all times because you live there.
The following hygiene rituals may seem unimportant and perhaps are the most neglected. However, take into consideration that before receiving the respect of others, you need to demand it from yourself. It takes 66 days to form a habit before it becomes autonomous. I challenge you to take better care of yourself, you’ll end up looking better, feeling better, demanding respect from yourself, and as a result gaining the respect of others. You are exactly what you feel yourself to be. Take the time to feel better about yourself, while having a clean conscience and meriting a sense of self-worth through your own actions and how you treat the person you love most with a sense of respect, yourself.
So pick up your soap, it's time to clean.
1. Hand health
Washing
Even before the Covid outbreak, you should already have been in the habit of regularly washing your hands. Cultures that are accustomed to eating with their hands (India, North Africa, The Middle East) seem to have had a better understanding of hand to mouth hygiene than westerners and have instilled good habits from the beginning. Those that eat with their hands, have a greater sense of appreciation and respect for their hands, as well as food they put in their bodies. Your hands are sacred and should be treated with respect, regular hand washing unfortunately, is something that many people pre covid were not in the habit of practicing. Ritually wash your hands before you eat, after you eat, coming and going to the washroom, and touching anything that you hold in high regards out of respect for yourself, and whatever you happen to be handling.
Moisturizing
Anyone who makes their living through a trade understands the importance of properly moisturizing their hands. Constant washing with soap can lead to dry irritated skin which then leads to cracking, open-cut wounds, and bleeding. Moisturize at least once a day to protect the skin on your hands from drying out.
Nails
While it’s not necessary to accompany your girlfriend’s weekly visits to her favorite “Crystal Nail” manicure and pedicure salon, taking basic care of your nails is. Nothing complicated here except for keeping your nails clipped short, filed, and scraped out of any excess debris that sticks underneath your nail beds. The debris that builds up and collects under your nails is full of bacteria, dirt, and potential viruses that facilitate the spreading of germs to yourself and others.
2.Ears lobes
Not only does ridding the excess wax from the interior of your ear’s aid drastically in improving your sense of hearing but it’s also a safe hygiene measure to rid collected bacteria from the winds of outdoors. Moreover, cleaning the exterior of your ears with Soap AND water, namely the grease and residue from behind the ears and under the connection of detached earlobes (If you have detached earlobes!) is equally important and often neglected.
3.Eyes boogers
Many people forget that the eyes act just like the nose, and without regular cleaning (especially in the morning) eye boogers accumulate around the corner of the eyes. Regular washing of the eyes first thing in the morning either with water or eyewash is a sure way to make sure that when you are conversing with someone, they're not cringing at the sight of your eye boogers.
4.Armpit hair
Summers finally here, and now is the time to get active and participate in sports outside! That means wearing the proper summer apparel that will aid in keeping you cool and refreshed while making a fashion statement. Just keep in mind the length of your armpit hair when you reach your arms over your head while wearing a sleeveless shirt. Some people tend to grow very long straggly armpit hair that resembles what hair in their pubic region looks like. If you trim down there, you should also trim the stragglers under your arms as well. I recommend taking a personal clipper and placing a #3 guard on it while removing the length of the hair. Going anything shorter than a #3 will be too short, and as a result, prick you upon any movement of the arms
5.Heel callouses
The skin of the heels of the feet tends to be hard and calloused due to the repetitive pressure of walking, regardless if your wearing socks and shoes. Calloused and chapped skin can cause cracks and ruptures. Taking the time to either moisturize your heels or use a pumice stone with warm water while working off the dead skin contributes to healthy looking feet
6. Belly Button Wax
Do you have an inny or an outty? Well, either way, you're going to have to pay attention to the hygiene of your belly button and clean it regularly. People with innys or deeper belly buttons are going to have to pay closer attention to detail and make sure to open up and clean around the crevices. Use soap and water with a cloth to softly loosen any hardened material and if there seems to be a corner you just can't reach, be very gentle while using a Q-tip.
7.Knees and knee pits
Your knee pits, or any crevice and fold in your body sweat just as much as your armpits during hot summer days. Good thing they don’t grow hair…(At least I’ve never seen a hairy knee pit).
The skin around your knees also tends to dry out so they may need to be moisturized every so often as to avoid a pair of old pruny knees.
8. Lifter's Callouses
For everyone who lifts weights, the formation of callouses under your fingers is inevitable. While it can be the best preventative measure for callouses, we all know that using gloves is a good way to cheat your grip strength from developing in proportion to your arms. However, ignoring the formation of callouses and continuing to lift weights happens to be quite uncomfortable for the nerves underneath the callouses, as they tend to get so hard and protrude, and tend to start to push inwards causing discomfort. Soaking your hands in warm water for 60 seconds and gently using a pumice stone over the course of a few days to slowly remove the callouses is the best way to deal with them. Besides being uncomfortable for yourself, they tend to feel awkward when holding your partner's hand.
9. Mustache / Beard Washing
While nearly anyone can properly grow out a beard with little to no effort, not everyone has the sense to properly maintain one. Beard hair and body or head hair are two very different types of hair and need to be treated differently in order to avoid skin complications. Beards and mustaches need to be washed periodically due to their ability to act as filters and attract dirt, debris, and bacteria from the air. Besides the fact that the skin on your face tends to be thinner than the skin on your body, separate hygiene measures must be taken into account when dealing with the face and body. Using a properly formulated beard shampoo will help to avoid drying out the sensitive skin on your face, giving cause to rash, dry white spots, and potentially eczema. After properly caring for the skin and follicles AROUND the face, the facial hair itself needs to be treated. Properly nourishing your beard or mustache with an effective beard oil, will ensure that the hair grows out healthy, thick, and contributes to the avoidance of tangling.
10.Foreskin
If you happen to be uncircumcised, you're going to have to take an extra step to ensure the proper hygiene of your penis. While using soap around the sensitive urethra area is unnecessary and can contribute to uncomfortable irritation and stinging, there is one hygiene measure that believes it or not, many men are not accustomed to, and never adequately learned how to properly clean their penis. Pulling back the foreskin and washing underneath the ridge of the head of the penis as well as underneath where the foreskin is attached to the bottom of the head of the penis Is imperative to proper penis hygiene. Washing underneath the penis and testicles as well as in between and alongside the crevices of the groin need to be done every time after ejaculation, any sexual activity, at the beginning and end of the day, and after any physical activity whatsoever. This is non-negotiable and under no circumstance should you let the one organ which defines your masculinity deteriorate. Not only for your partner but out of respect for yourself as well.
By paying attention to seemingly minuscule cleaning rituals, not only will you actually BE cleaner, but you will appear cleaner, feel cleaner, and be contributing to your overall sense of self-respect, and the respect of others towards you as well.
