In order of most to least used: feel > usable vision > feedback from family and trusted friends > trial and error.

Their sense of smell and touch isn’t impaired so that makes up a good amount of that.

Sighted folks are just weird. Like, you really don't use your touch and smell for nothing? Might be a boring life.

Doing my hair has been the hardest part so far. People remark about how well groomed it is, but I go to the barber once every 2-3 weeks. I keep it short, brush it frequently, and sleep with non linty things.

I have been STRUGGLING with moisturizer. Apparently Vaseline products makes you look super super greasy lol. But everyone remarks that I look like I’m in high school so... it least it’s kept me hydrated and youthful. I’ve switched to aveeno now.

I also follow a pattern when getting ready. In the morning I brush my teeth and exfoliate prior to take my shower so that I don’t go to class or work with toothpaste on my face (at least not again lol).

Doing my teeth correctly was one I struggled with, up until a couple of years ago. I think however, that it had less to do with being blind, and more to do with being just misinformed about how to do it properly. When the then new dentist explained it thoroughly, and when I got a toothbrush which pulses every 30 seconds, then 4 times at the end, I was all set. I've never looked back.

You actually don't need vision for any of these things. I'd say personal hygiene is one of the easiest parts of being blind for me. You feel the amount of shampoo or body soap in your hand, you can touch the tooth paste on your tooth brush to make sure it's the right amount, you can touch your butt after wiping to make sure that it's really 100% clean etc. Almost everything in the bathroom can be done just fine without vision. Now that my vision is almost at zero, I'm even taking my eye drops without seeing the bottle. In the beginning I was very scared of this because the front part of the bottle is super pointy and I could seriously injure myself if I ever miscalculated the distance but it has never happened so far. I've figured out a neat system where I lie down on the bed, rest the hand with the eye drop bottle on my forehead and pull up my eyelid with the other hand. This way, I can ensure that I'll never get too close (plus, I've now developed a good feeling for what my hand feels like if it's 2 inches closer or further away.

Some people here mention shaving but I also don't find that to be very difficult if you've got a good, electronic shaver. I usually just attach one of the different trimming-attachments and trim my beard rather than shaving it.

So yeah... sighted people often wonder how blind folks shower or use the toilet. Ironically, these are some of the easiest daily tasks. Other things that sighted people don't think much about, such as using public transport or grocery shopping can be far more challenging. For example the other day I wanted to buy some banans but I couldn't see what number they were (to weigh them). And even if I had somehow known the number, I probably couldn't have typed it into the touchscreen on the scale either. Now, usually there are other customers or an employee that I can help but on that day there was absolutely no one. I was the only person wide and far. I thought about leaving my shopping basket behind and staggering through the store with my bananas until I would run into someone but that seemed too embarrassing, so I decided to stay put and wait until someone came to save me. I ended up waiting there for almost 15 minutes. For a sighted person, this would have been enough time to get in and out of the supermarket. When you're (almost) blind, you have to accept the fact that you are **constantly** wasting your life's time everywhere you go. You get lost when looking for a new address, you acciidentally board the wrong bus, you have to wait 15 minutes until you find someone who is willing to help you etc. And you've got to manage all this waste of time while still trying to somehow maintain a normal life with work and all the things that sighted people do. I find that far more challenging.

Well, with shampoo, you can feel it if you don't use enough. You feel like you're pulling your hair a bit when you run your fingers through it. If you use too much, you feel that too, it's just drowning in the stuff. Using conditioner is much the same, if you don't take enough, you can tell. You can also feel it when you remove it if it was enough.

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With brushing teeth, you just do it systematically, start at either the top or bottom, and either the left or right side, work the front, the back, make sure to get the gums, move down to the bottom if you started at the top and vise versa if you started at the bottom, and repeat. I usually then close my mouth so that the two sets are on top of each other then open my lips and brush across them as one unit if that makes sense, then I just get the surface of the tongue and the sides, then the roof of my mouth and I'm done.

Can you see your teeth when you're brushing them? Never occurred to me to worry about that!

Shaving yeah. Thick black tights are the solution.

it's a lot of feel and asking.

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Shaving is a real hassle for me. I have to go back and go over it a few times and check with my partner to make sure I got it all.