Clean: The New Science of Skin had been on my TBR for a while, and it recently caught my eye again. This time, I immediately checked it out of the library, and I'm glad I did. It was an interesting before-bedtime read that started out in familiar (to me) territory about our society's recent obsession with skincare, then wended its way through the fascinating recent history of skincare products and soap, a bit about the ineffable nature of the human longing for (spiritual) "cleanliness" and how being "germ-free" has recently subbed in for that role for many people, and finally and most interestingly, the upcoming probiotic and prebiotic skincare market as well as the ways in which our microbiomes really do affect our skin and overall health. The microorganism stuff was the most interesting to me, as well as the validation that pretty much no skincare products or daily cleaning routines aside from handwashing are needed from a healthcare point-of-view (altho...
Life, Books, and SFF