Deep in the algorithms of my social media lies the satisfying genre of random deep-cleaning videos. I’m talking about the grout scrapers, car detailers, kitchen cleaners and pressure washers. But what if someone could perform a deep-clean on themself? Well, you actually can.
An innovative self-care routine has taken over Gen Z in 2023. With over 327.7 million views on TikTok, the everything shower has even the most stressed person walking out of the bathroom feeling brand new, and it’s exactly what you think it is — a bathroom routine that cleans and takes care of everything on your body.
This regime of soap was created initially for women to complete all of their maintenance in one trip. Lindsay Ray of Glam Magazine said she reserves everything showers for “those occasional moments when you need to do it all — from washing the hair to exfoliating the body and shaving the legs.”
Based on the extensive amount of everything shower tutorials, most practitioners start with a pre-shower treatment plan even before lathering up. This can range from small tasks, like brushing your hair, to applying an exfoliating face mask. Then, you can put on your favorite comfort songs, light a candle and you’re ready to start.
Now, this may not sound appealing for many men as this is a trend catering toward women’s health specifically. However, I strongly believe that all people should create their own everything shower.
Personally, I take long showers at the end of a long day of working, bring as many products as I can into the shower and play some music while I replenish. My “everything” consists of hair care, face and skin care, body shaving and even dental care. Everything showers are for everyone, it just might look different for each individual.
Extensive bathroom practices like this are nothing new either, but users all over the world are finding that there are significant mental benefits as well as physical.
A group of researchers led by Spike W.S. Lee, associate professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, published their studies in July 2022 on cleaning and response to stress.
The findings indicated significant evidence that all types of cleaning reduced the anxiety levels of their subjects during stressful events. Thus, the team concluded that daily cleaning behaviors can alleviate physical and psychological risk.
Especially during a part of your life that’s full of anxiety-inducing hell, college should also be the time where you develop your best coping mechanisms for these issues, and an everything shower is definitely one way to do it.
This ties back into a large, crucial conclusion from Lee’s study — participating in cleaning practices can decrease stress and anxiety even during stressful situations.
Showers are one of few things in life where you can be completely isolated from the world and feel like you are in complete control.
Dr. Peter Bongiorno, president of the New York Association of Naturopathic Physicians, explained in a Psychology Today article that medical research supports using hot and cold baths to help increase brain function. We can only theorize that an everything shower must affect brain efficiency too.
While an everything shower takes lots of work, preparation and can cost some money in products, Bongiorno remains adamant that even a nice, simple shower can do wonders for mental health.
During a cold shower — the recommended temperature by experts — the body conserves heat and replenishes the brain and vital organs with fresh blood. Essentially, adding a colder element to your everything shower may deep-clean your brain too.
In the end, it won’t matter how you groom yourself or how often you take one of those long everything showers. But it does matter how you care about you. So, as Tom Haverford said,“treat yo self!”
