When it comes to armpits, there are a few things you should know about me. First, I hate deodorant. Second, I hate shaving my armpits. I’ve been living in a battle where I’m trying to find a razor that doesn’t totally suck and destroy my armpit skin, and where I’m trying to find a deodorant that also doesn’t totally suck and destroy my armpit skin. It’s not been an easy battle, trust me, and despite trying endless natural deodorants (yes, I’m on the nat deo train), I can’t find one that A) doesn’t burn the hell out of my armpits AND B) actually keeps major BO away. Like, I’m fine with sweating. Such is life, but I just cannot with the creepy, weird rashes from deodorant, and the endless burning from razor burn.
But I’ve come across a rather… interesting solution. One that leaves my partner p damn horrified, but it is what it is. Armpit masks.
How it works.
Basically, I got this Detoxifying Charcoal Snapmask Stick from Yes To, and my immediate impulse was, wait, this looks like deodorant. So like any weird beauty human, I started smearing the stuff all over my armpits. It goes on with kind of a cool feeling, and it feels nice and smooth on your weird baby armpit skin. A bonus is that it takes pretty much no product at all to cover your pits. I made sure to get all up in there, because if I’m going to do a skincare experiment, I’m gonna commit. For you guys, obv.
So I did some digging, and it seems like using charcoal for your armpits really is nothing new. According to a number of blog posts, black women have been using activated charcoal for hyperpigmentation in their pits for ages. Activated charcoal has so many benefits, and you’ve probably already heard of it. After all, the detox/cleansing trend is real, and activated charcoal is hugely helpful for getting nasty gunk out of your body.
With my armpits covered and my mind ~filled with knowledge~ I was ready for a new adventure.
How it went down.
To really get the most of this magical Snapmask, I made sure to follow the directions on the packaging. Yes To recommends simply letting it sit for five minutes, and then washing with warm water. I decided to add a face mask to the mix, so I hung out in my bathroom for five minutes, letting my pit and face skin get nice and happy, and then I hopped in the shower to wash it all off. Was my shower a hot mess? Yep. But were my pits nice and soft? Absolutely.
Would I try this again? Um, yes, and I have been like, twice a week since I came across this lovely little hack. It’s just so easy, and the combination of kaolin and charcoal is something my pits seem to really enjoy. Honestly, I’m kind of baffled I never bothered with armpit skincare anyway. Those poor babies, getting ignored while I do any and everything to the rest of my skin. Don’t worry, pits. I’ve got you, now.
The added bonus: ingrown hair prevention.
Here’s another thing I learned during this process. The Yes To Snapmask has salicylic acid, which is HUGELY HELPFUL when it comes to getting rid of nasty, painful ingrown hairs. Like I mentioned early on, I suck at shaving. I’m too cheap to buy nice razors, and also too cheap to replace them every single time. So I’ll use the same one three… or four… or five times. And, naturally, because I’m cheap and lazy and terrible, I get so many ingrowns. But salicylic acid helps, at lot.
How? Because salicylic acid prevents clogged pores and helps hairs grow more easily through the skin, stopping that effing awful feeling in its tracks.
At the end of the day, when it comes to your pits, do a LOT of research. The skin there is super sensitive, and also a lot of important stuff lives there, like lymph nodes. You don’t want to play around with that stuff. For me, this is just one thing that works. And if you want more armpit beauty tips (come on, I know I’m not the only one) feel free to throw us some DMs at @HerCampus, or email advice@hercampus.com, our new advice column for all things beauty, sex, relationships, self-care… anything and everything. We’ve got you.
Stay tuned for more ~armpit beauty adventures~, and I’ll see you soon over on Instagram.