Two guides in one: how to look after your skin, hair and body every day — and how to fix the most common skin and foot problems. Easy to read, backed by real doctor research, with New Zealand Chemist Warehouse prices.
Every product, where it goes, what to do, and which days. Today's column is highlighted automatically. Week starts Friday — swipe the table sideways on your phone; the product column stays put.
| Product → body part | What to do | Fri | Sat | Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 🌅 Morning | ||||||||
| Warm waterface | Splash warm (not hot), pat dry with a soft towel. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sensodyne on Reach brushteeth | Pea-size, 2 minutes, light pressure — spit, don't rinse. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 🚿 Shower (one short, warm) | ||||||||
| DermaVeen Soap-Free Washarmpits · groin · feet | Soap only these three spots; just rinse the rest with water. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| OGX Coconut Milk Shampooscalp / roots | Massage in with fingertips (not nails), rinse well. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| OGX Coconut Milk Conditionerlengths & ends | Keep it off the roots; leave 1–2 minutes, rinse out fully. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
| Schick Quattro 5armpits | Shave the hair fully off (don't just trim), then wash — cuts smell ~75% for the week. | ✓ | ||||||
| Redwin Sorbolene Moisturiserwhole body | Within 3 minutes of stepping out, while skin is still damp. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Manicare clippersnails | After the shower while nails are soft. Fingernails: follow the curve. Toenails*: straight across. | ✓ | ||||||
| 🖐️ During the day | ||||||||
| Palmolive Softwashhands | 20 seconds after the toilet and before food. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 🌙 Night | ||||||||
| Grin Flosser pickbetween all teeth | One pick, every gap, curve around each tooth — floss before brushing. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Sensodyne on Reach brushteeth | 2 minutes again — spit, don't rinse. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanserface | The 236 mL pump (refill it from the 1 L bottle): massage ~1 minute on a wet face with fingertips, rinse warm, pat dry. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cetaphil Moisturising Creamface | Thin layer straight after the cleanser. (Also great on dry hands & elbows.) | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 🛏️ Bedtime | ||||||||
| Rexona Men Clinicaldry armpits | Last thing before bed, on clean, fully dry skin — works up to 48 h, survives the morning shower. | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| 🧰 Weekly jobs (any time that day) | ||||||||
| Harpic Fresh Powertoilet bowl | Squirt under the rim, wait 20–30 minutes, scrub with the brush, flush. | ✓ | ||||||
| Persil at 60 °Csocks · undies · towels | One hot wash — this is what kills foot fungus and smell bacteria. | ✓ | ||||||
* Toenails every 2nd Saturday — not too short, never down into the corners. Worn clothes go in a normal Persil wash after each wear, any day.
Your simple routine to keep skin strong, hair healthy, and body odour under control — plus exactly what to buy.
Five small steps that stop your skin drying out
Splash with warm water — not hot. Plain water is enough in the morning; save your Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser for the evening wash.
Brush for 2 minutes with a pea-size blob of Sensodyne Repair & Protect Whitening on your Reach Between toothbrush — small circles, angled at the gum line, light pressure.
Once a day at most — 5 to 10 minutes, warm (about 37–38 °C, like a warm bath). In cold winter months, every other day is fine.
Pat dry, then while your skin is still a little wet, rub Redwin Sorbolene Daily Moisturiser all over — within about 3 minutes.
Before bed, massage Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser (the 236 mL pump — refill it from your 1 L bottle) onto your wet face with your fingertips for about a minute to clean off the day's dust, sweat and sunscreen. Rinse warm and pat dry.
Then apply a thin layer of Cetaphil Moisturising Cream (the tub) — it has niacinamide (vitamin B3) and glycerin, which help your skin repair while you sleep.
Apply your Rexona Men Clinical Protection (Sport) to clean, fully dry armpits right before bed — not in the morning.
At night your sweat slows down, so the deodorant sinks in and forms tiny plugs. One night-time go controls sweat and smell for up to two days — even after your morning shower.
Hair, armpit hair, and what you wear
Use your OGX Coconut Milk shampoo (sulfate-free, exactly what the research asks for) — massage into the roots with your fingertips, not nails, and rinse well. Follow with OGX Coconut Milk conditioner on the lengths and ends only — keep it off the roots — leave it 1–2 minutes, then rinse.
Take the hair fully off each week with your Schick Quattro 5 — don't just trim with scissors.
Shaving the hair right off, then washing, cuts armpit smell by more than half straight away. Trimming with scissors barely helps.
Pick cotton (natural). Avoid polyester (plastic-based), especially for workouts.
Wash worn clothes after each wear with your Persil Ultimate laundry liquid. Run socks, undies and towels hot (60 °C) — that's what actually kills foot fungus and smell bacteria.
Use your Manicare nail clippers just after a shower, when nails are soft. Fingernails weekly — follow the natural curve. Toenails every 2 weeks — cut straight across, not too short and never down into the corners.
Hands: wash with your Palmolive Softwash (Aloe Vera) for ~20 seconds after the toilet and before food — through the day, every day.
Toilet: once a week, squirt Harpic Fresh Power under the rim, leave it 20–30 minutes, scrub with the brush, flush. A clean bathroom is part of the same job — fewer germs cycling back onto you.
The Chemist Warehouse order you bought — June 2026 — and exactly how to use each item
One card per product. Each tells you what it's for, exactly what to do, and how often. This is the master list — the routines above use these same products.
Your product: DermaVeen Extra Hydration Gentle Soap-Free Wash · 1.25 L
A small squirt on armpits, groin and feet only — just rinse the rest of you with warm water. One short shower a day at most. Soap-free and fragrance-free — the research's exact criteria.
Your product: Redwin Sorbolene Daily Moisturiser · 1.1 L
Pat dry, then rub all over while skin is still slightly damp — it traps the water in. Glycerin grabs the water, the base seals it — the research's grab-and-seal combo, and the cheapest per mL of the whole kit.
Your product: Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser · 236 mL pump + 1 L refill
Keep the pump by the basin and refill it from the 1 L bottle. Massage onto a wet face with fingertips for ~1 minute, rinse warm, pat dry. Mornings: plain warm water is enough.
Your product: Cetaphil Moisturising Cream · 550 g tub
A thin layer on your face straight after the evening cleanse — it repairs while you sleep. Also great on dry hands, elbows and anywhere the Sorbolene isn't rich enough.
Your product: Sensodyne Repair & Protect Whitening · 100 g
Pea-size blob, brush 2 full minutes. Then spit, don't rinse — the leftover paste keeps repairing sensitive spots overnight.
Your product: Reach Between Superb Clean · Medium
Angle the bristles toward the gum line, small circles, light pressure — scrubbing hard wears gums away. Replace it when the bristles splay.
Your product: Grin Flossers (recycled) · 45 pack
One pick does the whole mouth: slide gently into every gap, curve it around each tooth in a C-shape, scrape up and down. Floss first, then brush.
Your product: Rexona Men Clinical Protection · roll-on
On clean, fully dry armpits at bedtime — it plugs the sweat ducts overnight and keeps working up to 48 h, even after your morning shower. Don't bother re-applying in the morning.
Your product: Schick Quattro 5 Titanium
Shave your armpit hair fully off once a week, then wash — the trial showed this cuts odour by ~75%. Use light strokes with the DermaVeen as slip; rinse the blade often and let it air-dry.
Your product: OGX Coconut Milk Shampoo · 385 mL
Massage into the roots with fingertips, not nails, rinse well. Sulfate-free — exactly the chemistry the research called for.
Your product: OGX Coconut Milk Conditioner · 385 mL
On the lengths and ends only — keep it off the roots. Leave 1–2 minutes while you wash the rest of you, then rinse out fully.
Your product: Palmolive Softwash Aloe Vera · 250 mL
~20 seconds of lather after the toilet and before food — backs of hands, between fingers, under nails. Pat dry, don't rub.
Your product: Manicare Nail Clippers with Chain
Clip just after a shower when nails are soft. Fingernails: follow the curve. Toenails: straight across, not too short, never into the corners — that's what prevents ingrown toenails.
Your product: Persil Ultimate Front & Top Loader · 2 L
Wash worn clothes after each wear. Run socks, undies and towels at 60 °C — a hot wash is what kills foot fungus and the bacteria that make clothes smell.
Your product: Harpic Fresh Power · 700 mL
Squirt under the rim and around the bowl, leave 20–30 minutes, scrub with the brush, flush. Keep the brush drying upright — not sitting in water.
A good cream does three jobs at once
Like glycerin. They pull water in and hold it in your skin.
They fill the tiny gaps between skin cells so skin feels smooth.
Like petrolatum. A thin top layer so the water can't escape.
Why a soap-free wash protects your skin
Your skin has a slightly sour (acidic) coat that keeps it healthy. Here's why a gentle wash protects it and old bar soap doesn't.
Popular ideas that sound smart but are wrong
"Natural or plant-based stuff is always safer for skin."
Your skin doesn't care if something came from a plant or a lab — only how it's built. Many plant and essential oils change batch to batch, go off quickly, or cause rashes. Raw coconut oil even clogs pores. Clean, lab-made ingredients are steadier and gentler.
"Scrub harder and wash more to get really clean."
Washing too much breaks your skin's shield. It dries out, cracks, and lets in germs and rashes. Harsh "antibacterial" bars are the worst — they kill the good germs without helping healthy skin at all.
"Skip shampoo for weeks to 'train' your scalp to make less oil."
You can't train it — hormones decide how much oil your scalp makes, not how often you wash. Skipping washes just lets old oil pile up, which feeds the yeast that causes dandruff and an itchy, flaky scalp.
Twice a day (clean morning & night) vs once at night (saves natural oils). Do this: dry/sensitive skin → once at night; oily skin → twice a day.
Daily (short, warm, gentle) vs 2–3× a week (protects oils & good germs). Do this: active/sweaty → daily but short; quiet day or cold winter → every other day, spot-clean the smelly bits.
When something's already wrong — itchy feet, smell, hard skin, rashes or small cuts — here's what's happening and how to fix it, with the right product and when to see a doctor.
Athlete's foot & fungal toenails
Doctors call it tinea pedis.
A tiny fungus (like a mould) lives on warm, damp skin and eats the dead skin between your toes, making it itch, peel and crack. Sweaty feet in closed shoes are its perfect home. Ignore it and it spreads into your toenails.
Put terbinafine cream (Lamisil) on clean, dry feet once a day for 1 week, spreading a little past the rash. This clears most cases. Or clotrimazole/miconazole cream twice a day for 2–4 weeks, continuing 1–2 weeks after it looks better.
Tea tree oil and other "natural" cures have no real proof — skip them for clearing an infection.
You have diabetes, poor blood flow, numb feet, or a weak immune system — don't treat it yourself. Go straight away for spreading redness, warmth, red streaks up the leg, swelling or a fever.
Doctors call it onychomycosis.
The same fungus moves into the nail and grows under it. The nail gets thick, discoloured and lifts away from the toe, and builds a slimy shield (a biofilm) that makes it stubborn.
If less than half the nail is affected, use amorolfine nail paint (Loceryl): lightly file, clean, then paint once or twice a week for 6–12 months. It's slow — be patient.
If the fungus reaches the base of the nail or the paint fails, see your GP for tablets: terbinafine (250 mg daily, 3 months) or itraconazole (200 mg daily, 3–4 months). In NZ these need approval and a liver blood-test check.
Strong foot smell & tiny pits in the skin
Doctors call it bromodosis and pitted keratolysis.
Sweat itself doesn't smell. But when feet stay sweaty and shut in, bacteria multiply and digest your skin, making smelly sulphur gases (rotten-egg smell) and eating tiny craters into the soles.
Wash the soles twice a day with a 5% benzoyl peroxide acne wash (Benzac AC). Rub on, leave 30–60 seconds to kill bacteria, then rinse. If it doesn't improve, your GP can prescribe an antibiotic gel.
You have diabetes, numb feet or poor blood flow, get painful sores, spreading redness or warmth, or it doesn't clear after 2 weeks.
Calluses & cracked heels
Hard skin from rubbing and pressure.
When skin gets rubbed over and over, it grows a thick, hard pad to protect itself. Helpful at first — but too much loses its bend and cracks. Deep cracks hurt, bleed, and let germs in.
Once a week, gently file the hard skin with a foot file when your skin is fully dry — dry skin files cleanly so you can see what's hard skin vs healthy. (Filing wet, soggy skin makes it easy to go too deep.)
Then rub in a urea cream (10–25%) like Eulactol Heel Balm once or twice a day to soften it.
Never cut calluses with a razor or use acid "corn plasters" — they cause burns and infections.
You have diabetes, numb feet, poor blood flow or a weak immune system — never file these yourself. Also get help for deep bleeding cracks, infection, or pain that stops you walking.
Underarms & groin
From the special "scent" sweat glands under your arms and groin.
Special sweat glands under your arms and groin switch on at puberty. Their sweat is thick and oily and starts off smell-free — then skin bacteria eat it and turn it into strong-smelling gases. Men carry more of these bacteria, so the smell is stronger.
Swap normal soap for a 5–10% benzoyl peroxide wash (Benzac AC). Leave on 30–60 seconds to kill the smell-making bacteria, then rinse. Careful: it can bleach clothes and towels.
You get painful, deep lumps or boils that keep coming back in the armpits or groin, or a bad skin reaction to the antiperspirant.
Groin folds & bottom
Doctors call rash-in-the-folds intertrigo; an itchy bottom is pruritus ani.
Skin folds stay warm, damp and rub together, so they get red and sore. A yeast (Candida) can move in — bright red and peely with little spots around the edge. Harsh soaps, dry toilet paper or wet wipes strip your skin's oil shield and start an itch-scratch cycle.
Just sore/red (no yeast): a thin smear of 1% hydrocortisone cream once a day for up to 1–2 weeks, plus zinc barrier cream.
Yeast rash (bright red, peeling edge, spots): clotrimazole 1% cream twice a day for 2–4 weeks, spreading past the rash. Don't use strong steroid creams here — they hide the infection.
You have bleeding from the bottom, bad pain, a sore that won't heal, signs of infection (pus, weeping crusts), or a rash that doesn't clear after 2 weeks of clotrimazole.
Chafing & small wounds
Rubbed-raw skin and small everyday wounds.
Chafing is skin rubbed raw by skin or clothes in sweaty spots. Small cuts heal when fresh skin cells crawl across the wound — but they need a clean, moist surface. Dry it out or burn it with stingy stuff and healing slows right down.
Don't use stingy antiseptics like peroxide or rubbing alcohol on a clean cut — they kill the very cells that heal you and scar more. Don't use antibiotic ointments (neomycin/bacitracin) either — they often cause allergy and heal no faster than Vaseline.
Do this instead: rinse with mild soap and lukewarm water → smear a thin layer of plain white Vaseline → cover with a plaster. Only use a gentle antiseptic (povidone-iodine) for dirty wounds.
A cut isn't closing or still leaks fluid after 7–10 days, or you see spreading redness, warmth, red streaks, swelling, bad pain or pus. People with diabetes, numb skin or poor blood flow should get wounds checked early.
The cheapest product for each problem at Chemist Warehouse NZ — checked June 2026
These are treatments, not a daily routine — only buy the one for the problem you actually have. Every pick below is the cheapest option that still does the job.
For: itchy, peeling, cracked skin between the toes. Antifungal cream.
Clomazol 20g (clotrimazole) ties at $6.99. Want the 1-week cure? Cheapest terbinafine = SolvEasy 15g, $14.49.
For: thick, yellow, crumbly nails (mild cases). Nail paint.
Half the price of Loceryl ($69.99). Pharmacist-only · slow — paint weekly for 6–12 months.
For: killing the bacteria that cause smell & foot pits. Wash.
The only benzoyl-peroxide wash CW NZ stocks. Leave on 30–60 sec, then rinse. Can bleach fabric.
For: very sweaty feet/underarms. Strong (clinical) antiperspirant for night use.
A clearance price (normally $29.99) — may sell out. Backup: No More Sweat Hands & Feet 50mL, $24.99.
For: softening thick callus skin. Urea heel balm.
Cheaper than Dermal Therapy ($15.99) and Eulactol ($19.99) at the same 25% urea.
For: filing dry hard skin once a week.
Cheapest in-stock manual file. File dry, not wet — you can see exactly what's hard skin.
For: stopping skin rubbing raw before exercise. Silicone barrier cream.
Silic 15 is no longer stocked at CW NZ. Plain Vaseline ($3.99) also works as a basic barrier.
For: protecting red, rashy folds. Zinc barrier cream.
Has zinc + miconazole, handy if there's yeast. Want plain zinc only? Bunjie Barrier Cream 90g, $14.99.
For: a thin smear on sore (non-yeast) folds, up to 1–2 weeks. Mild steroid.
Pharmacist-only. Don't use a strong steroid on a yeast rash — it hides it.
For: keeping a clean cut moist so it heals (not stingy antiseptic). Petroleum jelly.
Cheapest item on the whole list — and it beats stingy antiseptics for healing clean cuts.
For: a gentle antiseptic on dirty wounds (not clean cuts). Povidone-iodine.
Cheaper than the Betadine liquids. Only for grazes with dirt/grit in them.
Stop home care and get help straight away
If you have diabetes, numb feet, poor blood flow, or a weak immune system, don't treat foot or skin problems yourself. Small issues can turn serious fast — see a podiatrist or GP.
Get urgent help for warmth, swelling, red streaks up a limb, or fever and chills — that can be a deeper skin infection needing antibiotics.
Athlete's foot still there after 2 weeks; smell/pits not better after 2 weeks; a cut not closing after 7–10 days; a yeast rash not clearing after 2 weeks.
A new or changing mole or dark spot, a rash you can't explain, bleeding from the bottom, or a sore that won't heal — get it checked.
Filing hard skin — wet or dry? Foot doctors say file dry (you see the hard skin clearly and won't cut healthy skin). Some guides still say soak first. We lean dry for safety.
Antibiotic cream on cuts? Some shops and GPs still suggest it, but skin specialists say no — it heals no faster than Vaseline and often causes allergies.