By KENYA HUNTER

You may be seeing elaborate shower cleansing routines on social media: daily exfoliation, double cleansing, antibacterial soap, loads of scented body scrubs and shower oils.

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“I’m kind of appalled by the shower routines,” said Dr. Olga Bunimovich, who teaches dermatology at the University of Pittsburgh.

The multistep processes that have inspired people to spend endless amounts of time sudsing up can harm your skin — and the environment. Dermatologists say it’s all mostly unnecessary.

“Your skin is a barrier,” said Dr. Nicole Negbenebor, a dermatologic surgeon at University of Iowa Health Care. “It’s one of the biggest barriers you have. It’s you in your natural elements. So you want to treat it right, and then sometimes there can be too much of a good thing.”

Here’s what to know about how to take a basic shower and indicators that you’ve gone too far with your routine.

The basics of showering

A shower is a relatively simple routine that usually doesn’t require 10 steps or a plethora of products.

A daily shower with lukewarm water and a fragrance-free hypoallergenic cleanser — followed by hydrating lotion or oil afterward — will do the trick.

Don’t plan to stay in the shower too long or turn the water temperature too high — it can strip your skin of the natural oils it needs to maintain its barrier, leaving it vulnerable to dryness and irritation.

When it comes to soaps, use one meant for sensitive skin. Antibacterial soaps are popular, but experts said they dry out your skin too much for daily use. (However, they can be beneficial for people with an autoimmune skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, which causes painful boils and abscesses on the skin.)

Oils can be beneficial for your skin once you’re damp and out of the shower, Negbenebor said. But it’s important to remember that oil isn’t a moisturizer, but a sealant. The water hydrates your skin, but the oil will lock in that moisture.

“It’s nice to hear about skincare routines that do involve both cleansing and also providing hydration,” Dr. Lisa Akintilo, a dermatologist at NYU Langone Health, “because that’s missing in a lot of people’s skin care routine.”

“Double cleansing” is unnecessary

Some influencers suggest that a skin care routine isn’t complete without exfoliation and what’s called double cleansing.

The latter is typically reserved for facial skincare routines, especially when you’re wearing makeup, and involves using an oil-based cleanser to break down makeup and excess oil followed by a water-based cleanser to remove any remaining residue.

Experts said you don’t need to bring that practice to the full body.

“Not only do I not think that we need to double cleanse our skin … people overuse soap all the time,” Bunimovich said. “You should not be soaping up all of your skin, period.” Instead, Bunimovich added, wash your privates and your skin folds.

Another thing that can dry out your skin is antibacterial soap. There are many claims out there that say antibacterial soap is a necessity for a regular body care routine, but experts say those soaps often have the same ingredients as regular soaps and are too drying for daily use. However, they can be beneficial for people with an autoimmune skin condition called hidradenitis suppurativa, which causes painful boils and abscesses on the skin.

Exfoliate — but not too much

Exfoliation is meant to remove dead skin cells off our body, and is good for our skin, experts said. But doing it daily could cause a mound of problems, especially if you have dry skin or skin conditions like eczema or acne.

Manual exfoliation — that is when you use a body scrub or a rougher loofah — should be done sparingly to avoid irritation.

If you see rashes on your skin after exfoliation, it may be a sign you’re over doing it.

A more gentle way of exfoliating is using products that have lactic or glycolic acid, dermatologists said, but not all the time.

Save water, shorten your shower

Showers account for nearly 17% of Americans’ indoor water use, the Environmental Protection Agency says.

Multiple states in moderate to severe drought conditions have called for water conservation efforts this year — including taking shorter showers.

If you want to get clean and retain your natural oils, a lukewarm shower that gives you enough time to clean your body should do the trick in most cases.

The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

By Sara Rathner, NerdWallet

Being an authorized user on another person’s credit card can help you establish your credit history. Parents might add their children to help launch them into adulthood. Or spouses may share an account, with one spouse as the authorized user. But if the primary cardholder passes away, the authorized user is left with a card in limbo.

After my grandfather passed away earlier this year, my grandmother — a longtime authorized user on her husband’s cards — was left without any in her own name. What followed was a brief scramble to figure out whether she could qualify for a new card, given the credit history she’d established.

In her case, she was able to qualify for several cards, but it was a mixed bag in terms of how issuers responded. One immediately offered the same card, under a new account in her name. Another asked her to reapply, rejected her, and then later approved her after another attempt at applying.

If you’re an authorized user, having a plan in place in case the primary cardholder’s account is closed for any reason (including death, as difficult as that can be to talk about), is a smart move.

Here’s what to expect if you’re ever in this situation.

You won’t be responsible for any debt

If the primary cardholder was in credit card debt, don’t stress. You’re not on the hook for any of it.

According to Drew Tsitos, manager of credit card products at Navy Federal Credit Union, the debt would be paid out of the deceased’s estate. “A true authorized user is simply authorized to use the account, but is not directly responsible for the health of the account or the payment.”

However, if you’re also a beneficiary of the estate, you can be affected. Any debts the estate must pay down will lower the sum of money you could receive. And in community property states, spouses may be responsible for credit card debt incurred during their marriage, the Federal Trade Commission notes.

You can find a full list of community property states on the IRS.gov website.

Stop using the card and call the issuer

If the deceased was your close relative, such as a spouse or parent, you might be the one taking on the task of settling their financial affairs. Notify the credit bureaus and the banks or credit unions they had cards with of their passing.

(They might find out by other means, like a notification from the Social Security Administration, but it’s worth speaking to them so you know how to proceed with account closures.)

Check your credit reports

Tsitos recommends checking your credit reports to see which reports show the card or cards on which you were an authorized user. He says that card issuers handle authorized users differently when it comes to reporting payment activity to bureaus.

Once the issuer closes the deceased person’s card, you’ll see a closed account on your credit report. This could ding your credit scores temporarily, similar to what could happen if you were to close a credit card of your own.

“You will see some variance,” Tsitos says. “That’s totally normal.”

Apply for a new credit card

If you’d like your own card account, the next step is to look for cards and apply. The application will ask for your financial information, and this can be tricky if you’re a nonworking spouse or you’re retired and don’t work for income.

However, you can report income from investment dividends and interest, withdrawals from retirement accounts, Social Security, public assistance or even money you receive as support from someone else (say, financial help from another relative).

One place to start is the issuer of the card you were an authorized user on, since you’re somewhat “known” to that bank. You can also consider a secured credit card, which can be easier to qualify for if you have limited credit history.

Sara Rathner writes for NerdWallet. Email: srathner@nerdwallet.com.

The article What Happens to Authorized Users When the Primary Credit Card Holder Dies? originally appeared on NerdWallet.

In downtown St. Paul, the troubled but storied Lowry Apartments on Wabasha Street have been sold to a Burnsville-based home remodeler.

State sales records show the buyer — officially 345 Wabasha Avenue North, LLC — purchased the 11-story, century-old apartment building and former hotel for $5 million from a subsidiary of Colliers International on June 30. A call to Dan Carlson, principal of Burnsville-based New Life Properties, was not immediately returned on Friday morning.

The dilapidated Lowry Apartments building, which was placed last year under court-ordered receivership, was condemned by the city and cleared of tenants following a pipe burst last December and has remained boarded ever since. According to Ramsey County property records, the 134-unit structure carried an estimated market value of $8.6 million this year, down from a recent high of $9.5 million in 2023 and 2024.

It was last sold at a sheriff’s sale last September to a subsidiary of Colliers International for $7 million in credit.

New Life Properties

New Life Properties, which is associated with the 52-unit Lily Pad Apartments at 3601 Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis, is perhaps better known for restoring single-family homes.

“We develop dream homes for home buyers by taking houses that need TLC and creating new, updated, turn-key houses,” reads the New Life Properties website. “This breathes ‘New Life’ into the community one house at a time. … We purchase neglected single and multi-family properties and renovate them to restore the community and improve the standard of living while creating an affordable place to live for renters.”

Some are hopeful that a new buyer will indeed bring in new life.

“There is work underway,” said Rich Neumeister, who lived in the building for more than 40 years and has been visiting the structure periodically, as he watched construction contractors go in and out.

A storied and troubled history

The Lowry opened in 1928, drawing posh and famous clientele to its hotel rooms.

The Oz, a disco club that opened in its basement on Valentine’s Day in 1979 — the waning days of disco — was once considered one of the most popular hangouts in downtown St. Paul, with clientele including famed writers and politicians. Producer Steven Greenberg and sound engineer David Rivkin used the venue to test their mix of the 1980 hit song “Funkytown” by Lipps Inc. The dance club closed in the 1980s.

“It was a hopping place,” Neumeister said.

The late Madison Equities principal Jim Crockarell, who died in January 2024, purchased the struggling Lowry in 2012 for $4.8 million after the previous owner, John Rupp, declared bankruptcy on several properties. Crockarell embarked on a $13 million renovation that included the installation of the popular Gray Duck Tavern, which opened in 2017 in a ground-level street-corner space that had been vacant since 1982. In addition to the restaurant and bar, he once envisioned opening a rooftop restaurant.

Crockarell dedicated dozens of apartments as student housing for the McNally Smith College of Music until the school closed in 2017. The property advertised lounge areas, fitness facilities, new appliances and keyless locks. Many of those amenities were damaged during the pandemic and the years that followed as the building slid into disrepair and units were taken over by squatters and open drug sales.

Up for sale

The Gray Duck Tavern, which faced City Hall, was abruptly shuttered by Madison Equities last July.

By then, the Ramsey County attorney’s offices had already moved out of the building’s other retail spaces and relocated to a former Ecolab utility building on the same street.

Weeks after Crockarell’s death, his widow placed 10 properties on the market for sale, including six downtown office buildings, two parking ramps, the Handsome Hog restaurant on Selby Avenue and the empty lot next to it. The office buildings included some of downtown St. Paul’s oldest and most iconic commercial real estate — the First National Bank Building, the U.S. Bank Building, Alliance Bank Center, the Empire Building, 375 Jackson Square and Park Square Court.

The Lowry Apartments were placed on the market separately days later, without a specific asking price.

Several of those properties have reverted to their lenders or fallen under court-ordered receivership. The Alliance Bank Center remains shuttered and devoid of tenants after Madison Equities stopped paying utilities for the property last March. The Park Square Court building is also vacant and boarded. Madison Equities previously owned the Degree of Honor apartment building, which was sold last month by Minnwest Bank to Altitude Capital Partners, the Chicago firm’s fourth apartment building acquisition in downtown St. Paul.

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By CALEIGH WELLS

Catastrophic floods can be difficult to prepare for. Sometimes evacuation is the right call, but if it’s too late the best bet is to find higher ground nearby. The stakes can be high, because a flash flood may give those in its path only minutes or seconds to react.

The right moves depend on the storm and the geography, said James Doss-Gollin, an assistant professor who teaches civil and environmental engineering at Rice University. For example, the advice won’t be the same for people who live near a beach and those who live by a river, he said.

“Some places you’re worried about the water moving really fast in the river. Some places you’re worried about roads getting flooded, but the water might not be moving very fast. So often your local community is going to have the best information,” he said.

Regardless of the storm or where it’s happening, Richina Bicette-McCain, an emergency physician with Baylor College of Medicine, said preparation is key.

“One of my favorite phrases is if you stay ready, then you don’t have to get ready,” she said.

FILE – Ohio River floods Strader Avenue, April 9, 2025, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Before the flooding starts

If you live in the United States, make sure the National Weather Service’s automatic weather alerts on your phone are activated. If you live in another country, find out what the weather agency and how they provide alerts.

If you don’t have a phone or it’s not working, the weather service recommends NOAA Weather Radio, local news coverage and listening for the Emergency Alert System on TV and radio broadcasts. These alerts typically include a few key phrases that indicate how serious the threat is. Here’s a quick glossary:

1. Flood watch: Hazardous weather is possible. Be prepared.

 

2. Flood advisory: Flooding is expected to be inconvenient, but not necessarily dangerous. Be aware.

 

3. Flood warning: Hazardous weather is imminent, or already happening. Take action.

 

4. Flash flood warning: Flooding is imminent or already happening, and the flood is especially sudden or violent. You might only have seconds to find higher ground.

 

5. Flash flood emergency: There’s a severe threat to human life, and catastrophic damage is about to happen or is already happening. This is exceedingly rare, and at this point, officials are typically reporting evacuations and rescues.

Doss-Gollin said before the National Weather Service issues a warning or emergency alert, it’s important for people to know where the nearest high places are that will not flood, so evacuees can move quickly if needed.

Bicette-McCain has her go-bag ready and refreshed every hurricane season that includes flashlights, spare batteries, food and water. And she said patients seeking medical care in flood emergencies typically face one of two problems: either they can’t use their regular medications or medical devices once the power goes out, or they’re dehydrated. So, she said, the most important items to throw in are medications, batteries and lots of drinking water.

“I don’t know if you’ve ever been so thirsty that you’re just desperate for a morsel of liquid to drink, but sometimes people get into that situation and they’ll resort to drinking flood water. And if you survive the flood, the implications of drinking flood water may be what does you in,” she said.

The National Weather Service, FEMA and American Red Cross all have emergency go-bag recommendations that include personal hygiene items, warm blankets and a whistle to signal for help. Doss-Gollin’s go-bag includes diapers and milk for his baby, and a weather radio that’s designed to pick up radio frequencies from far away in case the power is out or the local tower goes down. “We have one that’s hand-crank, which I really like because I’m not going to check the batteries on those every couple of months to make sure that they’re working,” he said.

Once the storm has arrived

Find out what local officials are recommending, and follow their instructions.

If it’s time to evacuate, do it before the storm comes. “We see a lot of casualties from people attempting to stay at their home,” Bicette-McCain said. “Don’t be that person.”

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Bicette-McCain said it is never a good idea to touch the stormwater because it is impossible to know how contaminated it is. The only exception is if the space you’re in is so dangerous that you have to trudge through water to get somewhere safer. In that case, she recommended finding an umbrella or big stick to judge how deep the water is or whether there is debris in front of you. “We’re talking very turbulent, very putrid waters that you can’t see through,” she said.

If it’s too late to evacuate, don’t. Trying can be fatal. Just 6 inches (15 centimeters) of moving water can knock a person down, and a foot of moving water can move a car.

“Very often the people that die during floods … are driving across bridges or they’re trying to drive through water,” Doss-Gollin said. “The one piece of advice that everyone will give you is don’t drive through floodwaters, ever.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.