The Great Divide

There are two types of people in this world: those who take showers in the morning, and those who take showers at night (And I guess those who take showers twice a day, but they fit into both categories).

Part of me is thinking that this is a subject no one wants to speak about. Whenever it's brought up in forums and on health websites, the shower-at-nighters bash everyone else for sleeping in bed with their own filth from the day, and the shower-in-the-mornings deride all the people who fail to wash off the sweat achieved while sleeping and starting off the day less than perfect. Both sides say, "Don't you feel so gross?"

Despite my best efforts, I haven't been able to find a health expert with advice, saying which is better or worse for you. The only health advice about showers I can find is that people should take them, but not too much, and cold ones are good for you.

In my opinion, it doesn't matter when you take a shower. Some people feel gross waking up, some people feel gross before going to bed. It all has to do with what you were brought up with. It's the same with kids who aren't allowed to eat fast food, trying it out for the first time as a teenager. What tastes normal to most people is a bit repulsive if you haven't been accustomed to it.

If you're only taking one shower per 24-hour cycle, then you'll be just as dirty at the end of that 24-hour cycle no matter what time the cycle starts. If you really start feeling gross, than you can take two showers a day, or three, or one an hour, and soon enough your skin will dry out and your hair will split and, if you're really lucky, your face may break out (any more than two showers a day is past pushing it).

I, personally, take showers at night. My hair is short and curly, which others may find cute, but in actuality is really annoying. If I let it air dry naturally (I have a aversion to blow driers), then it ends up poffy (EDIT: I meant to write poofy, or maybe puffy, and ended up making a portmanteau, which I decide to keep in)  and I look like a lopsided mushroom. When it dries, I need to make sure it's being held flat, so taking showers at night makes so much more sense. It dries while I sleep, and I can rely on either a hat or my own pillow to keep it manageable. Also, I'm a big fan of sleeping (My alarm is set to 15 minutes before I have to leave to house), so the idea of waking up earlier just to be clean doesn't appeal to me. At all. I can see the benefits of morning showers as well, but unlike people who've been trained for that lifestyle, I don't feel a pressing OCD need to be completely purified in the morning.

Maybe the question of 'when is the best time to take a shower?' isn't such a common quest, but in case you've been wondering, here's my answer: whenever you have time. If right before work is the only time during the day when you can do a proper cleaning ('washing off' in the shower may be nice, but I don't consider it a real shower) then by all means. And stop worrying so much about being perfectly clean. If your body isn't exposed to some contaminants, your immune system wont ever learn how to fight them off properly.