Hale Robinson

September 29, 2022

My initial reaction to the no product day challenge was that it was a unique opportunity for me to determine how my confidence, peer interactions, and mindset would change if I was to avoid using everyday products for a whole day. I am someone who typically likes to partake in challenges like these where I can truly understand the effects through my own personal experiences.

I understand that this challenge would be slightly easier for myself than others as I am not someone who typically wears makeup, hair products, or other similar items. I do, however, use deodorant on a regular basis, sometimes reapplying multiple times per day. Additionally, while it is not explicitly stated in the challenge instructions, I decided against wearing a hat.

I wear deodorant because often times I am in a rush to class from morning workouts and a rush to dinner following afternoon workouts. As a result, my showers in the morning are very short and I feel that deodorant provides an extra layer of “protection” against my post workout odors. I often have the fear of people around me smelling my sweat following workouts and for the purpose of making other people and myself feel more comfortable, I often use a lot of deodorant. While many people would not consider a hat to be a product or item, I find myself often using a hat as a substitute for hair products. Rather than using hats to block the sun or as a fashion item, I often wear hats on bad hair days or days where I am feeling less confident in myself.

In the end, I was able to ultimately complete the challenge. I felt slightly uncomfortable as although I feel I did not smell that bad, in the back of my mind I wondered if other people could smell my post workout odor. Furthermore, I found myself to constantly be adjusting my hair, especially when I knew people were looking at me as I lacked the confidence that wearing a hat provided me with.

The hardest thing to go without was deodorant. I have gotten in such a habit of applying deodorant when I wake up and after I work out that I found myself almost reaching for it on several occasions. I am someone who keeps deodorant in my bag in case of emergencies so having to go without it for a whole day was slightly uncomfortable for me. The easiest product to go without was makeup as I have never worn makeup nor felt the need to ever in my life.

Even before my morning workouts, I often apply deodorant to prevent my teammates from smelling me during the lifts. When I returned from the morning workout, I was thinking about how I would dress lightly as to prevent my body from getting too hot and hopefully prevent sweating.  Also, I did not tell anyone I was doing the challenge (outside of the class) and found that nobody noticed or approached me. This was not too surprising to me as most people tend to be polite. Prior to going into class, I did not have many expectations as I do not typically wear makeup and I doubt anyone picked up on the fact that I normally wear a hat.

What I learned from this challenge is how dependent I am on a product that really does not change the way people view me as a person. Nobody seemed to notice the fact that I was not wearing deodorant, nor did they care that I was not wearing a hat. In the future, I will be wearing less deodorant and will feel more confident in the appearance of my hair in the mornings.