Is it soap or lotion?

One of the luxuries I allow myself these days is using upgraded (compared to store-brand) soaps and lotions that smell and feel good. (Of course, I only buy them when they are on sale, but that’s a different post.) Sometimes I even “layer” the scents, using a body wash and a lotion with the same “flavor.” That feels especially decadent. Of course, I generally am not wearing my reading glasses while completing my daily toilette, so I am not reading the labels when I choose the flavor of the day. That shouldn’t be necessary anyway–the body wash is in the shower, the lotions are under the sink. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to work.

Last week I noticed multiple times that the lotion I was using felt a little sticky. It’s a brand I buy regularly, so I was a little surprised (and disappointed), but I bought the giant bottle (on sale for half price, but still) and I wasn’t about to stop using it. Then one day I had my readers on as I was rooting around in the morass under my sink, and noticed that the lotion I’d been using was not lotion at all, but body wash. Ha! It’s not that the lotion was sticky after all, but that I’d been smoothing soap over my extremities all week. (Interestingly, I’m not sure there was any overall difference in my skin, which may mean that at least part of my somewhat onerous beauty routine is unnecessary.)

After laughing myself silly, I began ruminating on this difference. Soap versus lotion. Cleansing versus protecting. Sticky versus smooth. Necessary versus luxury. As I thought about it, I realized that a lot of things in my life can be categorized this way. A difficult situation with a loved one that I address through an emotional conversation? Cleansing. Regular teas and lunches with girlfriends? Protecting. Preventative care appointments with doctors and dentists? Necessary. Massage therapy and facials? Luxury. (Or maybe necessary, as I try to combat the ravages of time on my muscles and my face.)

It’s tempting to classify all the stuff I don’t like (cleaning toilets, grocery shopping, pushups) as soap and the stuff I do like (using a clean toilet, cooking, being done with pushups) as lotion, but the reality is that most things are both. Sticky AND smooth. Needs AND wants. Essentials AND extravagances. For instance, I need to work out for so many reasons (most of which are connected to aging, eating or both); but I also want to work out (sort of) because of those same reasons (to protect what health I do have and get to eat delicious foods).

Why am I even writing about this? Sorting tasks or events this way is pretty useless–unless it leads to some sort of epiphany or discovery. Something that makes life easier, perhaps making a required task more palatable by combining it with something fun. Such as, maybe, a soap and lotion all in one? That would make life easier for women of a certain age who aren’t as organized as they like to think. Or at least for one of them.