Shower Products

There are three parts to the human body that are prone to dirt, grease, oil and all sorts of grime. These are the scalp, the face and the skin. The skin, as it is the largest organ of the body, naturally has the greatest potential to develop dirt and grime. That is why it is important to keep our skin clean and free from impurities.

The term 'shower' can be derived from the 12th-century Old French word 'escourre'. The shower is a handy device for cleaning our skin. It allows us to wash away grease, oil and all sorts of grime accumulated on our bodies from the day's work. There are several types of showers that people use but the most popular ones are bathtubs and showers.

Bathtubs are used for relaxing and taking a dip in water to rejuvenate oneself after a long hard day's work.

Showers on the other hand are used mainly to clean our bodies with water. Also, showers are used in hospitals for cleaning wounds, burns and skin diseases.

In recent years, there has been a major shift when it comes to shower and bath products. These days, people don’t fall back on just soap and water anymore. They have a variety of shower gels, body washes and soaps to choose from.

Shower gel, body wash and soap are all basically meant to clean your body and make you feel fresh and clean by removing dirt and oil from your skin. Let us look at all three categories in detail.

What is a Shower Gel?

A shower gel is a liquid soap sold in a solid form, used for bathing or cleaning purposes. The shower gel is a cleansing agent that is used to clean the dirt from our body, hair, hands and feet. It is available in bar, cream or liquid form (although liquid forms are usually called shower or bathing gel).

The bar form is usually marketed as soap, although it lacks the medicinal disinfectant and antiseptic qualities of soap. Shower gels are frequently enriched with fragrances and various additives that add to their beneficial properties.

A shower gel should be rinsed off after washing the body so that it leaves the skin feeling clean and refreshed.

Today, we have an array of shower gels available in the market. These are mainly classified into two types:-

Liquid Shower Gel: This is available in the form of a gel-like substance. It is transparent, made with water as the primary ingredient and some preservatives like PEG-60 and Polysorbate 20. Some of the other ingredients include glycol and Glucose Syrup, fragrance, colourants, and some thickeners.

Gel Shower Gel: The gel shower gels are thicker in consistency than the liquid shower gels. They are opaque in colour, made with water as the primary ingredient and some preservatives like PEG-60 and Polysorbate 20.

What is Body Wash?

A body wash is a liquid made of synthetic detergents, surfactants, and emollients. It is meant to cleanse and lubricate the skin and eliminate odours.

Dry skin makes the skin look dull and flaky while oily skin makes it acne-prone. A good body wash cleanses the skin and adds moisture to it.

Body skin rejuvenation and care through the use of a body wash is important because it keeps your skin healthy. A good body wash hydrates the skin by removing sebum or excess oil from the skin while also removing dead cells.

Body washes are an excellent way to cleanse the skin and remove dirt from areas that cannot be reached by your hands. This allows you to remove excess oil, thus helping to prevent problems like acne.

A body wash is a personal hygiene product that is used for cleansing the human body. Body washes are available as bars of soap or in liquid form. Their primary purpose is to clean the outer layer of the skin, hair and nails.

A body wash is a type of shower product used to clean the skin. Body wash has become one of the popular grooming products in the market today. Body washes have many benefits, some of which are:

Body washes are made from surfactants. These have an affinity to oils and fats. The oils and fats are dissolved by the surfactants, which makes them form into a solution. This causes the oil on your skin to be washed away.

Body washes also leave behind a layer of oil on your skin. This is called the ‘barrier effect’. This prevents moisture from escaping through evaporation.

Body washes can also be used to clean sensitive areas, such as the armpits, private parts and feet. But make sure your body wash contains natural ingredients and is free from chemicals.

Some more powerful body washes also help to fight any sources of odour-causing bacteria. Body washes are typically used in combination with shower gels and shampoos.

Body washes can increase blood flow to various parts of your body, stimulating blood vessels and improving oxygen flow.

Body washes contain ingredients that are known to help slow down aging of the skin.

What is a Bar Soap?

Bar soap is a product that is prepared from a substance containing natural fat or oils which is mainly sodium or potassium salts of fatty acids. It has a chemical reaction with the skin due to the presence of alkali and fatty acids.

A portion of these chemicals then combines with the oil on the surface of the skin and forms a soapy layer, which helps to clean the skin. The result is that dirt, sweat and other substances are removed from the skin.

When care is taken, soap can be used safely without any harmful effects. However, as it is alkaline in nature, soaps should not be used on an open wound.

They should also not be used on sensitive areas like eyes, mouth etc. Neither should they be used on infants or very young children as they can lead to irritation of the skin or in severe cases can cause severe burns if they are left sitting on the skin for extended periods.

Soap is a saponified form of fat and lye. Simply put, this means that you can get the soap out of a mixture of fats and oils, water, and a caustic substance such as lye (caustic soda). Fats and oils are not soluble in water. This means that they do not dissolve in water. The lye causes these fats to become soluble or to become saponified.

Soaps are cleaning products, but they also have other uses such as making a good shampoo for your hair; which is why we have shampoo bars.

Soaps contain no alcohol and are generally manufactured in manufacturing units. Soaps have antibacterial properties. Soaps can be used as a skin cleanser and anti-microbial agent.

They can kill many microbes found in soil, water, or that can pass through the skin. The most common modern soap is made with sodium or potassium hydroxide, although historically it was made from animal fats.

Take Away

There is no major difference between a shower gel, a body wash and a bar soap, but there are some noticeable differences which are all about the amount of foam they produce while you are using them. A soap produces the least amount of foam while a shower or body wash creates more foam.

However, if you are looking for an eco-friendly and sustainable shower product, basic bar soap is your shower soulmate. But if you are particular about your body needs and look forward to shower products that help with skin hydration, serious exfoliation or acne treatment during your shower, a body wash or shower gel might be the better choice.