Bunny’s bushy question… I’ve tried different ways of shaving my armpits and always it results in the same thing – sore, and little red spots. What else can I do?
The Right Brain’s reply:
Why is shaving irritating?
One of the reasons that shaving can irritate your pits is that you’re not just removing hair you’re also shredding your skin. In a study published in the Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Chemists (Vol 58 No 3 May/June 2007), researchers measured the amount of Underarm Shaving Debris generated during shaving. (Underarm Shaving Debris I love that term!) They found that 36% of the stuff you’re scraping off your armpit is skin, not hair! No wonder shaving is so irritating! They also measured the skin underneath the arms and found that it actually grows thicker to compensate for all this scraping. That’s right, shaving your armpits gives you thicker skin! (I’m not sure why, but that creeps me out just a little bit.)
How can you soothe your pits?
Even though your skin grows thicker, it’s not enough prevent all the symptoms of irritation. But the researchers did discover that using a special roll-on anti-perspirant formulation with glycerol and sunflower seed oil after shaving can further reduce the irritation.
The notion of using a lubricating anti-perspirant as a post-shaving aid is intriguing but this research is so new we don’t know if this type of formula is actually on the market yet or not. We’re looking forward to trying it AND to find out if this new technology reduces the irritation properties of the anti-perspirant itself. (The aluminum salts used in APs can be irritating even if you don’t shave!)
In the meantime, make sure you’re using a good razor like Schick, Gillette, or Body Bare.
Favorite underarm shaving quote:
“Shall I warn you to keep the rank goat out of your armpits?” (From Ovid’s Art of Love, a poem written over 2000 years ago and the inspiration for the photo that accompanies today’s post.)
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the Ovid quote! Yeah, I tend to always miss a spot toward the outside of my armpit where it’s really sensitive to shave. So I have to choose between scraping myself and leaving a sideways armpit mohawk along the margin of my pits.
Now tell me something. Why is it that when we trim the hair with scissors it also irritates our skin? It’s almost as if the hair got thicker.
The Ovid quote made me laugh. Love your posts
I exfoliate my pits because I noticed it keeps the smell down. I also noticed that in the weeks that follow after a good exfoliation I don’t get as many if any red bumps from irritation. Think this is because I’ve already removed a lot of the built up dead skin?
owowowowowowowowow
Exfoliation, witch hazel seems to help, change razor blades frequently (sharper works better, I guess)
Looking forward to trying this new deo whenever it goes on the market.
That used to happen to me. I switched to an electric shaver, and it didn’t irritate me at all.
I also have prevented irritation after shaving with a razor, by applying a homemade solution of pulverized uncoated aspirin mixed with glycerin, which I read about on Makeup Alley. The salicylic acid in aspirin is anti-inflammatory. I have to do that at bedtime or when I’ll be home awhile, because it’s a bit messy.
Really, Blue? I found electric ones caused me way more irritation. Plus, sometimes they’d not cut, but actually pull out the hair instead and I’d end up with a badly ingrown one a few days later.
Suggestions:
1. shave with oil: close, smooth, and leaves some moisture on skin. Any oil, whatever works on your skin (mineral, sunflower, olive, etc.); needn’t be one of those fancy shaving oils.
2. pat with witch-hazel afterwards: aqueous solution/hydrosol, not the 14% alcohol kind most frequently found in drugstores etc.; it’ll sting!
3. a good moisturizing baby diaper rash cream: containing zinc oxide and grease. Pat on and rub in gently.
I’m with you, Blue Cat Baby. I’ve been using a Panasonic electric shaver for years; there have been no irritation problems. But I believe a strong factor is, as I mentioned many moons ago, the fact that I use Milk of Magnesia as my daily deodorant. It’s so soothing and makes my underarm skin very silky plus, even with 6-days-a-week intense gym workouts, I smell like a rose (well, I wear Persian Rose perfume).
Jami: maybe it worked for me because of some quality of my skin or how my hair grows. I used it in the shower, last thing, after letting the ole’ pits soak with hot soapy water. The brand I used was a rechargeable wet/dry Panasonic. I did find that the blades eventually became dull and would not always cut and would catch hairs, and needed replacing.
Maybe that’s it, Blue. See, I used a man’s electric razor – the kind with the 3 rotating heads – because it was cheaper than even the cheapest woman’s razor. So my parents (I was a teenager at the time) wouldn’t buy me anything else. And you had to use it dry of course because it plugged in.
Personally, I find lubrication DURING the shave to be the most important factor. And a good blade.
I like to use a shaving ‘cream’ that has lots of silicones giving good glide and slip. If there is no glide, then I am sure to create loads of abrasions. Soap is no substitute either. For some reason shaving tools marketed to women seem to include little strips of goop on all the blades, which sort of suggests to me that a lot of women forego the cream altogether (Yikes!) I’ve tried in a pickle, but it never ended well! I hear conditioner can be a better substitute than soap, that makes sense since it often has good slip too.
Oddly enough I find a blade that has already had 1 or 2 uses chafes my pits less, too. The fresh blades are easy to use too much pressure with. When they are used just a little they are perfect. When they have too many uses, then bad things start to happen all around. So I try to keep lots handy, do my legs first (which work best with fresh blades), and then do my pits last.
One word: ALOE. I have really sensitive underarms. I use very natural deodorant, and when my underarms are really bad I sometimes even skip it on the weekends. I’ve tried shaving every day, and I’ve tried not shaving for weeks. The #1 thing that made my underarms better was aloe (the brand you can find in any drugstore is Fruit of the Earth, it’s clear; I buy Trader Joe’s brand, but I bet it’s the same).
I started off putting on a lot before bed and putting on a thin layer after a shower/before deodorant; but now I only need a thin layer before bed.