Okay. This will be quick. It's not complicated.
In my book Clean, the introductory few sentences involve mention of my own personal experiments in hygiene. In total, the subject is several paragraphs out of a 70,000-ish word book. I wanted to mention my story out of transparency. But it's impossible to read the actual book and construe it as being about me.
In any case, I get a lot of questions from people who didn't read the book but heard something about it from someone, and feel genuinely concerned because they think I'm telling them not to use any products ever, like a maniac.
I wish the clickbait factories would stop manipulating people, and especially so by lying about my story. But they have no reason to, so all I can do is say again that if you're genuinely curious, please read the actual book. It actively pushes back against the idea that skincare products are all bad. It says that most are harmless, and many have benefits to the user that transcend chemistry, having much more to do with social dynamics.
Yet the most common question I get is some iteration of: What about sunscreen? If you're telling us not to use any products, what about that?
I shudder at the reading, and don't know how to reply. Because, again, I've never told anyone to stop using products. I never said that I stopped using soap, or that you should, or that you should stop showering or using any products. All of that is aspirational headline-writing by cynical people.
For those genuinely interested, I copy and paste this. So may as well make it public.
Yes, use sunscreen. It's very important. Sure, scrub it off at the end of the day. If you can't, though, that's also not cause for panic. The reason sunscreen has to be reapplied again and again is that it breaks down within a couple hours on your skin, at which point it either gets absorbed into your skin or starts to slough off. The product doesn't simply linger there indefinitely. (If it did, you wouldn't need to constantly "reapply!")
By the end of a day at the beach, whatever residue remains on your skin should easily come off if you rub your skin with a washcloth, wet or dry. A soap or detergent could make that process even easier, but aren't necessary.
That's all. If you like the fragrance and feel of a soap or detergent, fine, no big deal, have at it. If not, go without. The thesis of the book is that all of this is more within your control than the industries selling these products want you to imagine. It's true.
