Have We Been Washing Wrong This Whole Time?

Vivienne Westwood has revealed her anti-aging secret

Have You Been Washing Wrong This Whole Time?

by Phoebe Parke |
Published on

Vivienne Westwood’s husband has revealed her anti-aging secret - not washing.

Talking to reporters during Paris Fashion Week, Westwood said people shouldn’t 'wash too much,' when asked how she stays looking so young.

Her husband, 51-year-old designer Andreas Kronthaler, jumped in saying; 'She only takes a bath every week. That’s why she looks so radiant.'

Turns out, he bathes even less - only once a month.

Journalist Sophie Heawood has come out in full support of Westwood’s bathing habits in a piece for the Guardian, boldly titled: ‘Vivienne Westwood is as filthy as I am and we both look so much better for it’.

‘Personally, I find a daily encounter with warm water to be bordering on the fanatical; I just like to not wash and go,' she writes.

'They [Westwood and Kronthaler] make me feel better about the constant companion that is my cosy layer of warm filth – for the feeling of last night’s sweat coating your body is quite a comforting one.’

But how often should we actually be washing? Is it healthy to skip the shower for a few days, a week, a month?

Showering or bathing regularly doesn’t actually make you cleaner, according to Dr. Elaine Larson, an infectious disease expert and associate dean for research at Columbia University School of Nursing.


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‘I think showering is mostly for aesthetic reasons,’ she told TIME magazine. ‘Bathing will remove odor if you’re stinky or have been to the gym,’ she added. ‘But in terms of protecting you from illness, washing your hands regularly is probably adequate.

Overwashing is also a risk, she adds, as dry cracked skin is easier for infection-causing germs to penetrate, and frequent bathing can strip your skin of its natural oils.

So, maybe Vivienne Westwood and her hubby are onto something after all.


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This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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