<p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d63eeaf2e22af09003208d2-1200/jade yoga mat.jpg" border="0" alt="Jade Yoga Mat" data-mce-source="Amazon" /><p class="source"><span>Amazon</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></strong></a></p><ul class="summary-list"><li style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>Jade Yoga's <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harmony Mat ($79.95)</a> is meant to provide traction and cushion while providing stability for standing poses.</strong></li><li style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>I have been a sweaty person my entire life, but in adulthood, my main problem is slipping on my yoga mat.</strong></li><li style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>I have been using the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harmony Mat</a> for more than a year after trying dozens of others. While no mat is perfect, this one comes pretty close if you're a sweaty yogi like me.</strong></li><li style="font-weight: 400;"><strong>$80 may seem like a lot for a piece of rubber you put on the floor, but for me, it is definitely worth it.</strong></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I was a teenager, I used to leave sweaty hand prints on my school work. It wasn't because I was stressed about a test, that's just me - I sweat. And it's embarrassing.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span><span style="font-weight: 400;">At age 30, my husband has affectionately nicknamed me "Sweaty Betty" (my name is not Betty) and my main worry regarding my inability to stop perspiring is slipping on my yoga mat. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">When I began my yoga practice several years ago, I had a $5 mat from my local grocery store. Within a matter of minutes in my first class I transitioned from downward gog to laying-flat-on-my-face dog, which, according to the instructor, is not a yoga pose. I had slipped due to sweaty hands before the class barely got started.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">I falsely assumed that as I built up my yoga stamina, I'd stop sweating so much. Wrong - several years later, my yoga mat still looked like I someone ran 10 miles on it even after a fairly mellow practice. So, when one of my friends decided to become a yoga teacher, part of her mission was to find a mat I could use without injuring myself.</span></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d63eeee2e22af02b3342112-1302/jade yoga mat 2.png" border="0" alt="jade yoga mat 2" data-mce-source="Jade Yoga" /><p class="source"><span>Jade Yoga</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></a></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After a mat made for hot yoga still made me slide, we went to a "yoga mat class" together. Saying I was skeptical to find a mat is an understatement, but I was up for trying the dozen or so mats laid out on the studio floor. Some I didn't even bother with after just touching the surface and knowing it would end in tragedy; others I used but with a towel, and then I landed on </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Jade Yoga's Harmony mat</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">According to Jade Yoga's website, the mat "provides great traction and cushion while still providing stability for standing poses." Traction is definitely what I need and because you can describe my body as "bony", a cushioned mat is also a necessity.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The mat retails for <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">$79.95 - $84.95</a> depending on if you get a 68-inch, 71-inch, or 74-inch mat. It is 3/16-inches thick, 24-inches wide, and weighs about five pounds. Not that it matters when it comes to how well the mat performs, but it also comes in more than a dozen colors depending on which size you get. It is made with natural rubber tapped from rubber trees, a renewable source, and contains no PVC, EVA, or other synthetic rubber. Made in the United States, Jade also plants a tree for every mat sold and donates $5 to charity with the purchase of certain mat colors.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><h2>My experience with the <strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jade Yoga Harmony Mat</a></strong><span style="font-weight: 400;"><br /></span></h2><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After miraculously not slipping on the mat for the few minutes I was on it at the studio, my friend bought me the <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">68-inch mat</a> as a gift for helping with her wedding. I have now been using the mat for more than a year and can attest that my yoga practice has never been better.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">First off, the mat did not have an odor like some mats do when you first buy them and is the stickiest I've found. The surface is not smooth or shiny like some mats, but actually feels like it has tiny dots that help aid in the traction. These "dots" are not uncomfortable, by the way. Both my hands and feet grip right away and the 5-pound weight of the mat also helps keep it in place. While I joke about sliding and falling on my mat, it's actually not a laughing matter and can be incredibly dangerous. Aside from smashing your face on the ground, you can easily pull or tear muscles if you stretch too far from an inability to grip.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5d63efbd2e22af02e5786028-1200/jade yoga mat 3.jpg" border="0" alt="Jade Yoga Mat 3" data-mce-source="Kaitlin Gates/Business Insider" /><p class="source"><span>Kaitlin Gates/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">As for the cushioning, my</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> spine and knees used to be covered in bruises and I am happy to report they no longer are. It is thick enough to not cause injury, but not so thick that it's too soft and therefore difficult to move. When I am taking a yin class and holding the poses for five minutes or more, I do find myself reaching for my </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00O055GRI/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B00O055GRI&amp;linkId=083e9147100aa37c7d601954951731a4" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">yoga knee cushion</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, but needing it is rare.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Keep in mind that no mat is perfect; if you are taking a 60-minute hot vinyasa class, you're probably still going to slip a bit. This is solved by throwing down a yoga towel - my favorite is <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XT4GGD7/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B06XT4GGD7&amp;linkId=15ca26a06adb50cd1df71044be7c6972" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Gaiam's Stay-Put Yoga Towel</a>. The photo above is how my mat looked when removing my hands near the end of pretty intense practice. While I was still <em>not</em> slipping, I decided to put my towel down anyway because it was inevitable that it would happen soon.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Because the mat is pretty sticky, another word of warning - more than your hands stick to it. If you have a home yoga practice and your pets like to join you, it's unfortunately probably best to not let them on it, as I have learned the hard way that it basically attracts fur. Because of this, you need to make sure you're cleaning it often. I use </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XQBHJOU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B00XQBHJOU&amp;linkId=13e540cf898dbf9cb2c7ea747b013596" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Austra cleaner</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> and it seems to work quite well. It has not taken any of the traction off the mat, but if you are really scrubbing, some of the color does come off.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It's also important to note that my mat is on a hardwood floor, so I cannot attest to what it is like on a carpet. The cushion would be better, of course, but the odds of sliding might be higher, so keep that in mind when deciding where to practice.</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">All in all, one year later, the Harmony Mat is still just as sticky and with the addition of a towel for super sweaty practices, it is a worthy investment if you're serious about yoga (and not falling on your face).</span></p><h3><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ECD6N2/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biip_082619_jade-yoga-mat-review-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B000ECD6N2&amp;linkId=0cd61d9551b17f35a6eb8481d3ae50e5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Buy the Jade Yoga Harmony Mat on Amazon for $79.95 - $84.95</a> (price varies by size)</h3><p class="tagline"><p><a href="http://e.businessinsider.com/join/ci/insider-picks">Subscribe to our newsletter.</a><br><br>Find all the best offers at our <a href="https://coupons.businessinsider.com/">Coupons page</a>.<br><br>Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks">Insider Picks</a> team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.</br></br></br></br></p></p>

This $80 yoga mat is a worthy investment if you're serious about yoga - it provides the best traction of any mat I've used

<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5e7cc8ec671de00e435b7ec6-2400/2019-11-27t111049z1lynxmpefaq0w5rtroptp4ab-inbev-ecover-upcycling.jpg" alt="A worker checks beer quality at Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery in Leuven, Belgium November 25, 2019. REUTERS/Francois Lenoir" /><p class="source"><span>Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">An Anheuser-Busch InBev brewery in Leuven.</p><ul class="summary-list"><li>The coronavirus will not only deal a severe financial blow to the ad industry short term but materially transform advertising in the long run, said industry insiders.</li><li>It will accelerate the shift to digital platforms and e-commerce, throw a wrench in the growth of events and experiential marketing, make brand marketing more important, and cause further consolidation of the ad holding companies, they said.</li><li><strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</strong></li></ul><p>The coronavirus is upending the industry at an unprecedented scale with employees working from home, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-coronavirus-is-forcing-top-marketers-to-adapt-strategies-2020-3">marketers pulling ads and tweaking campaigns</a>, and media buyers <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-rattles-media-buyers-in-the-advertising-industry-2020-3">scrambling to manage the business ramifications</a>.</p><p>The pandemic is projected to cost the ad industry nearly $26 billion in revenue, a 10.6% decline, according to MoffettNathanson analyst Michael Nathanson. But it will also materially transform advertising in the long term, said industry insiders.</p><h2><strong>The coronavirus will accelerate the shift to digital and e-commerce </strong></h2><p>Mandated quarantines and social distancing across the globe as a result of the pandemic means that people are spending more time inside and online, getting more comfortable with video conferencing and shopping online. This will accelerate the shift of media dollars from traditional to digital media channels, and consequently e-commerce, said executives.</p><p>"The channel mix is going to change a lot [since] it could be six to 18 months of people working from home," Andrea Collins, vp of marketing at unicorn startup Hippo, said. "There's going to be a lot more play in SEO. There's going to be more touchpoints like customer service, email, because people will be more price sensitive and do more research. When we do come out of it, we're going to be totally different."</p><p>And as homebound consumers get more comfortable with shopping online, the shift to e-commerce will accelerate, said Harris Diamond, chairman and CEO of McCann Worldgroup.</p><p>"The US has always lagged [behind] other countries, on e-commerce and gaming - the reality is [that] many companies might have been getting [just] 5% of their sales that way," Diamond said. "We just compressed five years."</p><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-2020-facebook-and-google-brace-for-advertising-impact-2020-3">The tech giants Google and Facebook that drive conversions</a> and e-commerce platforms like Walmart and Amazon stand to benefit from this shift, Vita Coco CMO Jane Prior said.</p><p>Some startups including NomNom, Freshly, and Daily Harvest said that they have already started seeing a huge surge in sales as people do more of their shopping online.</p><p>"There is no question that the addressable market for most digital businesses is about to expand considerably with so many more people now being forced to live in a digital world," Freshly CMO Mayur Gupta said. </p><h2><strong>The event and experiential bubble will burst</strong></h2><p>Events the world over are being <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/major-events-cancelled-or-postponed-due-to-the-coronavirus-2020">canceled and postponed</a> to prevent the spread of the coronavirus including media and marketing conferences and trade shows such as SXSW and the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cannes-lions-festival-faces-uncertainty-as-coronavirus-rocks-advertising-2020-3">Cannes Lions.</a></p><p>As remote work becomes the new norm and people start to realize that most messages can be relayed via video conferencing, in-person events, conferences, and experiential marketing may take a hit.</p><p>"Almost every trade show will confront the question of how much could this be done digitally," said McCann's Diamond. "We'll see a shakeup in that regard." </p><p>Experiential marketing has seen spending growth from brands including HBO and Netflix. But already, agency <a href="https://adage.com/article/agency-news/giant-spoon-lays-20-percent-staff/2245566">Giant Spoon laid off 20 percent of its staff</a> due to the pandemic's impact on its experiential business.</p><p>"The experiential bubble is going to burst with both chief marketing and chief financial officers saying, 'Show me the ROMI (return on marketing investment)'," Carbon CMO Dara Treseder said. "Companies are beginning to realize that you can have successful events virtually, and in any case, it's so much easier to prove the ROI around virtual events than live events."</p><p>On the flipside, there could be pent-up demand for in-person interactions when life returns to normal, Freshly's Gupta said.</p><h2><strong>Brand purpose will become even more important </strong></h2><p>Once the dust settles, the companies that stand for something other than the products they sell will come out on top, marketers told Business Insider.</p><p>Marketers - from P&amp;G to Nike - have emphasized so-called purpose-driven marketing in recent years, and the trend will only get cemented further as people grapple with the effects of a global pandemic. Anheuser-Busch and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/gap-to-make-masks-healthcare-workers-coronavirus-2020-3">Gap</a> are among those that are manufacturing things like sanitizer, masks and scrubs.</p><p>"When the storm passes, brands that did something to help people instead of just talking or raising awareness about the crisis will have built a stronger connection with people," Burger King's CMO Fernando Machado said. "More people are craving actions rather than stunts."</p><p>Direct-to-consumer startups that have prioritized growth over building a lasting brand will be forced to think about what their mission is beyond sales, Freshly's Gupta said.</p><p>"Overall, it will be a blessing in disguise," he said. "It's the knee-jerk that marketing needed, and the equilibrium we have been missing between brand and performance marketing for so long."</p><h2><strong>There will be consolidation among the ad holding companies</strong></h2><p>Ad holding companies like WPP and Interpublic Media Group have been facing headwinds in recent years, with marketers including <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/78-of-brands-now-have-some-form-of-an-in-house-agency-2018-10">Verizon, Marriott and Mastercard increasingly taking their advertising in-house</a> and digital platforms and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/huge-consulting-firms-are-coming-after-the-ad-agency-business-heres-how-agencies-are-fighting-back-2018-8">consulting firms like Deloitte and Accenture</a> moving in on the ad services business.</p><p>The coronavirus will accelerate consolidation if not shutdowns of the holding companies, Forrester analyst Jay Pattisall said.</p><p>"The seven largest advertising holding companies all had low single-digit growth during 2019, and while 2020 was supposed to be an important transition year, that is looking less likely," he said.</p><p>He predicted a loss of jobs and shift toward automation.</p><p>"A number of executional tasks will become automated," he said. "Consequently, fewer people will be doing more with assistance from machines."</p><p class="tagline"><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/intelligence/brand-investment-esports?IR=T&amp;itm_source=businessinsider&amp;itm_medium=ctgr_bii&amp;itm_term=ctgr_leadgen&amp;itm_content=advertising&amp;itm_campaign=brand-investment-esports"><img src="https://static.businessinsider.com/image/5d3718e78d66427858223be4" alt="Exclusive FREE Report: Brand Investment in eSports by Business Insider Intelligence" style="width: 100% !important" /></a></p>            <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/melissa-maker-clean-your-home-quickly-cleaning-expert-2017-4">A cleaning expert reveals her 3-step method for cleaning your entire home quickly</a></h3>                    <iframe class="bijwplayerclass" src="https://content.jwplatform.com/players/qf7yml7t-CEZHWCBG.html" width="100%" height="100%" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" style="margin:0px;"></iframe>            

Ad insiders from Burger King, Freshly, McCann, and Vita Coco say the coronavirus will radically change advertising, from elevating brand marketing to shrinking the holding companies

<p><em>The<span> </span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Insider Picks</a><span> </span>team writes about stuff we think you'll like. Business <keyword id="79969" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="60" keywordseo="insider">Insider</keyword> has affiliate partnerships, so we get a share of the revenue from your purchase.</em></p><p><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRGQJ2W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B01MRGQJ2W&amp;linkId=b5e9c60911c7c6a4a07859e81e678dc5" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/5c018b58985cfd1dce6fca09-1200/the best baby wipes.jpg" border="0" alt="the best baby wipes" data-mce-source="Steven John/Business Insider" /><p class="source"><span>Steven John/Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></em></a></p><ul class="summary-list"><li><p><strong>Baby wipes are essential for cleaning babies, of course, but they're also ideal for all sorts of other uses, from wiping bigger kids' hands to cleaning off tables before and after meals to attacking that spill before it sets in and stains. </strong></p></li><li><p><strong><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRGQJ2W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B01MRGQJ2W&amp;linkId=b5e9c60911c7c6a4a07859e81e678dc5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parasol Baby Wipes</a> are our top pick thanks to their soft, cloth-like feel, their reliable moistness, and the ease with which they pop out of the pack.</strong></p></li></ul><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Pop quiz: What are baby wipes for?</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">If you answered: "Cleaning a baby's butt," then you're not a parent. The correct answer is ... everything. Baby wipes are of course essential for infant and toddler hygiene, with the cleaning of nether regions being their primary purpose. But they are also essential for wiping hands and faces after meal times, for cleaning knees after slips and shoes after mud, for wiping down tables in restaurants before your kid eats and for cleaning up the mess made subsequently during the meal. On and on the list goes, as any parent knows well.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">My wife and I keep baby wipes in both cars, every bathroom, in the kitchen, in our daughter's room, and in a bag that hangs by the door and comes everywhere we go with kids. Also, we don't just keep a ready supply of wipes, we keep a strategic supply. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The kitchen is always stocked with rugged <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7NUARS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B00A7NUARS&amp;linkId=dd4865054eeb2aebded8929bb1967d1b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seventh Generation</a> wipes that can be used to scrub the floor just as readily as they can clean a bottom. By our daughter's changing pad, we have <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRGQJ2W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B01MRGQJ2W&amp;linkId=b5e9c60911c7c6a4a07859e81e678dc5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parasol wipes</a> on hand. In the go-bag, I usually stock <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7NUARS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B00A7NUARS&amp;linkId=dd4865054eeb2aebded8929bb1967d1b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MADE OF wipes</a>. And in case diaper rash issues arise, we have sensitive <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KJQMA0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B008KJQMA0&amp;linkId=504b71c2468b0f16f09b628cf1a37a29" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WaterWipes</a> at the ready.</span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This abundance of wipes - while likely madness to the childless out there - is a fringe benefit of parenting young kids. I'm never more than a few seconds away from a wipe that can clean spilled coffee, wipe down the countertops, or get the dust off the dashboard, to name but a few non-baby related uses for baby wipes. </span></p><p><span style="font-weight: 400;">And believe you me, it only takes one incident wherein you've forgotten a supply of wipes to ensure you'll never put yourself in that situation again. Being a parent means always having good baby wipes at the ready. These are five great baby wipe brands to consider as you set up your own strategic wipe supply.</span></p><h2>Here are the best baby wipes you can buy:</h2><ul class="summary-list"><li><strong>Best baby wipes overall: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MRGQJ2W/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B01MRGQJ2W&amp;linkId=b5e9c60911c7c6a4a07859e81e678dc5" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parasol Baby Wipes</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://www.amazon.com/d/Baby-Wipes-Refill/Parasol-Hypoallergenic-Chlorine-Sensitive-Strong/B01MRGQJ2W/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1541429104&amp;sr=8-3&amp;keywords=parasol%2Bbaby%2Bwipes&amp;th=1"></a><strong>Best multipurpose baby wipes: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A7NUARS/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B00A7NUARS&amp;linkId=dd4865054eeb2aebded8929bb1967d1b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby Wipes</a></strong></li><li><strong>Best low-cost baby wipes: <a href="https://amzn.to/2Sw1CkR" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Amazon Elements Unscented Baby Wipes</a></strong></li><li><strong>Best organic baby wipes: <a href="http://shareasale.com/r.cfm?b=999&amp;u=1088116&amp;m=77376&amp;afftrack=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes&amp;urllink=madeof.com%2Fdisposable-baby-diapers-and-wipes%2Fsoothing-organic-baby-wipes-80-count.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">MADE OF Soothing Organic Baby Wipes</a></strong></li><li><a href="https://madeof.com/disposable-baby-diapers-and-wipes/soothing-organic-baby-wipes-80-count.html"></a><strong>Best baby wipes for sensitive skin: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008KJQMA0/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&amp;tag=biipgf_113018_best-baby-wipes-20&amp;camp=1789&amp;creative=9325&amp;linkCode=as2&amp;creativeASIN=B008KJQMA0&amp;linkId=504b71c2468b0f16f09b628cf1a37a29" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WaterWipes Sensitive Baby Wipes</a></strong></li></ul><h3>Read on in the slides below to check out our top picks.</h3><p class="tagline">Find the best holiday deals on our <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/black-friday-deals-2018">Black Friday Deals</a> and <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/cyber-monday-deals-2018">Cyber Monday Deals</a> page. <a href="http://e.businessinsider.com/join/ci/insider-picks">Subscribe to our newsletter.</a><br>Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/insiderpicks">Insider Picks</a> team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at insiderpicks@businessinsider.com.<br>Find all the best offers at our <a href="https://coupons.businessinsider.com/">Coupons page</a>.</br></br></p>

The best baby wipes you can buy

Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 16 review: Great for gamers, overkill for rest

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55bbb94d371d2254008bbbba-4072-3054/ap960856965464.jpg" alt="jessica alba" data-mce-source="AP" /><p class="source"><span>AP</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Jessica Alba's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/office-tour-of-jessica-albas-the-honest-company-2014-12">billion dollar start-up</a>, The Honest Company, is known for its organic and "safe" baby and household products. </p><p>But furious parents are saying the company's sunscreen doesn't work. </p><p>Chicago mother Gretta Stabler purchased The Honest Company's SPF 30 sunscreen at Costco, <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Angry-Parents-Complaints-About-Popular-Sunscreen-Brand-318367591.html">according to the local NBC affiliate</a>. During a recent trip to the pool, she applied sunscreen to her 6-year-old daughter Maggie four times, Stabler claims. </p><p>"She got really burned on her arms, shoulders, legs face, pretty much everywhere. I was angry," Stabler said.</p><p>The Food and Drug Administration <a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Angry-Parents-Complaints-About-Popular-Sunscreen-Brand-318367591.html">told NBC</a> that companies are responsible for testing the effectiveness of their own products. The company says the product was tested by an independent third party, and is safe when its used properly, NBC reported.</p><p class="paragraph" data-pnum="11">The Honest Company recently reduced the amount of zinc, an ingredient that protects skin from the sun, according to NBC. The company says it added other ingredients instead. </p><p>Amazon <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Honest-Company-Sunscreen-Lotion/product-reviews/B00L2SZDVU/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&amp;filterBy=addOneStar&amp;showViewpoints=0">reviews for the sunscreen</a> are largely negative. About 57% of the 135 people who reviewed the product gave it one star. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55bbbabb371d2277018bbaa8-1826-1039/screen shot 2015-07-31 at 2.11.50 pm.png" alt="mom honest company sunscreen" data-mce-source="NBC 5" data-mce-caption="Gretta Stabler claims her daughter, Maggie, got a sunburn after using The Honest Company's sunscreen." data-link="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Angry-Parents-Complaints-About-Popular-Sunscreen-Brand-318367591.html" /><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Angry-Parents-Complaints-About-Popular-Sunscreen-Brand-318367591.html">NBC 5</a></span></p><p class="caption">Gretta Stabler claims her daughter, Maggie, got a sunburn after using The Honest Company's sunscreen.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>"I<span>'ve tried dozens of different sunscreens and words can't come close to describing how terrible this product compares even to the cheapest stuff you find at discount stores," one customer <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Honest-Company-Sunscreen-Lotion/product-reviews/B00L2SZDVU/ref=cm_cr_dp_qt_hist_one?ie=UTF8&amp;filterBy=addOneStar&amp;showViewpoints=0">writes on Amazon</a>. "First, the product applies like a layer of grease - imagine putting melted butter on your skin. Next, the grease doesn't wash off, even with vigorous scrubbing and multiple hand washes. Last, and most importantly, the sun protection from this product is about as good as no sunscreen. I was in the sun for less than an hour and my whole family was burnt."</span></p><p><span><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55bbbbc9371d2278018bb9ea-1110-788/screen shot 2015-07-31 at 2.17.18 pm.png" alt="honest company sunscreen" data-mce-source="The Honest Company" /><p class="source"><span>The Honest Company</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></span></p><p><span>Other customers complained of burns and blisters. </span></p><p><span>Other parents on Amazon gave the product positive reviews. </span></p><p><span>"<span>This is the only sunblock we use on our daughter...I actually like that it's a little greasy when you first rub it in, her skin is dry and just soaks it up," one customer writes. </span></span></p><p><span>We've reached out to The Honest Company and will update when we hear back. </span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/zara-dominating-beating-competition-fashion-industry-2015-7">The one reason Zara is dominating the fashion industry right now</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="RtMWI0djra013JV4Ff9AoHoTLKMzvgNg" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', 'RtMWI0djra013JV4Ff9AoHoTLKMzvgNg',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

Furious parents are alleging that Jessica Alba's sunscreen doesn't work

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58769eabee14b6aa5c8b7514-2400/u%20by%20moen%20shower%202.jpg" alt="U by Moen shower" data-mce-source="Moen"><p class="source"><span>Moen</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>Spring is here. That means longer, warmer days - and, for many people, more frequent showering to wash away the sweat and&#xa0;smells that come with higher temperatures.</p><p>Here's the thing, though: Your regular showers may be grosser than your sweat.</p><p>There isn't much research that&#xa0;can tell you exactly how often to bathe, or with what methods. But a <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/i-stopped-showering-and-life-continued/486314/">compelling argument</a> suggests&#xa0;that showering regularly rids your skin&#xa0;of essential oils and organisms - and is therefore bad for your health, your scent, and the balance of life on your body.</p><p>A&#xa0;growing <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/3/e1500183">body of evidence</a>, in fact, suggests that our shampoo-scrubbed lifestyles, along with a number of other factors, are damaging a complex system that <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> does not yet fully understand: the human microbiome.</p><h3><strong>Showering too much can affect&#xa0;the way your body functions</strong>&#xa0;</h3><p>The microbiome is the collection of bacteria, archeae, viruses, and other microbes that live in and on your body. These little foreign critters&#xa0;are deeply important to your health&#xa0;- without them, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290017/">your immune system, digestion, and even your heart</a>&#xa0;would lose function or fail entirely.</p><p>The science doesn't yet offer a full picture of the role our microbiomes play in our lives, but&#xa0;compelling indirect evidence suggests that showering damages the&#xa0;microbiome on your skin. And <a href="http://genome.wustl.edu/publications/detail/propionibacterium-acnes-strain-populations-in-the-human-skin-microbiome-associated-with-acne/">without a healthy microbiome</a>, your skin seems to struggle&#xa0;to maintain a healthy chemical balance and&#xa0;stave off damage and infection.</p><p>It's well established that a shower with shampoo and soap strips your hair and skin of much of its microbe complement&#xa0;and necessary oils - which the cosmetic industry&#xa0;<a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/i-stopped-showering-and-life-continued/486314/">attempts to replace</a>&#xa0;with&#xa0;conditioners and moisturizers. People living in indoor, urbanized and sterilized conditions therefore often have&#xa0;less complex and robust microbiomes.</p><p>A study of the people of Yanomami village in the Amazon, on the other hand, who had "<a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/3/e1500183">no documented previous contact with Western people</a>," found that their skin, mouths, and feces hosted the richest complement of bacteria in any human population examined until that point.&#xa0;The complement even&#xa0;included antibiotic-resistant species, though the villagers hadn't had any&#xa0;known contact with antibiotics.</p><p>Early research <a href="http://genome.wustl.edu/publications/detail/propionibacterium-acnes-strain-populations-in-the-human-skin-microbiome-associated-with-acne/">has also shown</a> that bacteria may play a role in keeping skin healthy, and that&#xa0;<a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/337/6098/1115">common skin conditions</a>&#xa0;like acne emerge from disruptions to the normal microbiome.&#xa0;</p><h3><strong>What to do about the stink</strong>&#xa0;</h3><p>Part of the reason there's not much&#xa0;scientific research into&#xa0;showering practices&#xa0;may be that it's difficult to assemble a large body of subjects willing to skip bathing&#xa0;for a long period of time. Instead, the published science on shower-skipping mostly consists of stories about&#xa0;<a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0262407914609714?np=y">personal experimentation</a>.&#xa0;</p><p>These stories, anecdotally at least, answer one important question about shower-skipping: What to do about the smell?</p><p>Some of the bacteria that make up your microbiome excrete <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/31/396573607/meet-the-bacteria-that-make-a-stink-in-your-pits">nasty-smelling chemicals</a>&#xa0;that can create odors that waft from your body's folds and creases. If you stop rinsing them away, things could get pretty gross. But shower skippers say that problem only exists because our microbiome is so disrupted in the first place.&#xa0;Their theory is&#xa0;that your body can adjust to a&#xa0;new shower-free normal, and your renewed, recalibrated microbiome will smell pleasant - if a bit earthy.</p><p>A&#xa0;prominent example is James Hamblin of The Atlantic, who published an essay in June 2016 explaining his decision to give up the daily scrub.</p><p>"<span>At first, I was an oily,&#xa0;smelly beast," he <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/i-stopped-showering-and-life-continued/486314/">wrote</a>. But t</span>hat seems to have worked out for Hamblin:</p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span>I still rinse off elsewhere when I'm visibly dirty, like after a run when I have to wash gnats off my face,&#xa0;because there is still the matter of&#xa0;society.&#xa0;If I have bed head, I lean into the shower and&#xa0;wet it down.&#xa0;But I don't use shampoo or body soap, and I almost never get into a shower...</span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>...And everything is fine. I wake up and get out the door in minutes. At times when I might've smelled bad before, like at the end of a long day or after working out, I just don't. At least, to my nose. I've asked friends to smell me, and they insist that it's all good. (Though they could be allied in an attempt to ruin me.)</span></p><p><span>Hamblin also spoke to Julia Scott, a journalist who <a href="http://www.juliascott.net/a-wash-on-the-wild-side-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-my-microbiome/">documented her own transition to shower-free living for The New York Times Magazine</a>. Scott used products from a company called AOBiome, which are intended to promote a healthy skin microbiome, and found that she smelled of onions for a little while&#xa0;- at least to some of her friends-&#xa0; while her body adjusted. So if you decide to start skipping&#xa0;showers, it's might be&#xa0;a good idea to avoid being around people you want to impress for a while.</span></p><p><span><span>Scott</span> also found that just a week of showering at the end of the experiment destroyed her newly-cultivated colony entirely.</span></p><p><span>Based on this very limited, unreliable evidence, it does seem&#xa0;unnecessary to&#xa0;use&#xa0;soap and cosmetics every day. But I can't say I'm personally brave enough to switch to a shower-free regime just yet.</span></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-drying-yourself-after-shower-affect-health-2016-12">How you're drying yourself off after a shower could affect your health</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5nYzFqODE6-4G5kqugRY5BFlin6l40rR" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5nYzFqODE6-4G5kqugRY5BFlin6l40rR',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

You're probably showering way too often

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/58769eabee14b6aa5c8b7514-2400/u%20by%20moen%20shower%202.jpg" alt="U by Moen shower" data-mce-source="Moen"><p class="source"><span>Moen</span></p></img></div><p></p></div></div><p>Did you shower this morning? Yeah?</p><p>Gross.</p><p>Ok, I confess, I showered this morning too. But I feel pretty weird about it.</p><p>That's because of surprisingly compelling argument&#xa0;that regular showers - AKA&#xa0;the harsh, scalding scour of essential oils and organisms from your skin - is bad for your health, your scent, and the balance of life on your body.</p><p>But it's a difficult subject to write about, because there isn't a body of research to point to that can tell you exactly how often you <em>should</em> cleanse yourself, or with what methods.&#xa0;In fact, this&#xa0;posed a problem for even writing this article; the original premise, a clear answer to the question "How often should I shower?" just does not appear in any of the available research.</p><p>What does exist is a growing body of evidence to suggest that our shampoo-scrubbed lifestyles, along with a number of other factors, are damaging a complex system <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">science</keyword> does not yet fully understand: the human microbiome.</p><h3><strong>Showering too much can mess with your skin, and even the way your body functions</strong>&#xa0;</h3><p>The microbiome is the collection of bacteria, archeae, viruses, and other microbes that live in and on your body. We know that these little foreign critters&#xa0;are deeply important to your health. Without them, <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4290017/">your immune system, digestion, and even your heart</a>&#xa0;would lose function or fail entirely.</p><p>It might make sense to understand the microbiome as a parallel and complementary organ system intertwined&#xa0;with the bulkier bags of wet tissue we typically understand to make up the human machine.</p><p>But researchers say the state of the science only offers a small slice of the full picture of the role our microbiomes play in our lives.</p><p>(Part of the problem? There's little in the way of a focused effort to fund research into the subject, with grant structures <a href="http://fatstemserbia.brinkster.net/Library/Newspapers/Microbiome%20research%20goes%20without%20a%20home.pdf">siloing&#xa0;microbiome investigations into other, narrower specialties</a>. The result is&#xa0;that it's difficult for interested scientists to launch coordinated, multi-disciplinary studies.)</p><p>There's compelling indirect evidence to suggest that showering damages your microbiome on your skin, which in turn damages your skin health.</p><p>At the broadest level, it's fairly clear that indoor, urbanized and sterilized (crudely: Westernized) living leaves people with less complex and robust microbiomes.</p><p>A study of the people of Yanomami village in the Amazon, who had "<a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/3/e1500183">no documented previous contact with Western people</a>" found their skin, mouths, and feces hosted the richest complement of bacteria in any human population examined until that point - a complement that included antibiotic-resistant species, despite no known contact with antibiotics.</p><p>And it's well established that a shower with shampoo and soap strips your hair skin of much of its microbe complement, as well as necessary oils - which the cosmetic industry then <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/i-stopped-showering-and-life-continued/486314/">attempts to replace</a>, using conditioners and moisturizers.</p><p>Further, there's good reason to think that the <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/337/6098/1115">common skin conditions</a> of everyday life, like acne, <a href="http://genome.wustl.edu/publications/detail/propionibacterium-acnes-strain-populations-in-the-human-skin-microbiome-associated-with-acne/">emerge from disruptions to the normal microbiome</a>.</p><h3><strong>What to do about the stink</strong></h3><p>All those dots in a row sure look like an arrow pointing toward the conclusion that showering too often is a bad idea for your health. But there's no published research that I'm aware of drawing a clear, bright line between them.</p><p>(If I've missed something, I expect I'll hear about it soon via all-caps notes in my inbox, and I'll update accordingly.)</p><p>Part of the problem may be that it's difficult to assemble a large enough body of subjects willing to skip showering for a long period of time to conduct a high-confidence controlled study. Instead, the published science on shower-skipping is mostly a stack&#xa0;stories of <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0262407914609714?np=y">self-experimentation</a>.</p><p>These stories, anecdotally at least, answer the most important question about shower-skipping: What to do about the stink?</p><p>Here's the problem: Some of the bacteria that make up your microbiome excrete <a href="http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/03/31/396573607/meet-the-bacteria-that-make-a-stink-in-your-pits">nasty-smelling chemicals</a>&#xa0;that add up to odors wafting from your body's folds and creases. Stop rinsing them away, or killing them with deodorant, and things could get pretty gross.</p><p>Still,&#xa0;shower skippers say that problem only exists because our microbiome is so disrupted in the first place.</p><p>The most prominent example is probably James Hamblin of The Atlantic, who published an essay in June 2016 explaining is decision to gradually give up the daily scrub.</p><p>"<span>At first, I was an oily,&#xa0;smelly beast," he <a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/06/i-stopped-showering-and-life-continued/486314/">wrote</a>.</span></p><p><span>But the theory goes that your body adjusts to the new shower-free normal, and your renewed, recalibrated microbiome smells a lot more pleasant - if a bit more earthy than Old Spice.</span></p><p><span>That seems to have worked out for Hamblin:</span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span><span>I still rinse off elsewhere when I'm visibly dirty, like after a run when I have to wash gnats off my face,&#xa0;because there is still the matter of&#xa0;society.&#xa0;If I have bed head, I lean into the shower and&#xa0;wet it down.&#xa0;But I don't use shampoo or body soap, and I almost never get into a shower...</span></span></p><p style="padding-left: 30px;"><span>...And everything is fine. I wake up and get out the door in minutes. At times when I might've smelled bad before, like at the end of a long day or after working out, I just don't. At least, to my nose. I've asked friends to smell me, and they insist that it's all good. (Though they could be allied in an attempt to ruin me.)</span></p><h3><strong>Is a shower-free lifestyle actually healthier?</strong></h3><p><span>While it's not entirely clear that people like Hamblin are healthier than the rest of us (that is <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/02/opinion/sunday/there-is-no-healthy-microbiome.html?_r=0">such a fuzzy concept</a>), there's certainly no clear reason to think they're&#xa0;<em>less&#xa0;</em>healthy either. And, as he points out, they sure do save a lot of time, water, and money getting up in the morning.</span></p><p><span>If you decide to cut down on your showering, or start skipping it entirely, it's probably a good idea to avoid being around people you want to impress for a while.</span></p><p><span>Hamblin spoke to Julia Scott, a journalist who <a href="http://www.juliascott.net/a-wash-on-the-wild-side-how-i-learned-to-stop-worrying-and-love-my-microbiome/">documented her own transition to shower-free living for The New York Times Magazine</a>. Scott used products from a company called AOBiome intended to promote a healthy skin microbiome, and found that she smelled of onions for a little while, at least to some of her friends, while her body adjusted.</span></p><p><span>She also found that just a week of showering at the end of the experiment destroyed her newly-cultivated colony entirely.</span></p><p><span>So here's the deal: I'm sold on the idea that scrubbing soap and cosmetics into my skin every day is probably a bad idea. But if I'm being honest with you, I'm&#xa0;not brave enough to switch over to a shower-free regime just yet.</span></p><p><span>In the meantime, I tweeted at Hamblin asking him if he's kept up his no-shower routine, but he hasn't responded.</span></p><p>If he does, I'll ask him what he smells like.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/jameshamblin">@jameshamblin</a> re-reading this [<a href="https://t.co/cfTgNmSugL">https://t.co/cfTgNmSugL</a>] while looking at some shower science. Curious if you've kept it up?</p>- Rafi Letzter  (@RafiLetzter) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/819558760331018240">January 12, 2017</a></blockquote><script async="" src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/how-drying-yourself-after-shower-affect-health-2016-12">How you're drying yourself off after a shower could affect your health</a></h3>        <div>            <div>    <script src="http://player.ooyala.com/v3/6e12e8b3387a44daacfb73afba25a76e"></script>    <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="5nYzFqODE6-4G5kqugRY5BFlin6l40rR" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>    <script>    if (typeof RunFunctions === 'undefined') { var RunFunctions = []; }     RunFunctions.push(function()    {         var ooyalapopvideo = OO.Player.create('ooyalaplayer_popvideo', '5nYzFqODE6-4G5kqugRY5BFlin6l40rR',{ autoplay: 'false' });     });    </script>    <noscript><div>Please enable Javascript to watch this video</div></noscript></div>        </div>        <script>(function() { function createPlayer() { OO.ready(function() { RunFunctions.forEach(function(ooyalaFunction) { ooyalaFunction(); }); RunFunctions = [];}); } createPlayer(); }()); </script>    </div>

The 24-hour guide to fantastic men's grooming

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/52e2eccaecad048046341551-808-455/20140125_fbp001_0.jpg?maxX=800" border="0" alt="Tiny Times Guo Jingming" width="800" /><p class="source"><span>"Tiny Times"</span></p></div><p></p></div></p>
<h3 class="rubric">The market is growing furiously, but getting tougher for foreign firms</h3>
<p>In the heart of old Shanghai is a magnificent villa that serves as the workplace of Guo Jingming, a provocative young film-maker. "Tiny Times", his recent blockbuster, follows the travails of some fashionable college girls (pictured, in the walk-in closet of one of them). Its depictions of the high life, rarely shown in Chinese films, have set social networks ablaze; they have also been attacked by the People's Daily for "unconditional hedonism". Mr Guo says: "So what? Materialism is neutral, neither positive nor negative." After all, he goes on, China's cosmopolitans know at any given moment what movies are playing in New York and what fashions are on the Paris runways.</p>
<p>China's once-drab and Mao-suited interior is not so far behind. In Mianyang, a middling city in the province of Sichuan, an enormous billboard featuring Miranda Kerr, an Australian supermodel, draped in Swarovski crystals welcomes shoppers to the Parkson shopping mall. It is one of half a dozen high-end malls in town. Luxury sales are exploding there. Local Audi and BMW dealers sell more than 100 cars each a month; Land Rover, Jaguar and Cadillac have just muscled in on the market.</p>
<p>Thirty kilometres (20 miles) away in Luxi, a town of 57,000 people, online shopping is hot. The first express-delivery office opened only three years ago, and handled perhaps ten packages a day; today, there are five, each handling 100 packages a day. Even 60km away, in rural Santai county where farm-workers are the customers, one modern shopping mall has sprung up and another is being built. "Customers are evolving very quickly from the low-end market to the middle and high-end," says Yang Shuiying, proud general manager of the Zizhou shopping centre.</p>
<p>In the 1950s and 1960s the world economy was transformed by the emergence of the American consumer. Now China seems poised to become the next consumption superpower. In all likelihood, it has just overtaken Japan to become the world's second-biggest consumer economy. Its roughly $3.3 trillion in private consumption is about 8% of the world total, and it has only just begun.</p>
<p>"The future of the world will be profoundly shaped by China's rush toward consumerism," says Karl Gerth, an expert on Chinese consumption at the University of California, San Diego. Although investment made the biggest contribution to China's growth last year, and although private consumption's share of output, now at 36%, fell between 2000 and 2010, that trend is unlikely to last, for several reasons.</p>
<p>First, boosting the people's desire to consume is a stated goal of China's leaders. Higher government spending on health care and pensions may encourage households to save less for such things. Higher interest rates may, paradoxically, discourage thrift if people reach their savings goals faster. Rising wages and an ageing population will also shift the balance towards consumption rather than saving. And although household debt is growing fast, China still has relatively little.</p>
<p>Besides, consumption has not fallen in absolute terms. It has, in fact, grown briskly--just not quite as quickly as the economy overall. In dollar terms, China contributed more than any other country to the growth in global consumption in 2011-13, according to Andy Rothman of CLSA, a broker. Moreover, China's official statistics understate some consumption--spending on housing, for example.</p>
<p>A massive push to urbanise is also under way, which should produce tens of millions of richer citizens seeking retail therapy. McKinsey, a consultancy, forecasts that consumption by urban Chinese households will increase from 10 trillion yuan in 2012 to nearly 27 trillion yuan in 2022 (see chart 1).</p>
<h3>Fickle Sophisticates</h3>
<p>How much China spends is striking. Even more so is the way it spends. This is now one of the world's most sophisticated consumer markets, heavily skewed towards expensive goods. Local property barons are now building half the world's new shopping malls in China, many of them in smaller cities, because even punters without big incomes are becoming big shoppers. Research by IDEO, a consultancy, has found that many young migrant workers earning less than 5,000 yuan ($830) a month will spend a month's wages on an Apple iPhone.</p>
<p>That points to another difference from previous consumption booms elsewhere: with the world's largest e-commerce market at their fingertips, Chinese shoppers are online from the start. As a result, what was once a foreign marketers' fantasyland is now the world's fiercest battleground for brands.</p>
<p>Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, calls the Chinese "increasingly aspirational and conspicuous consumers" who routinely trade up to fancier labels even on staples. Newly middle-class types in cities in the interior are keen to try out new products, especially the ones they have seen on foreign television shows. Jeff Walters of the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) points out that even country bumpkins are consuming global media, thanks to the wild popularity of local online-video services. Chinese consumers, he says, were watching the latest season of "Downton Abbey" on Youku, a video-sharing website, well before it was released in America.</p>
<p>This passion for fashion is, in theory, good news for multinational marketers. Unlike, say, Japan, where consumers heavily favour local brands, Chinese consumers hold foreign brands in high esteem. Torsten Stocker of AT Kearney, a consultancy, observes that foreign brands are doing well in sectors they introduced to China (chewing gum, chocolate); those that have "heritage" appeal (premium cars, luxury goods) and those where local brands are not trusted, such as powdered baby milk. The world's fast-food and consumer-goods giants--Procter &amp; Gamble, Pepsi, General Mills and so on--are also big in China, but they are increasingly dogged by local rivals. A recent study by Bain, another consultancy, found that although foreign brands still lead in some areas (biscuits, fabric-softener, bottled water), local brands are surging in others (toothpaste, cosmetics, juice).</p>
<p>Brand-hopping, though, is rife. Having grown up with radical economic change, Chinese shoppers are "very fickle, and hard to pin down to a strong brand loyalty", says Mintel, a market-research firm. Yuval Atsmon of McKinsey reckons that brand-switching--between Pepsi and Coke, Colgate and Crest, KFC and McDonald's--is common, "much more so than in most markets". Swarovski, the crystal-maker, has discovered that over three-quarters of Chinese customers are eager to try new brands, a far higher figure than elsewhere. A recent study by Bain found that the top five brands in ten categories lost 30-60% of their customers between 2011 and 2012.</p>
<p>This creates several problems. With two or three times as many brands on shelves as found in other countries, competition is ferocious. This makes advertising and marketing vital--but the cost of publicity is soaring. Also, firms that thought they enjoyed a "first-mover advantage" have discovered that their brands are now seen as stodgy or old-fashioned. Olay, a cosmetics brand, defined skin care in China for a generation--but Carol Potter of BBDO, an advertising agency, reckons that "the new generation thinks it's a brand from yesterday." She adds that whereas Louis Vuitton once symbolised good and expensive taste in China, a new generation is seeking different, subtler luxuries.</p>
<h3>The Empty Suitcase</h3>
<p>Another complication for marketers is that many Chinese shoppers have a global outlook. When previous middle classes rose to prominence in America and Japan, the internet did not exist. People could not Google the latest European fashions or check discounts on Amazon. The arrival of cheap air travel has also made the Chinese more discerning shoppers. Mr Stocker argues that these factors have "compressed the discovery process", which in Japan took 30 years, to less than ten.</p>
<p>The Chinese are already the world's biggest shoppers abroad, but a report released on January 20th by CLSA forecasts that the number of outbound Chinese tourists will double to 200m a year by 2020 and that their spending will triple over that time. James Button of SmithStreet, a consultancy, reports a well established piece of etiquette: "You must let friends know when you are going overseas," and take along an empty suitcase.</p>
<p>Many Chinese also use online shopping agents, who aggregate requests and bring back foreign goods. Sales by overseas purchase agents came to nearly 50 billion yuan in 2012, a leap of more than 80% on the year earlier; they jumped by half again last year to 74.4. billion yuan. Foreign websites, including Amazon, now offer direct delivery to China for certain products, and local e-commerce giants such as Alibaba run cross-border services.</p>
<p>Buying overseas saves money, since mark-ups and hefty taxes are the rule in China. Many ordinary folk travel not just to Hong Kong, the most convenient spot, but to Jeju Island in South Korea (where they can visit without a visa and shop duty-free) to stock up on cosmetics that cost much more at home. Price, though, is not the only motivation. Another is to avoid the counterfeit goods so common on the mainland. Even more important, consumers say, are the variety and freshness of the products available overseas.</p>
<p>Nowhere is this wide-ranging urge to spend more obvious than in the market for luxury goods. Globally the Chinese are the biggest buyers of expensive items, accounting for some 29% of purchases last year (see chart 2). Some two-thirds of Chinese spending on luxury goods takes place outside the mainland; a fifth of it in Europe. (Harrods of London has seen sales to Chinese shoppers, its largest foreign contingent, increase by 50% a year since 2011.) Consistently favoured brands include Lancôme, Gucci, Audi, Rolex and Tiffany.</p>
<p>The Chinese are also the world's largest consumers of Bordeaux wine and cognac, though sales (like those of Moutai, a local grain alcohol) have fallen in the wake of official campaigns against gift-giving (see "Corruption: Less party time"). At Berry Bros &amp; Rudd's bonded wine warehouse in Basingstoke, in southern England, where 4.5m expensive bottles are stored, more than 1m of those are owned by oenophiles from greater China. No longer, says the firm's chairman, should the Chinese be pictured ruining fine wine by pouring Coca-Cola into it.</p>
<p>Although a government crackdown on corruption has crimped mainland sales, and some luxury firms slowed down the rollout of new boutiques there last year, Coach, Prada and Bottega Veneta continued to expand. Apple expanded too; it now has more stores in Shanghai than in San Francisco, and launches new iPhones in Beijing when it does in California. Mr Button of SmithStreet thinks brands offering affordable luxury--Michael Kors and Kate Spade, say--can capture both the upwardly mobile and the "post-luxury" elites in the cities, who want less flashy brands.</p>
<p>In the past, the Chinese showed little interest in Western art. That is starting to change, and may change quicker with the opening of a new museum of Western art in Shanghai. The richest man in China has just paid $28m for a Picasso, though he was condemned as "unpatriotic" on Sina Weibo. Ms Potter also observes that two-thirds of affluent consumers are keen to know the history and cultural background of foreign brands. So they love to buy Piaget watches in Geneva and Zegna suits in Milan, but reject unconventional offerings such as German watches or Japanese leather bags.</p>
<p>It is not only in luxury goods that Chinese shoppers are leading the way. China has become the world's biggest e-commerce market, with spending forecast to reach $540 billion next year. On Singles Day, an annual online-marketing extravaganza held on November 11th, 400m Chinese spent $5.7 billion just on Tmall, an e-commerce platform run by Alibaba; Americans, on their Cyber Monday a few weeks later, spent only about $2 billion. China is the world's biggest maker and consumer of smartphones, and will soon be the largest "mobile-commerce" market, too.</p>
<p>Perhaps because they distrust official information, the Chinese rely heavily on peer reviews. Research by BCG has shown that they write, and act on, online reviews of products and services far more than Westerners do. A recent study of purchases of moisturiser found that two-thirds of Chinese buyers relied on online recommendations by friends or family; the comparable figure in America was less than 40%. Millions of online shoppers follow the thoughts of Miumiu and Viviandan, leggy twins from industrial Chongqing, who started posting pictures of themselves in the latest fashions, with wry observations on trends and prices, a decade ago. Even now they post recommendations nearly every day on social-media sites such as Instagram, or on Weibo. Their likes and dislikes make or break products.</p>
<p>Online shoppers in the remotest parts of China often know a great deal about a global brand's attributes and pricing worldwide--which can put marketers on the back foot. Chinese consumers are no longer willing to pay a hefty premium for any old foreign brand. As they grow more discerning, multinationals are having to work harder to prove their worth--and are having to defend their brands on China's wild social media. But creative approaches can pay off.</p>
<p>When VF Corporation, a large American clothing firm, wanted to promote The North Face, a brand of outdoor clothing, in China, it struggled. Whereas climbers and hikers in the West relish the thought of conquering mountains alone, the Chinese generally think of outings in Nature as a spiritual escape, to be enjoyed with friends. So the firm created an online community linking amateurs to clubs devoted to outdoor pursuits. The website offers points for activity and loyalty that can be redeemed for products. Sales are soaring, and VF now has a detailed database of over half a million keen customers.</p>
<p>The online awareness of Chinese customers has big global implications. According to Andrew Keith, the president of Lane Crawford, cosmopolitan Chinese consumers are now setting the agenda: "We are not teaching them, they are teaching us." (He should know; his Hong Kong department store has half a dozen shops in greater China, 650,000 high-spending customers and, in the new Shanghai store, private suites for "Platinum VIPs" who spend 60,000 yuan or more a year.) Alexis Perakis-Valat, head of L'Oréal's China business, agrees. He believes that the Chinese market, unlike those in Western countries, is driven by young urban consumers who are demanding something new and have no taboos. He points to peculiar and distinctive products developed for this niche in China, such as a black-foam face-scrub for men, which are now being launched around the world.</p>
<h3>We're All Chinese Now</h3>
<p>Another sign of such innovation is the reinvention of Johnnie Walker, a mass-market whisky brand belonging to Diageo, the world's biggest spirits firm, as a luxury brand in China. Keen to win over sceptical consumers more accustomed to baijiu (a local firewater), the firm opened Johnnie Walker House in Shanghai almost three years ago. For around 800,000 yuan, or $132,000, the company's master blender (with the delicious surname of Beveridge) will fly in and brew a special batch of Johnnie Walker precisely matched to a customer's tastes. Certain rare blends, including some bearing the marks of the Chinese zodiac, are sold only at this venue.</p>
<p>This effort has helped Diageo introduce its whiskies to thousands of affluent customers, who in turn have pushed the firm towards new inventions--such as blends with a much higher alcohol content--which helped its whisky revenues grow twice as fast as the industry average. The concept has been such a success that the company has opened new Houses in Beijing and Seoul, and plans others. When Diageo unveiled Odyssey, a special-edition blend, in 2012, it kicked off the global launch not in London or New York but in Shanghai.</p>
<p>Life was simpler for foreign brands when they first came to China, reflects David Roth of The Store, an advertising agency: "It was a land grab…you just had to create awareness as quickly as possible." Now the Western invaders must not only cater to the world's most demanding shoppers, but also cope with increasing home-grown competition. Chinese firms are starting to catch up with their fancier foreign rivals. Some even aspire to become global brands.</p>
<p>Huawei, a telecoms-equipment giant, is making a big push into branded consumer electronics. "We have it easier than Samsung did," says Colin Giles, chief marketing officer for its consumer business, because Korean firms paved the way for global acceptance of Chinese brands. Xiaomi, a startup smartphone manufacturer in Beijing, has developed a hugely popular phone-and-app system inspired as much by Amazon as by Apple. It could become China's first global innovation powerhouse.</p>
<p>Leading the local pack is Lenovo, an electronics firm that previously bought IBM's personal-computer business (and on January 23rd agreed to buy its low-end server business, too). When it launched its latest Yoga tablet last year it chose Ashton Kutcher, a Hollywood star who had played Steve Jobs in a film, as its spokesman. David Roman, Lenovo's chief marketing officer, says that even a few years ago it would have been unthinkable to do a global product launch in China with a single tagline, unified advertising content and a Western spokesman. But now he thinks there is "a global consuming class", with more in common across borders than within.</p>
<p>That sums up the rise of China nicely. Future consumer markets everywhere are going to look more Chinese. They will increasingly be cosmopolitan, luxury-minded and online. Firms that can flourish in China are not only winning today's toughest market, but are also positioning themselves for tomorrow's.</p>
<p>Click <a href="https://subscriptions.economist.com/nwcd">here</a> to subscribe to The Economist</p>
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