This post is sponsored by Dove(R) ClearTone(tm) Deodorant - designed to visibly reduce underarm dark marks and even skin tone.
I"m in the middle of a New York City Heat Wave, and we are days away from August, the most sweltering month of the year in the city that never sleeps. This is primarily a public transportation city. A transit system that unfortunately is sorely lacking in many ways, (yet the prices continue to soar, but that's a topic for another post!), one of the things many NYC subway trains lack is AIR CONDITIONING! The platforms are usually feel like it's 200 degrees. And when you get a subway car with no AC on, particularly during 'rush hour' you come home feeling like you just did vikram yoga. Layers of clothing, starting usually with suit jackets get peeled off, and whether you are standing or sitting you are assured of one thing, seeing (and unfortunately often times smelling) many armpits! The people lucky enough to get a seat have a view of a sea of armpits!
In the summer most of us have no choice but to Dare to Bare. Are your arms 'summer ready'? Little Black Dress Ready? And guys, don't for one second think this can't possibly apply to you, I see those pits when you put on those white t-shirts!
You can either solve a beauty disaster or prevent it, and dark under arms are totally both 'solvable' and 'preventable'. Like all of the skin on our bodies, armpits need some exfoliation too, so make sure when you use your favorite scrub, you get those pits too! It's the shaving that causes the dark marks on your armpits so be sure to use an ounce of prevention to spare yourself from that pound of cure!
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| photo credit: babble.com |
Tips for keeping underarms from getting 'dark':
1)
Make sure to use a sharp blade - never use a dull razor and that's good advice for anywhere you shave, not just your pits. Dull blades make you go over the same spot multiple times and that's exactly what you DON'T want to do. Make sure your blade is sharp and you shave in one direction.
2)
Balance your 'dry vs wet' - Built up sweat is a bad thing, so be sure to use an anti-persperant, not just a plain deodorant to keep your armpit area from building up sweat. But like all skin it does need moisture too, so be sure to give it some moisture, a dab of lotion in the evening is a good idea, and if you play sports in the summer a sunscreen lotion should be applied to your underarm area as well, while it will probably get way less sun than other parts of your body, the SPF protection is still important.
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| Photo Credit Torsten Schon/iStockphoto/Getty Images |
3)
Lightening - What works for your elbows, works for armpits too, good old fashioned Lemon Juice! You can make a paste with 1/2 cup of lemon juice, 1 tsp of cucumber juice and 1 tsp of Tumeric Powder and let it sit for 15-20 minutes (my recommendation would be for those gals who color their hair, to schedule some time on the weekend and kill two birds with one stone! You could also put on a facial mask and then just jump in the shower afterwards and wash it all off!). Remember lemon juice can cause irritation if used too often, so please don't do this daily! (Licorice Paste and Sandalwood powder work well too!) And because I love a bonus, with the leftover tumeric and lemon, make a tea, as a tea, turmeric and lemon helps sooth the pain from a sore throat and works to fight free-radical damage. Lemon, reduces the risk of some diseases, such as nephrolithiasis, a kidney condition. Lemon also has antimicrobial and antiviral action that works even better in conjunction with other ingredients including turmeric. So this combo is a one/two punch that works wonders for your insides as well as your outside!
4)
For Prevention AND Cure - Use Dove Clear Tone Deodorant daily, with regular use it will even your underarm skin tone and repair irritated skin with frequent use. What Ambi products do for your face and now body, Dove Clear Tone does for your armpits!
Whether it's to feel more confident in your strapless dresses, tank tops or bathing suit, a little 'armpit 101' goes a long way to feeling confident enough to 'Dare to Bare'.
So Butterflies, What is your beauty ritual that gets you feeling confident enough to 'Dare to Bare'?
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FTC Disclosure: I was compensated for this post by the Clever Girls Collective. All the opinions expressed here are my own.
