00:00I'm Lucy Fink and this week is five days of cold showers.
00:04Hey guys, what's up?
00:06If you're new to our YouTube channel, please subscribe here.
00:09And if you're a returning viewer, then welcome back to Try Living with Lucy.
00:13I'm Lucy, hi.
00:15Before I start, comment below and let me know what other five day challenges you want to
00:19see me try on this channel.
00:20In fact, this episode idea came from multiple comments that I try five days of taking cold
00:25showers and decided that I'd wait to take the plunge until it was one of the coldest months
00:30of the year.
00:31Go big or go home.
00:32So here we are.
00:33And now it's time.
00:34If you Google potential benefits of cold showers, you'll see that the internet makes some pretty
00:39bold claims.
00:43Really?
00:43So let's get into it.
00:48Today, on day one, I woke up, I turned on my shower, and I just jumped right in.
00:53I didn't really give myself too much time today to plan or figure out the proper way
00:58to do this.
00:58I just kind of got in there and screamed.
01:04I'm rarely in those situations where I'm just so physically uncomfortable that I'm
01:09finding it hard to remember to breathe, but that's exactly what happened in the cold shower.
01:13When you're facing that stream of water and it's coming down on you and landing on your
01:18legs, you just constantly push your butt back to avoid getting the water on your shoulders
01:22and on your chest and your stomach because those are the most sensitive areas.
01:26But I made sure to scoop up the water and to throw it on all of those areas so that
01:30I
01:30got the cold water everywhere.
01:32But the moment I turned the water off, I felt like an internal heater came on, and I'm not
01:36sure if that's because the air was warmer than the water was.
01:39But either way, my hands and feet were still really cold when I got out, and I essentially
01:44stepped out of the shower and I wrapped the towel around me and I just shivered into
01:48a pile on the floor.
01:50I will say though, the cold shower woke me up.
01:53I was definitely alert in the morning after that one.
01:56Yeah, way more alert.
02:00Day two.
02:01I came across an article on Refinery29 about Miranda Care and her everyday routine.
02:06And what do you know, girl takes cold showers.
02:09She wakes up at 6am.
02:11She puts a tablespoon of coconut oil in her mouth for 20 minutes.
02:14And while she's swishing it around, she rubs coconut oil all over her body and then hops
02:20into a cold shower.
02:21I tried oil pulling before during five days of coconut oil and I didn't love the texture
02:25of the solid coconut oil in my mouth.
02:28But I spooned a tablespoon of coconut oil into my mouth, then I rubbed the oil all over
02:33my body.
02:34Once I was all lathered up, I turned on the cold shower and I stepped in.
02:38Because I was swishing the coconut oil in my mouth, I could only breathe through my nose,
02:42so I actually had to remember to breathe more frequently if I wanted to get oxygen to my
02:47brain.
02:47When I got out, I spit the oil into my garbage can, and this is very important because if
02:51you spit the oil anywhere else, it can clog up your drains.
02:54And that was that.
02:55I spent the same exact amount of time in the shower today as I did yesterday, but because
03:00today I was focused on swishing the oil and massaging it into my skin, it really helped
03:04the time pass faster.
03:05It felt like more of a morning ritual than a torturous shower experience, so that was
03:10good.
03:13I think that a lot of people that try this cold shower experiment are doing it to see
03:17if it gives them better hair.
03:19R29's senior sex and relationships writer, Maria Del Russo, did an experiment for us on
03:24site where she rinsed her hair with cold water for 30 days to see what type of effects it
03:29had on her.
03:30So before I tried washing my hair today, I asked her to send me some of her thoughts.
03:33She explained to me what our hair looks like microscopically and how cold water can supposedly
03:38have an effect on that.
03:39Hey Lucy, it's Maria.
03:41A lot of people think that their hair just is like a solid tube, and it's not.
03:45It's actually made up of these tiny microscopic layers that lay on top of each other.
03:50Hair is healthy, the shingles lay flat, and they reflect light really well, which is why
03:55healthy hair looks super shiny.
03:57Cold water is supposed to make it so that the cuticle lays completely flat.
04:01Number one thing that a lot of people complain about when they're washing their hair with
04:06cold water is that it doesn't feel as clean, and it's kind of more difficult to work up
04:12a lather.
04:12I promise you that your hair is getting clean, but don't pile on extra product.
04:18When you are finished, don't use as much hair product as you usually would in your hair.
04:23Good luck, and try not to shiver too much in the shower.
04:27So, with Maria's advice in the back of my head, I just got in there, and oh man.
04:36This experience was actually pretty hilarious.
04:46I followed Maria's advice and used less shampoo than I normally would.
04:51Then I lathered it up really quickly and just sort of screamed and huffed and puffed and scrubbed
04:55until the entire thing was over.
04:58When I got out of the shower, I took her advice again, and I didn't use any product in it.
05:02I just brushed it, put it into a braid, and I left for my shoot.
05:06Now I'm on my way to my shoot for the day.
05:09I'm letting my hair dry naturally in a braid, and I'm gonna hope, crossing my fingers, that
05:14it's looking nice and shiny.
05:15And now I'm back home, and we can see how my hair dried.
05:19It does feel pretty good, and I guess it looks slightly shiny, but I'm not sure how noticeable
05:25this shine would be as compared to how my hair looks every day after a warm shower.
05:30What do you think?
05:30Do you notice anything different?
05:33Huh?
05:36So this morning, I turned my cold shower experience into a bit of a spa morning.
05:41I came into the bathroom wrapped in a warm, huge, fluffy blanket.
05:45I started by using a dry brush, which as I read in another Refinery29 article has a ton
05:50of benefits.
05:51It speeds up the transport of oxygen to the body's cells and tissues, which stimulates
05:56your lymphatic system.
05:57It exfoliates your skin, eliminating clogged pores and ingrown hairs.
06:02I followed it up by putting almond oil onto my skin.
06:05Finally, when I was all warm and brushed and oiled up, I got into the shower.
06:10This time I followed specific directions for what you're actually supposed to do in a cold
06:14shower.
06:14I spent the entire time under the water vigorously massaging myself.
06:19This definitely helped me stay warmer because I was active the entire time and I was keeping
06:23the blood flowing and circulating.
06:25I even followed directions of an article that told me I'm supposed to take a few short breaks
06:30in the middle of the cold shower where I turned the water off, but I kept massaging my skin.
06:34When I got out, I felt that warm sensation again that I had previously felt when getting
06:38out of the cold shower, and I was really curious about it, so I decided to look it up.
06:42There's an ancient Indian term for this, Ishnan.
06:45There's a whole science and grace to it, but essentially it's hydrotherapy.
06:50When the cold water hits your skin, the blood comes rushing to the surface in self-defense,
06:54which leaves you feeling warmer on the spot.
06:56I was in and out of the bathroom in just 15 minutes this morning, but I somehow felt
07:00like I had a full-on spa awakening experience.
07:04Awww.
07:05It was amazing.
07:08Day five.
07:09My last cold shower of the week.
07:11I'm starting to notice how much more efficient I've been over the past few mornings.
07:15Put some more oil on, did a quick soap and water rinse in my cold shower, got out very
07:20quickly.
07:20I noticed that I even had extra time.
07:23Time to brew a pot of coffee, make myself something to eat, and even to sit down and
07:27make a mood board to help me plan for the next episode of Try Living with Lucy.
07:31I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but based on some of the mood board items, got any guesses?
07:37So while I can't tell you if the cold showers really did improve my skin or my hair or make
07:42me more fertile, I can tell you that adding a ritualistic aspect to my morning did make
07:47me feel more efficient and the cold water definitely energized me and woke me up.
07:52Comment below letting me know if you love or hate taking cold showers, and as always,
07:56let me know what you want to see me try next time for five days at a time.
08:00Hey YouTube!
08:01Thanks for watching.
08:02Click here to watch another video on Refinery29, here to subscribe to us on YouTube, and right
08:08here for my personal YouTube channel.
08:11Bye!
08:11Bye!
08:11Bye!
08:12Bye!
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