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Showering is such a natural part of the modern world that it seems crazy there can be a wrong way to do it. But I’m here to tell you: there is.

Many of us make serious shower mistakes that, while not having any dire impacts on our lives, are keeping us from reaching 100% peak performance. Essentially, we are surviving when we could easily be thriving.

Read on to discover a few common shower habits that you should stop right away!

Washing your hair every day

Daily washes will dry your hair out. If you find your hair is oily, it may be because you need to use less shampoo, not more.

If you’re not letting your hair’s natural oils build up between showers, your scalp is going to overproduce oil to compensate for you stripping it away with shampoo every day. Try to stick to every other day, at least.

Forgetting the feet

Lots of folks don’t even think about their feet in the shower. After all, all the soap and shampoo washing down your body should wash over the feet anyway, right? Wrong!

Your feet need extra special attention in the shower. Scrub them good – get under the toenails, use a pumice stone on rough skin, and even treat them to some lotion after you wash.

Facing the heat

Ideally, you’re not washing your face in the shower. Folks typically like the shower water at a temperature too hot for your sensitive facial skin. In fact, most people like showers that are too hot for all your skin. But hot showers are nice, so…c’est la vie?

Unless you’re willing to take a cooler shower, you shouldn’t wash your face in there.

Try to keep your face (mostly) away from the stream of hot water. It’s damaging to your skin. Instead, use face wash in the sink with lukewarm water after you shower.

Shaving at the beginning

It’s silly to shave at the start of the shower. Wait until the end, after the warm water has opened up your pores. The shave will go a lot smoother, trust me.

Doing the hair wrap

It’s a tried-and-true method for people everywhere, but wrapping your hair in a towel can actually be harmful. You can give your hair a quick dry with the towel, but don’t twist it up into a tight wrap. You’re almost guaranteed to break your hair and end up with split ends sooner than later.

Conditioning the wrong part of your hair

If you throw conditioner right on top of your scalp, your head is going to get way too oily. Just like with shampoo, too much conditioner is going to mess with your natural hair oil levels.

Go from tip to root. Give the more dry hair at the bottom a nice, deep conditioning treatment. Then, you can use the thin layer of excess conditioner on your hands to lightly run your fingers through your roots.

Rubbing your skin with a towel

Never, ever rub your skin dry! Make like a princess and lightly dab your skin until you’re dry. This is especially important on your face – all that pulling on the skin with a towel over and over can cause wrinkles and irritation down the road.