Earlier this year, I made one of the hardest beauty decisions of my
life: I swapped out my beloved drugstore antiperspirant for a natural deodorant. And let me just tell you, the process has been a long
one. Between learning how to reapply (I now carry my deo with me
everywhere I go) to coping with excess sweat (there's just so much of
it!), it's been an adventure, to say the least.
In an effort to stop the sweat (or at least learn how to maintain it), I took a deep dive into our Allure archives. Here's what I discovered: Turns out, there is a way to make your deodorant last all day — and it doesn't require mid-day touch-ups. (Technically, this rule won't apply to my natural deodorant — just antiperspirants — but it's worth sharing, nonetheless.)
The secret? Applying it — wait for it — in the evening, right before bed. Sure, it sounds silly (why would anyone need to wear deodorant in Dreamland?), but there's real rationale for nighttime deo, says David Bank, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
Antiperspirants are classified as over-the-counter drugs because they inhibit a normal bodily function (i.e. the formation of sweat), due to their active ingredient, aluminum salts. These salts form a plug inside sweat glands, which inherently slows perspiration. Because we are less likely to produce perspiration at night, there's no need to reapply in the morning, says Bank.
Which is why he recommends applying antiperspirant at night, on dry skin. "A significant percentage of antiperspirant never makes it to sweat glands because people use it on damp skin after a shower and the water carries it away," he says.
So, by applying your antiperspirant to dry skin at night, you're not only stopping the sweat while you snooze, but the effect will last well through the next day. A sweat-free day? Sign me up.
In an effort to stop the sweat (or at least learn how to maintain it), I took a deep dive into our Allure archives. Here's what I discovered: Turns out, there is a way to make your deodorant last all day — and it doesn't require mid-day touch-ups. (Technically, this rule won't apply to my natural deodorant — just antiperspirants — but it's worth sharing, nonetheless.)
The secret? Applying it — wait for it — in the evening, right before bed. Sure, it sounds silly (why would anyone need to wear deodorant in Dreamland?), but there's real rationale for nighttime deo, says David Bank, an assistant clinical professor of dermatology at New York Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center.
Antiperspirants are classified as over-the-counter drugs because they inhibit a normal bodily function (i.e. the formation of sweat), due to their active ingredient, aluminum salts. These salts form a plug inside sweat glands, which inherently slows perspiration. Because we are less likely to produce perspiration at night, there's no need to reapply in the morning, says Bank.
Which is why he recommends applying antiperspirant at night, on dry skin. "A significant percentage of antiperspirant never makes it to sweat glands because people use it on damp skin after a shower and the water carries it away," he says.
So, by applying your antiperspirant to dry skin at night, you're not only stopping the sweat while you snooze, but the effect will last well through the next day. A sweat-free day? Sign me up.
