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Sunday, November 09, 2008

bathrooms

Bathrooms are interesting places. Intimate, even, when you inspect a close one's bathroom to see what it's like. To know their habits: loo roll placed over or under the tube? What kind of toothpaste? Toothbrush overly worn and used, or an electric snazzy type? Does she shave or epilate or tweeze or wax or use hair-removal creams? Is she really into her hair (some bathrooms have a whole shelf rack of product meant only for hair)? Does he wash his face with a cleanser proper? And, when you open a bottle of shampoo that your lover uses, you realise, 'So this is why she smells so good.'

A guy I once knew noted that I was 'hygienic' (or similar word, cannot remember because it is years ago) because he noted my bottle of Vagisil. Feminine cleanser is interesting to talk about. Not every girl uses it (why?!) and those who do, seem to intrigue men, that we take care of our bits so delicately. I was amazed that, one day when J was clearing out my loot from my shopping bags that day, and automatically placed the newly-bought bottle of Vagisil in the bathroom where the old one used to be. 'How did you know this belongs here!' I gasped at him, shocked. He's a man! He is supposed to not know details! Men shower with a bar of soap, even for their bits! But, he knew. He said he knew that was what I used to wash myself. This guy amazes me with his attention to details about me.

I feel happy when I see a small collection of cleansers, soaps, shower gels, shampoos, dental care products, on my bathroom shelves. It feels so pampering to use Estee Lauder or similar to wash your face with. I am usually too lazy to condition my hair nowadays, but when I do, digging into my mini-tub of Pantene's hair mask feels luxurious when rubbed into my hair.

The presence of an extra toothbrush and shaver and a manly facial cleanser (Loreal) on the shelves also reminds me that I have a lover who spends a wonderful lot of time at my place. Looking at these things when I use the bathroom makes me think of him, whatever he may be doing outside the bathroom at the moment - gaming, sleeping, or et cetera manly activities.

Reading Prince Irwin's blog post on his bathroom made me pleasantly visualise what his bathroom is like. The products he uses, whether the toilet bowl is splattered with dried pee on the sides or whether it is spick-spankingly clean. (Sorry Irwin! Just wondering).

Most boys' bathrooms that I have visited are usually rather unsavoury, you see. Usually shared bathrooms, so the personality of the boy under inspection is really quite hard to tell from the bathroom. Shared bathrooms usually mean that the products used inside are often bought and replenished by the non-male users of the bathroom.

Do you also realise that everybody has different peeing rituals? A man friend of mine pees so softly, I wonder how he does it (sitting down?), even though I am right outside in the kitchen while he's in the bathroom. Some people wash their hands with the hand soap, others claim that a mere second spent under the tap means your hand (singular) is washed. I like to flush the loo with the seat cover down. I scrunch up my loo roll and use lots of it. And I buy three-ply embossed loo roll, nothing less will do.

And oh, reading material. C's bathroom had loads of in-loo reading material (mostly the sister's) and they ranged from Time to Reader's Digest. I love those loos with Archie's Comics! Ara has those in hers.

I trained J to conform to my bathroom-usage rules in my house. He already has some savoury habits, such as lifting up the seat before peeing. Actually that was his only good habit when he came. I have collected all the theorycraft of male toilet-usage rules and imbibed him with them. Wiping mis-cues off the bowl, wiping self so I don't have to wash pee-remnants off his boxers when I do the laundry, washing hands with soap etc. Sounds gross, but boys are hugely gross! They think they are clean when they actually aren't, most of the time!

Digressing from bathrooms there, apologies. But boys are really dirty, I sometimes wish I could date girls instead.

Shared girls' bathrooms are lovely. When I go on holiday with my best girlfriends Enid and Shuyi, we have a whole host of lovely cleansers, masks, perfumes, lotions, make-up etc etc that line our bathroom interior. It is just lovely lovely lovely. I feel so close to them when I know their favourite products.

Funny how I could actually write a whole post on just bathrooms. Inspired by Prince Irwin, really. And yes, I also scrimp on the toothpaste till I have no choice but to get a new one. Ditto the toilet paper.