Editor's Corner

Happy Tuesday, folks!

Today I want to talk to you about something personal: taking a shower. Yes, believe it or not, this is a quick and dirty English lesson about a term I learned from Donna a few weeks ago: shower orange. She wrote about it and a bunch of other new terms here in Editor’s Corner. I got distracted and disgusted with the term nepo baby, so today I’m back-tracking to the term I liked, farther down in her article.

Today, I’d like to revisit shower orange. No, it is not about how you get orange face paint off after dressing as a jack-o-lantern for Halloween. Nor is it about a women’s prison, Orange Is the New Black. Lastly, nor is it about how Mom dressed my brother and me in orange foul weather gear stuffed with newspaper to look like pumpkins in the Seattle showers. (Yes, trick-or-treating during Seattle Halloweens required a costume and a backup costume, depending on the weather and the never-ending desire for candy.)

According to Dictionary.com, a shower orange is:

an orange that is peeled and eaten under a steamy shower, the purported benefit being that the steam enhances the orange’s citrusy fragrance and creates a soothing experience for the person who is showering:

Example: I’ve been enjoying the aromatherapy of shower oranges for years—and I also appreciate the easy cleanup!

I did some further research on this, because mixing bathing and eating sounds messy. On the website Facets of Lafayette, they say:

You can reuse citrus peels, such as lemon or lime, as aromatherapy in the shower by storing the peels in a freezer and pulling out a few as needed. Once you turn the hot water on, place the frozen peels on the bottom of the shower floor to defrost and release their powerful scents to help elevate your mood and awaken your senses.

This sounds a bit tidier, plus it is good reuse, especially if your city collects greens each week for composting and you keep them in the freezer already. If food in the shower sound gross, but you want some aromatherapy, I also learned about shower melts from Facets of Lafayette. These are “a shower version of bath bombs that will make your shower feel more luxurious. Also known as shower steamers, fizzies, or soothers, which are sure to pack a serious punch of in-shower aromatherapy.”

For those of you that aren’t in a perpetual drought like we are in Southern California, you’ll have to let me know if you have a favorite fruit or fizzy for bathing time!

Kara Church | Technical Editor, Advisory | Technical Publications

Pronouns: she/her | Call via Teams | jackhenry.com

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