I did the no product day not on the designated day of the challenge, but I did it Sunday (April 24th), and then actually again yesterday (April 27th) because I felt guilty. I am on the track team at Davidson, and I initially chose Sunday because that’s the day I take off each week from running, and I didn’t want to run without deodorant. Sunday went very smoothly, I woke up and went to the library pretty much the whole day, and other than the library I was inside, in air conditioning, so I really didn’t sweat, and there was no real effect to using no products. I don’t wear makeup on the regular, or put product in my hair routinely except for the shower so I honestly noticed no difference on Sunday. But when I was about to write this reflection, I was like that’s really not the point of the activity, the point of it, in my eyes respectfully, was to go about your typical day, not a day you edited so that the no products wouldn’t affect you. After thinking more about it, I decided to give it another shot (yesterday) and just not worry about smelling bad after the run, because we’re running! Why should we care? Sweat is a good natural thing, to cool ourselves down when we’re doing strenuous activities, such as running in the heat of the day. I went through my two classes yesterday, ran, rinsed off with water, and went to dinner, and I don’t think anyone even noticed. I really enjoyed the experience, it just made me step back and reflect, like why do I care so much about wearing deodorant on one run? It’s not a big deal! And it really wasn’t. I honestly want to start implementing this no product day challenge into my schedule a bit more, because I think it’s really important to take a step back and not get caught up in all of these materials advertisements have convinced us we need. Because at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter.
5 thoughts on “No Product Day Challenge Reflection”
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I love that you tried this challenge twice and had a positive experience. I didn’t participate because I didn’t believe I could do it. I rely too much on materialist things to make me feel feminine and beautiful. After reading your response, it makes me wish I tried it because at the end of the day, I am beautiful the way I am. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for sharing about this experience! I had fear in participating in this challenge because I did not want to be judged. Even though those judgements would be inappropriate, I wanted to avoid them. Would you participate in the challenge again around your track team? And what advice would you have for someone who wants to participate but is hesitating because of their fear of judgement?
I relly enjoyed your great challage. Often , we care about how other people view or notice us rather than how we feel about yourself. I am so glad you finally did something in a way you dodn’t care about what other people think of you. This is a great way to start so many new things without any social expectations, opinion and view of other people. Same here, i did a no product challage where i didn’t put any perfume and i was very proud of my self as i didn’t worry how people would judge my natural smell.
Thanks for sharing your challenge with us! I think it really shows your commitment because you went back and redid it. I would also be afraid to not wear deodorant if I was working out, but it really is a good question why we’re so afraid of our natural scent. I’m glad that you were able to overcome that fear and realize that it’s not a big deal.
I had a pretty similar experience to you with the challenge. I don’t wear a lot of products day-to-day, just a small amount of makeup and deodorant. I also chose to do the challenge on a day with light physical activity. I hadn’t really thought about how this might not be point of the challenge until I read your reflection, and I admire you re-doing the challenge to its full extent.