"I Thought It Was Optional": People Are Confessing The Biggest Hygiene Mistake They Made Because Nobody Taught Them Otherwise

I have a confession to make: The other day, after a hectic morning, I was running around the city when I realized I had forgotten to brush my teeth. Mortifying, I know. We all make little hygiene mistakes from time to time, but sometimes people discover they've been neglecting something really important for years and years. Recently, people on Reddit shared the hygiene mistakes they're so embarrassed they made, and some of them are genuinely shocking. Here's what they shared:

1. "I thought my face was super oily, UNTIL I learned that using face lotion cures the problem. I was in my mid-20s when I learned, and what a difference! Turns out, my face was screaming for moisture. Once I started moisturizing my face after my shower, I was never oily again."

2. "My boyfriend didn’t know he was supposed to brush the back of his teeth when he was younger. He’s 23 now, and he realized that when he was 12… really crazy."

—Raremixedgirl

"Me too. I only brushed the front. I had so many cavities."

—Fun-Eye-2946

3. "I had no idea I was supposed to be cleaning my scalp when washing my hair. I focused on the hair only. Finally realized when I was in my late 20s and saw a video online."

4. "I was incorrectly taught to shampoo all my hair and then condition all of my hair. Turns out you are only supposed to condition your ends and nothing near your scalp. No wonder my hair got oily in a day when I was young. I finally had a coworker with super long hair. I asked her about her routine, and she said, 'Oh, I just shampoo twice on the scalp and then condition the rest like everyone else.' I was so embarrassed."

—Celitha11

5. "Not flossing. The first time I flossed, I kept sniffing my fingers because I thought I had gotten something foul-smelling on them. It was the gunk on the floss; it REEKED."

6. "Flossing wrong. You’re not supposed to just put the floss in and out to pick up food and move on to the next tooth. You’re supposed to pull the floss around the tooth and scrape up and down each side over and over to remove the gunk sitting on the sides of the tooth as well. My dental hygienist told me this. She was telling me to floss more, and I told her I’ve been flossing every day for years. Then she showed me the correct technique, and my mind was blown."

—sabi_wasabi_

7. "Does flushing tampons count? I’m Generation X. My older sisters flushed their tampons, and that’s what I learned. Overflowed a cruise ship toilet a few weeks ago, and I haven’t done it since. Oops."

8. "I worked in a doctor's office for a couple of years in my early 20s. I had this cough and sickness that just wouldn't go away. After a few days, I was complaining about it, and the doc said, 'Change your toothbrush!' That's when it dawned on me that I was just reinfecting myself every time I brushed my teeth."

—Plane-General-8649

9. "Not changing my pillowcases or cleaning my hairbrushes often enough."

10. "I remember when a friend told me that shaving my pubes every day would make razor burn go away. We were like 13, and I ended up with this horrible, swollen, burning, scaly rash. It was brutal."

—KaleidoscopeCandid

11. "I learned literally last year from my ex that you should brush your tongue."

12. "It took until I was 23 or 24 to realize I was never cleaning behind my ears. To the point I started getting dead skin build up, which made it super irritated (which was when I realized). I was MORTIFIED, because I’m super big on hygiene (to the point that I shower twice a day)."

—JayberBieber

13. "I have really sensitive skin. I was always unbearably itchy after showering and would even get hives sometimes. I married someone from a culture where moisturizer is mandatory. I started doing it, and it literally changed my life. Turns out dry skin is way more sensitive! Also, your face and chest aren't the only parts of your skin that need love."

15. "I finally learned how to maintain my wavy hair after growing up with a mom with pin-straight hair that didn’t know anything about thick/wavy/curly hair. I’ve got a whole routine now."

17. "The importance of drying off completely and how it impacts your body odor."

18. "I used to just yank my hair straight out of my head if it got tangled when brushing. I have very fine, blonde hair that tangled easy. My mom used to hack at it with brushes and would literally break them off by the handle, being so rough on my hair. I thought that's what you were supposed to do."

—fictionalfirehazard

19. And finally, "Not cleaning my belly button. A while back, I spotted a nasty grey ball in there, probably a collection of fuzz from clothes, dead skin, and accumulated skin oil. Gag! I clean that sucker every day with a Q-tip now."

Can you relate? Share your embarrassing hygiene mistake in the comments or via the anonymous form below: