So, my armpits have been getting red, itchy rashes on and off for the past couple of weeks. I’m about 90% sure it’s something to do with the Tom’s Hippy-Dippy Deodorant that I started using a few months ago. However, now basically everything irritates my armpits so I can’t use my tried and true brand either. I’m probably going to hold off from using deodorant until I can see a dermatologist, even if my skin heals.
I don’t empty the room when I lift up my arms or anything, but I’m pretty sure that people can tell whether I’m wearing deodorant or not and I’m pretty sure they would prefer that I give the pits a daily swipe or two.
My question is, is there a way for me to emit less odor for the duration of this deodorant-free period, aside from washing my pits several times a day? I will be swabbing my arms with that mineral salt stuff (I don’t count it as deodorant because, c’mon, it’s a chunk of salt) and dusting with talcum powder. I will also probably reduce my intake of things like garlic and onions.
However, I have the following restrictions:
(1) Nothing with alcohol. That’s just going to irritate the skin and make it take longer to heal.
(2) Nothing with a particularly high or low pH. See (1).
(3) No antiperspirants. I’m allergic to those, too.
(4) Nothing that involves just covering the smell up with perfumes. I don’t want to be that girl.
Any ideas? Also, would there be any point to giving my coworkers a heads-up?
Shower every morning, avoid strenuous exercise and spending time in hot areas. You’ll be fine unless you’re an unusually perspiring person.
If you don’t mind ruining a shirt and are still worried about it, apply a heavy dose of deodorant to the armpits of the SHIRT before you go to bed at night. By morning, it will be dry, and will micro-deodorize you as it rubs off. Don’t use the deodorant you think caused the rash.
Use as hot a water as you can stand on your pits when showering and get a Wal-Mart pack of 7 fresh undershirts and go through the entire new pack before re-washing . It should hold the stink at bay until your till your pits heal.
Wear an undershirt under your top, if you’re not doing so already. Or something like an undershirt, a ladies fitted t-shirt. A 3-pack of crisp white men’s Hanes actually isn’t a bad addition to a girl’s wardrobe.
Note that too much washing and scrubbing can dry out your skin and make a rash worse, don’t go overboard. I’m sure you don’t stink that bad.
There are two underarm deodorants in the world that work for me. One is Suave Naturals. I’m fond of the berry aroma - I love that it doesn’t smell like deodorant. Alas, I haven’t seen it for sale in months. The other is Arm and Hammer invisible solid (or some shit name like that) - unscented. ANYTHING else gives me rashes. It happened suddenly, too - I discovered the berry deodorant, loved it, lost it, then all of a sudden, everything I tried sucked. Arm and Hammer is good, but I miss raspberry pits…
Try using Vagisil powder under your arms. It’s made for drying and de-odorizing your “down there” area, so I’d imagine it’d do the same for your armpits.
FWIW I’ve had problems with deodorant before. I’ve had great success with Almay and Mitchum clear gels for sensitive skin (solids are really rough on the pores IMHO). But those both are listed as anti-perspirants so they may not work for you.
I had that problem, and figured out on my own that I was allergic to deodorants with zirconium. I switched to Sure which is zirconium-free, and have not had a problem since.
Fiancee has same problem. He uses prescription Phisohex, which in my opinion is a nasty caustic substance that will eat your body away, but he sure doesn’t stink.
If you are truly allergic, you may want to try not using anything at all. Apparently if you wash well, (no soap, or soap once a week) in a month or two you cease to stink. I don’t know why, but it works for me. The downside is that if you use soap frequently you may have break outs since your skin chemistry has already made adjustments.
If you don’t have a physically active job where you break a sweat, then showering every day and putting on a clean shirt is enough. Really, it’s enough. It’s the bacteria on your body that smells, not the sweat. If you shower every day and wear a fresh shirt, you will not grow enough bacteria to smell.
How often do you change the blades on your razor? Do you keep it outside the wet zone of your shower because bacteria will be on/grow on skin cells.
I really recommend you put nothing on your pits until the rash clears up or your derma instructs otherwise. Keep your razor blades dry and fresh.
You could make your own:
1 Tbsp baking soda
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp coconut oil
1 Tbsp jojoba oil
if you want, a drop of essential oil (I like vanilla)
Melt the coconut oil. Mix all the ingredients. Put it in a little glass jar. It will set overnight, or you can refrigerate it.
I made some of this at a homemade cleaning/body products workshop and I didn’t think it would work, but it does. It might be less irritating to you, especially if you leave out the EO.
I vote for talcum powder until you heal. I wouldn’t give coworkers a ‘heads up,’ exactly (unless you eat garlic and onions for brekkie, you’re probably more conscious of any personal odors than they are), but you could work it into conversation or something. You know, ‘Ooh, ouch’ ‘What is it?’ ‘Oh nothing, nothing. Embarrassing. I tried this new deodorant and it gave me a horrible rash. Now I itch and hurt and can’t use deodorant.’ ‘Sucks. But that explains the smell.’
That is what I used when allergies were making me break out in rashes using any of the many, many deodorants I tried. Thankfully, that particular allergic reaction has faded over time, and it has been years since.
Something like this is what my dermatologist recommended, and it worked fine even when I was sweaty and icky from working out. It is available lots of places (including Amazon, apparently).