strigils and bodyfliks

Posted on | March 23, 2008 | No Comments

as a soapmaker, i am generally interested in bathing accoutrements.

the romans had a wonderful system for cleaning their skin….they would have a session in a hot room at the baths….like a sauna or turkish bath….then they’d be massaged all over with olive oil.
then they would be scraped down with a strigil, a sort of curved metal scraping tool.
i suppose one had slaves to do this, or bath house attendants or you could DIY (this still leaves the back to worry about).
apparently, it was fabulously effective for removing the nasty mixture of oil, sweat and grime….leaving the skin soft and clean.

so, i went looking online to see if i could purchase one and do some testing.
i have the sauna, check.
god knows i have the olive oil, check.
i’ve got a squadron of brushes and scrubbers and loofas and mitts and all…but no strigil. yet. i bet someone on etsy could make one for me….

while searching, i got distracted by a wonderful little invention that directly addresses a number of concerns that directly interest me:
1. environment
2. soggy towels
3. soggy towels while traveling
of course i am talking about the bodyflik: http://www.bodyflick.co.uk/thebodyflik.htm
i ordered one of these immediately.
it is well worth a try!
what a jaw-droppingly simple concept….quickly remove the bulk of the water from your body and thus save on all the wet towels!
the water bills!
the laundry detergent!
the electricity!
the savings!
what’s not to love?
and helllooooooo recycled plastic!
of course the whole thing was invented by an englishwoman.

now, i don’t know about you, but when i travel, i don’t always stay in the sorts of places where they overwhelm you with piles of thick fluffy warm towels twice a day.
the towels are often on the meagre side.
and often these are tropical places, where one feels the need for frequent showers.
solution? the bodyflik of course.

i cannot wait until this gizmo gets here and i will be reporting upon it.

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