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Your teen years can be incredible, but they are also packed with pressures and unknowns. Fortunately, staying clean, presentable and healthy during this time isn’t difficult. Sure, your sweat glands will wake up and do their own thing, and you’ll have more hair to deal with everywhere, but your natural beauty will also be shining through. Here’s how to be your best self with 10 personal hygiene practices.
Your body has two types of sweat glands — eccrine and apocrine. Your eccrine glands regulate your body temperature by producing sweat when you exert yourself. These glands explain why you work up a sweat at soccer practice but not when walking to and from class.
Your apocrine glands release proteins, and these come to life during puberty. When the protein in your apocrine secretions mixes with bacteria on your skin, you end up smelling like week-old socks. Therefore, showering each day is among the top 10 personal hygiene practices for teen girls.
Brush your teeth twice a day, morning and night, without fail. Your future self will thank you, plus it shows off your beautiful smile at its best. Personal hygiene for a teenage girl definitely includes good dental hygiene. This gives you fresh breath that people will notice and it can help boost your confidence, too.
If you wanna rock a retro 80’s look, go for it — but be aware hair styling products can clog pores and cause breakouts. Alcohol in hair spray can dry skin, making your body amp up oil production in response.
That said, you don’t need top-of-the-range products. There are plenty of affordable and effective shampoos and conditioners that will keep your crowning glory looking, well, glorious.
Wash your intimate area every time you shower or bathe. You don’t need special products for this, just warm water and a mild soap, shower gel or bath product. You also don’t need to wash internally. Your vagina is remarkably good at self-cleaning, so avoid products like douches or special cleansers — they are not necessary and may do more harm than good by disrupting the delicate natural pH balance your body already has in place.
Having periods is definitely the biggest change in personal hygiene for a teenage girl. It can feel like a lot, but you will get used to it.
If you use menstrual pads, change them every four to six hours, to avoid odor and infection. Many teens prefer tampons, finding them more hygienic — and less prone to destroying pants — than pads. However, leaving tampons in too long can cause toxic shock syndrome (TSS), a potentially deadly infection.
The danger doesn’t decrease if you opt for a menstrual cup. Any item inserted in the vagina for an extended period increases your risk of TSS. If you find heavy flow days leave you changing your pad every two hours, consider investing in period panties for added protection against leaks.
When you reach puberty, you’ll probably get a few zits. Try not to stress too much or to wash your face obsessively. Cleansing your face too often strips it of oils — and your body will amp up sebum production to try to keep up. Instead, wash your face once in the morning and again at night. You should also wipe down after vigorous exercise.
Do you use spot treatment on pimples? Avoid products containing benzoyl peroxide and sulfur, as they may dry your skin. Also, swipe left on products containing plastic microbeads. Scientists say there is so much plastic in the ocean that shrimp have tiny particles in their stomachs. For exfoliating, stick to natural sugar or sea salt scrubs.
By all means, use scented lotions and add a few spritzes of body spray if it makes you feel good. However, strong perfumes can trigger migraine and allergy symptoms in some people. Plus, body spray contains alcohol, meaning excess use can dry your skin and cause redness.
During adolescence, you sweat more — and it smells riper. There are two ways to deal with this, deodorants and antiperspirants. Deodorants work to reduce the odor, but they don’t reduce the amount of sweat you produce. Antiperspirants temporarily block sweat pores, reducing how much you sweat in the first place. Which you choose is up to you. Many products combine both.
You may have heard stories that antiperspirants cause breast cancer, but research has found no evidence of that at all, and these products are considered safe to use. Personal hygiene for a teenage girl doesn’t have to mean skipping this.
If you prefer natural products, you could consider a natural crystal deodorant. While this product needs time to build up, leaving you temporarily skunky, it’s free from harmful chemicals.
Wearing clean socks belongs on the top 10 personal hygiene practices for teens list because feet can stink as much as armpits. Letting bacteria fester on unwashed socks gives your shoes that signature funk.
Always wear clean socks with closed-toed shoes — especially when you’re at school. Try to go barefoot or wear flip-flops whenever possible.
First, know that you don’t have to shave at all. That is your personal choice, so don’t allow friends, family members or the media to influence you. Body hair is normal and natural. Many women choose to remove it to some extent or other, but many others choose not to. That goes for pubic hair, too, by the way, despite what you may hear.
If you do choose to shave leg or underarm hair, use a razor especially designed for the female body shape. Soak your skin in warm water first, to relax the hair follicles, and always use a shaving gel or cream to protect against razor burn. Ask a parent or guardian to show you how until you get used to it.
When it comes to diet and exercise, maintain a healthy balance. It’s okay to indulge in a greasy slice of pizza now and then. Your weight may fluctuate during adolescence due to hormone changes. However, you can remain stable if you exercise at least 30 minutes each day. You might not think of diet and mvement as examples of personal hygiene, but they underpin everything else.
Eating disorders most often develop during your teens, so never be afraid to speak up and ask for help if you find yourself obsessing over your diet or your weight.
These 10 items are a great place to start, but you know yourself best. There may be areas here that come more naturally to you, or where you already have a routine, or other areas that haven’t been mentioned that you know you need to work on.
The easiest way to get into a routine is to do things at the same time each day, so think about how you make hygiene practices a normal, everyday part of life.
You are already bombarded with advertising and influence marketing telling you that you need this product, that product, so much stuff. You really don’t. Start by asking your mom, sister or friend what they use, because there’s nothing like a personal recommendation.
Don’t be afraid to experiment, as different products suit different skin types, hair types, needs or preferences. Pretty much everything you need can be bought from a normal store for reasonable prices. When you start earning, you can certainly splash out on products you’d like — why not? But don’t feel that you have to. It’s perfectly OK to stick to the basics and ignore the hype.
Here are some other questions you may be wondering about.
The most important thing is to change pads and tampons regularly, for your health as well as to avoid odor. As you get used to your monthly cycle, you’ll find it easier to anticipate how heavy your flow will be on certain days. If you are showering daily and changing your products properly, you will be fine.
Teens should care about hygiene for the same reasons the rest of us should. Being clean and presentable makes all of us nicer to be around and, perhaps even more importantly, it makes us feel better about ourselves too. A personal hygiene routine doesn’t take long, and creating those habits now will set you up for life.
The basics are showering, cleaning your teeth, managing body odor and taking a healthy approach to your menstrual cycle. That said, everyone has off days. You don’t have to be perfect, but ideally, these habits will become second nature to you so that most of the time, you won’t even need to think about it.
You don’t need to invest in expensive products to stay clean during your teen years. By following the 10 personal hygiene practices above, you can smell fresh and look your best at any age.
Originally published on 1/1/2020. Updated on 5/29/26.
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