Body Care

Where to start on a shelf this wide

This is a deliberately loose grouping: anything applied to the skin or hair rather than taken by mouth. That makes it useful for browsing and poor for deciding. If you already know you want an oil, or a wash, the narrower shelves will get you there in fewer steps.

The one distinction worth carrying into it is between the leave-on preparations and the rinse-off ones, because they are doing different jobs and are judged on different timescales. A medicated oil is on the skin for twenty minutes or overnight and is assessed over weeks. A soap or a shampoo is on for under a minute; it cleans, it smells of what it is made from, and that is a fair account of what it can do. Most of the disappointment in this category comes from expecting a wash to behave like an oil.

Three ways to narrow this down

1. By format — Oils, powders and washes each behave differently. Bath, Body & Hair splits them cleanly.
2. By area — Face and Hair & Scalp are the two that genuinely need their own routines.
3. By leave-on or wash-off — The single most useful question. It sets how long the product is in contact and what to expect from it.

See also Skin Care and Herbal Oils & Balms.

Always read the label and directions on the pack you receive, and speak with your physician before starting anything new — particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, managing a health condition or taking prescription medicine.