From: aberno@godel.questor.wimsey.bc.ca (Anthony Berno)
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids
Subject: Possibly useful skin care information.
Date: 10 Nov 92 15:33:07 GMT
Reply-To: aberno@godel.questor.wimsey.bc.ca
Organization: unspecified
Note: Copyright 1992, Dan R. Greening. Non-commercial reproduction allowed.
Archive-Number: 6442

Here is something that my SO sent me for its particular interest to  
devotees of that "peculiar to men" fragrance and worshippers of Madge, the  
goddess of soft hands. (Quite honestly, I'm not sure *where* the author is  
coming from, given his seeming fascination with the odor of his friends  
scrotums... ;-)

It would also be of potential interest to persons with AIDS who are  
concerned about the health of their skin. I don't know how accurate the  
information is, but it might be helpful.

----------------------------------

from the California Division of the Am. Chem. Soc. bulletin,
November '92:

THE NECESSITIES OF PERSONAL HYGIENE (FIVE AND A HALF ARE ENOUGH)
by O.R. Barshear (excerpts)

"... When I entered the freshman class of high school in
1930 at the age of 12, the athletic coach took all of us
young country boys aside and lectured us in a very down to
earth fashion on the necessities of personal hygiene. He
told us that we should bathe at least once a week,
especially before going to a dance or other social occasion,
and he stressed using plenty of soap on our armpits, feet,
and other more private places. He did get my attention.....

At about that time, I became aware of that peculiar-to-males
aroma which develops around the scrotum as time progresses
after a bath, and the more one sweats, the stronger the odor
in general.I was already aware of smelly armpits and feet.
While I was in college, I learned of the ubiquity of
athletes foot and its fungal cause......

...a small group of regulars went swimming for exercise in
the company pool at noon. In the shower, one Ph.D. chemist
told us that his brother-in-law was a dermatologist who
claimed that the skin likes to be on the acid side of
neutral, and that all soaps, being alkaline, are bad for
you.... A few years later, another colleague mentioned that
a dermatologist friend stating that the skin liked to
function in an 'acid mantle'.

....A few years ago I experimented... I got out my roll of
pH paper and found that conventional bath soaps had a pH of
about 11.  Neutrogena, a glycerine soap sold at high price
for those with sensitive skin, had a pH of about 9. I found
other glycerine soaps on the market which had a pH about 9
and were much less costly.... About a year ago, I began to
wonder about using Palmolive dishwashing liquid in the bath.
It was much touted for being kind to the hands.  I found
its pH was about 5.5, as was Brecks shampoo, just slightly
acid. So I tried Palmolive liquid for my bathing. It was
kind to my hands, as well as to all the rest of me. It
turned out to be an excellent shampoo as well.

....The results of this regimen seem too good to be true.
There has been no more shin rash, no more itching shins or
feet, and that peculiarly male odor associated with the
genitals has all but disappeared. My underarm deodorant does
an effective job indefinitely....."
Newsgroups: sci.med.aids