Why Everyone Suddenly Cares About Their Armpits

The year’s most unexpected beauty star is also one of the most vulnerable.

Call me crazy but I’ve never given much thought to caring about my armpits. While my face, neck, and décolletage receive plenty of tender loving care on a twice-daily basis, the skin under my arms is rewarded with little more than a swipe of my disposable razor, a loofah scrub loaded with my best-smelling body wash, and a hasty deodorant application. Despite how charged the area is for female-identifying people these days (to shave or not to shave, that is the exceedingly loaded question), my pit habits haven’t changed much over the last 34 years. That is until I realized that I might be in the minority of beauty fans not giving this area the attention it apparently deserves.

“I commonly see patients concerned about underarm issues,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, Associate Professor, Director of Cosmetic and Clinical Research, Department of Dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital, adding that the concerns tend to be excess sweating, irritation, pigmentation, and inquiries about hair removal. Friends also frequently regale me with their own supercharged underarm routines, from specialty serums to twice-yearly neurotoxin injections (more on that to come). Apparently, a significant number of us are now turning to the pros for help managing our underarms — be it hair, skin, or otherwise — and the various ways that they can cause havoc in our daily lives. The question is, what does a full spectrum armpit routine look like in 2023?

Minimizing Underarm Sweat

We’ve all been there — you slip into a cute new top before heading off to your morning appointments, and halfway through the day, you catch a glimpse of yourself in the mirror with (gasp) sweat-stained pits. As irritating as the occasional scorching summer day can be on your outfit’s sleeves, the reality is that over 15 million people in the U.S. suffer from hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating. If that sounds familiar, it means you might need to explore a more comprehensive sweat reduction strategy than just traditional antiperspirant.

“We have temporary, semi-permanent, and permanent options to decrease sweating,” says Dr. Zeichner. “Over-the-counter clinical strength antiperspirants contain maximum strength wetness-preventing ingredients.” These include aluminum salts that form a plug within your sweat glands, thereby physically preventing wetness from reaching the surface of your skin. However, Dr. Zeichner clarifies that these types of antiperspirants don’t actually decrease your overall sweat production, but rather prevent the wetness from exiting your body via your sweat glands.

In order to halt sweat production altogether, you’ll need to turn to in-office solutions. These can include prescription medications like Glycopyrrolate, which prevents the signal from your brain from reaching your sweat glands. The popular neuromodulator Botox is also FDA-approved to treat excess underarm sweating and works by blocking the nerves that tell your sweat glands to produce sweat. If needles aren’t your thing, Miradry might be more your speed, which is a permanent, non-invasive treatment that utilizes microwave technology to target and destroy sweat glands, odor glands, and hair follicles in your underarms.

Removing Underarm Hair

Although there is no obligation, societally or medically, to remove your underarm hair, many people of all genders still enjoy a bare underarm. Of course, achieving that silky smoothness comes at a cost in terms of time, labor, and money.

Shaving is often one of the most universal steps in our collective underarm care routines, so it’s not entirely surprising that women in the U.S. spend approximately $1 billion dollars on razors per year (you read that right). Given that figure, it stands to reason that the laser hair removal industry will have an estimated valuation of $833.4 million by 2027. Sure, there are still other, less invasive hair removal options like sugaring and waxing, but for those who want a more permanent solution to unwanted underarm hair, lasers continue to be the gold standard. Luckily there now are safe and effective options for everyone who has pigmented underarm hair (though light blonde, red, and gray hairs can be much harder to treat), including those with darker skin tones, like the Nd: YAG laser, which has a 1,064-nm wavelength and less risk of hyper- or hypopigmentation compared to diode lasers. There are even a plethora of at-home laser hair removal devices, although they are not quite as effective or speedy as visiting a professional for an in-office treatment.

“Laser hair removal on underarms has become quite popular compared to years past,” says Christian Karavolas, laser hair removal expert and founder of Romeo & Juliette Laser Hair Removal in New York City. “Mainly, people are tired of shaving.” Of course, this method is not entirely painless (I’d rate it about a five on the pain scale, for 10 seconds per pit), but the promise of smooth skin sans razors has convinced over 757,000 people annually to try laser hair removal.

After undergoing six laser hair removal sessions spaced roughly six weeks apart (and avoiding excess sun exposure in between to minimize irritation and make your laser more effective at targeting hair pigment), Karavolas explains that you’ll remain not only hair free but also avoid all the pesky side effects of daily shaving, like redness and ingrowns. “It may [also] improve any preexisting pigmentation in the area,” he says.

Brightening Hyperpigmentation

Although your underarms don’t have the same exposure to UV light and pollution as other areas of the body, that skin is still highly sensitive and vulnerable to unwanted pigmentation. “It's fairly common for women to have darker underarm skin,” says Anna D. Guanche, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and founder and director of Bella Skin Institute in Calabasas, California. “This can be purely genetic, due to hormonal changes, insulin resistance or caused by shaving and irritants in deodorants.” That irritation and inflammation can ultimately lead to hyperpigmentation, or darkening of the skin.

“Post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation can occur in people of all skin tones, but is most common in patients with more melanated skin,” adds Dr. Zeichner, who sees this condition (which can sometimes linger for either weeks or months) as a sign that the skin was previously unhappy. “The same types of skin brightening ingredients — like niacinamide, vitamin C, arbutin, and kojic acid — that are used on the face for melasma or sunspots can be used to address hyperpigmentation under the arms,” he says.

The most cost-effective way to treat underarm darkness might be to repurpose your face products for this area (Dr. Zeichner recommends the Pillowtalk Derm Major Fade Hyper Serum), but Dr. Guanche is a proponent of using formulas that are targeted especially for the armpit instead. As she explains, “The underarm skin is very sensitive and delicate. Because products ‘pool’ there and are sealed in a warm environment, they tend to penetrate deeply. This is a good thing for effectiveness but a bad thing for potential irritation.” To avoid this, she recommends finding a body-specific formula, like MAËLYS’ new RE-SHINE Illuminating Body Serum, since they typically have different levels of active ingredients that are more appropriate for the skin on the body versus the face.

Detoxing Your Pits

So, you’ve lasered your hair, brightened your dark spots, and zapped your hyperactive sweat glands — what else do your pits need in this age of underarm care? Well, if you’re playing around with different deodorant options (which do not minimize sweat, only mask odor), you’ve likely encountered some vaguely spa-like products designed for your underarms, including the cult-favorite Mega Babe Happy Pits Underarm Mask, to detoxify your sweat glands.

“We were inspired to create [this product] after customer feedback about the transition period when switching to natural deodorant,” says Katie Sturino, founder of Megababe and author of Body Talk, and Body Acceptance Advocate. “During this phase, your body expels the toxins that aluminum deodorant has been holding in, and Happy Pits helps release these toxins and expedites the ‘detox’ period [by using] charcoal to pull out bacteria, toxins, dirt, and oil.”

Dr. Zeichner clarifies that only the liver and kidneys experience a true detox, but if you’ve stopped using a traditional antiperspirant, “it can take a few weeks for all of the deposited aluminum salts to be purged from the skin.” This process is what most people commonly refer to as a pit detox when switching to a natural, aluminum-free deodorant, and it can take several weeks for it to go into effect. But if you’re interested in making the change to this type of formula, incorporating a mask like this into your routine (Sturino suggests 1-2 times per week for regular maintenance) might help your body — and your nose — grow accustomed to life with a natural deodorant.

Sculpting Your Underarms

While your pits themselves might receive the bulk of your newfound attention, that doesn’t mean you have to ignore the surrounding skin if it’s something that bothers you. A non-invasive body sculpting treatment, such as truBody, can help to minimize stubborn excess skin around the underarms (the kind that your bra strap might exacerbate) and tone the surrounding muscles faster than a workout regimen alone.

As David Shafer, MD, FACS, a double board-certified plastic surgeon and founder of Shafer Clinic in New York, explains of the two-part truBody treatment, “truFlex works to increase muscle tone using Multi-Directional Stimulation (MDS) technology. truSculpt minimizes fat cells using Monopolar RF technology, which selectively targets fat cells, heating and destroying them. Following your truSculpt session, the destroyed fat cells will slowly break down over a period of 12 weeks.”

While targeting your upper arms is technically an off-label use of the device, most providers will treat this area for their patients. Results can be seen after one treatment, but the ideal protocol is designed based on the individual, with an average of six sessions total to achieve the maximum results (which you should see after roughly 12 weeks). Paired with a workout routine to help tone and build strength, your upper arms will finally receive the time and attention they deserve.

As total body skin care continues to surge in popularity and become one of the beauty industry’s biggest trends, there’s no denying that your armpits are soon to be an essential part of your head-to-toe self-care routine. Just remember that no matter how involved your underarm and upper arm regimen might be, that skin is delicate and prone to irritation, so when in doubt, less is more. I’ll be here, trying to find a happy middle ground, striving for smooth, toned, only slightly sweaty pits for the rest of summer and beyond.

For more InStyle news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on InStyle.