Permission to Get Dirty

June 8, 2017

There are long days, and then there are long, rainy days with three children under the age of 4 in your house.

I’ll let you take one guess as to which one feels longer.

And when days feel long, sometimes The Rules go out the window, in the interest of keeping everyone in the house sane. And by “everyone,” I mean me.

Today was one of those days.

The kids want to create their own muddy puddle (a la Peppa Pig) and jump all in that sucker like maniacs?

Sure!

(I don’t actually have any rules about the kids not getting dirty, but I did have to consciously switch off the part of my brain that was freaking out over the inevitable cleanup that ensues. Oh, and Hot Tip? Rinse kids off first in the laundry tub, then give them their actual bath in the bathtub.)

All of this to say, DIRT IS A GOOD THING! And I don’t mean that just in regards to keeping your kids happy and yourself sane during a ridiculously long day.

I mean, certain types of bacteria—some found in dirt—are good for your skin too.

At least that’s what the research behind Mother Dirt says. It’s a line of products designed to put back on your skin a certain type of bacteria that they say is all too rarely found on our oft-scrubbed and disinfected modern skin.

The company’s belief? Our cleansing routines and skincare products are stripping our skin of the first line of defense that we have historically had—beneficial bacteria that for millennia lived on the surface of our skin.

So they put this bacteria in a bottle, and you spray it on your skin and let it do its magic.

I use the AO+ Mist every day after my SPF application, and every night after my moisturizer application. And while I don’t have the lab cultures to prove it, what I do have is clearer, less reactive and smoother skin. I swear, my pores look smaller too.

This streamlining of skincare products flies in the face my typical routine, but the emerging minimalist in me is thrilled with this new no-fuss, totally effective routine.