There are showers, and then there are showers. The quick rinse you squeeze in before work? That’s just a shower—five minutes of soap, water, and efficiency. But the everything shower? That’s a whole different beast. It’s not just about hygiene—it’s a full-scale operation. A ritual. A bathroom-based odyssey designed to scrub, smooth, hydrate, and transform you into a glossier, softer, glowier version of yourself. Think spa day, except you’re the esthetician, masseuse, and attendant all rolled into one.

As someone on the internet aptly put it: “You don’t really know women until you’ve heard of the everything shower.”

And they’re right. The everything shower isn’t just about getting clean—it’s about getting intentional. Whether you’re fighting winter dryness, chasing a dolphin-skin smoothness, or just craving the deepest clean your bathroom has ever witnessed, there’s an everything shower for that.

Step One: Know Your Mission

Before you reach for your caddy of potions, figure out your end goal. Dry skin dragging you down? Dreaming of skin so smooth you could double as a seal? Or maybe you just want that squeaky-clean feeling, scalp to toes? Each outcome requires its own game plan.

The Everything Shower for Banishing Dryness

Start before the water even runs. Massage a nourishing oil into your scalp—something light, like Ceremonia’s, that won’t leave you greasy. Bonus points if you use one of those little circular scalp massagers, because why not make it feel like a head spa?

Once the oil’s in, lather up with a shampoo that won’t strip your strands (Iles is a crowd favorite) and follow it with a hydrating hair mask like Bread’s, letting it soak in while you work on the rest of you.

For your body, reach for an oil-based cleanser like Glossier’s Body Hero Oil Wash. It cleans without leaving you squeaky or tight. But the real trick is in the post-shower lotion sandwich: first layer on a ceramide-rich lotion like Dr. Jart’s Ceramidin, then seal it all in with something thick and protective, like Burt’s Bees Healing Ointment. The result? Skin as soft as whipped honey, and hair that doesn’t crunch when it dries.

The Everything Shower for Maximum Smoothness

This version is for the exfoliation enthusiasts—the ones who want to buff away every last dead skin cell. Here’s how it goes.

First, cleanse your face, then apply a chemical peel that works its magic while you tackle the rest (Paula’s Choice 25% AHA + 2% BHA Peel is a solid option). While that tingles away, turn your attention to the body. Grab an exfoliating bar or scrub—Glossier’s makes a good one—and go to work, especially on rough patches like elbows, knees, and heels.

When you’re done, don’t wait until you’re bone-dry. While your skin’s still damp, rub in a body lotion, then finish with a touch of oil for that slip-and-shine effect. The key here is restraint—you want luminous, not slippery-floor hazardous.

By the time you rinse off your face peel and pat on moisturizer plus SPF, you’ll have achieved peak smoothness. Soft, polished, and glow-ready.

The Everything Shower for the Deepest Clean

Sometimes you just want to feel truly, completely scrubbed down—like you’ve erased every ounce of buildup and started fresh. This is that shower.

Begin with your scalp. (Scalps, it turns out, are kind of like lint traps: they collect gunk until you finally decide to clean them out.) Apply a clarifying treatment like Bread’s Scalp Serum, and while that works, slap on a clay mask to vacuum out your pores—Innisfree’s version is effective without leaving you feeling parched.

Then it’s back to the hair. Rinse out the serum with shampoo, follow with conditioner, and let your strands revel in the reset.

For your body, finish strong with an all-over cream like Glossier’s Body Hero Daily Perfecting Cream. It hydrates, softens, and leaves behind a neroli scent so fresh and clean it might trick you into thinking you just left a spa. If the scrubbing and masking don’t convince you you’re clean, the smell absolutely will.

Why We Love the Ritual

The beauty of the everything shower isn’t just in the products—it’s in the ritual itself. It forces you to slow down, pay attention to your body, and treat yourself with a level of care we often reserve for rare occasions. It’s not an everyday routine (who has that kind of time?), but when you do carve out the hour, it feels transformative.

Some people meditate. Some go to yoga. And some of us? We steam up the bathroom, scrub every inch of ourselves, and emerge pink-cheeked, slippery, and convinced we’ve just reset our entire lives.

And honestly, sometimes that’s exactly what you need.