We've been applying antiperspirant incorrectly our entire lives

Applying antiperspirant is as much a part of our morning routine as brushing our teeth and showering, but it turns out we may have been getting it wrong when it comes to putting on antiperspirant.

According to ‘Embarrassing Bodies’ doctor Dawn Harper, who’s working with antiperspirant experts Perspirex, applying antiperspirant should be part of our evening, NOT morning routine.

“Apply at night before going to bed to allow to dry fully. Leave on overnight and wash off any residue in the morning with soap and water,” she told Cosmopolitan.

So why the switch round? Well, apparently antiperspirants contain aluminium chloride. Aluminium particles are taken up by cells in the sweat glands, causing them to swell and close up so they no longer release sweat. Experts believe that by applying antiperspirant at night, the antiperspirant has time to ‘set’ in the pores during sleep.

The doctor added that it was important to allow an antiperspirant to dry completely before leaving the house and therefore it is best not to apply it to damp skin. So no more shower and spritz-ing. She even suggested using a hair dryer on a cool setting to ensure it is properly dried.

And that’s not the only mistake we’re making when it comes to applying antiperspirant. Turns out we’re putting it on too often too.

Dr Harper reveals that if you are using a good enough antiperspirant you shouldn’t need to apply it every day. “Apply 2 strokes up and 2 strokes down to each armpit. You should only need to do this once or twice a week,” the doctor advises.

Who knew?

The news comes as it was revealed earlier this year that a certain percentage of the population don’t need to wear deodorant at all! A study in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology revealed some people don’t give off body odour at all.

Turns out the 2% of the population that don’t lack a certain chemical in the armpit which bacteria feeds on and causes underarm odour.

And some people claim that a change in diet has eradicated their need to wear deodorant. Alyse Brautigam, 22 from Hawaii, who shares details of her lifestyle on her YouTube channel Raw Alignment, says she no longer needs to wear deodorant because her plant-based diet has completely eliminated her body odour.

“Your body actually starts to smell differently based on the food you are putting into your body,” she explains in a video for her YouTube channel.

And even though she claims to get sweaty, the healthy-living vlogger believes the smell she gives off is more of ‘pheromone’ smell than body odour.

Though you might not be ready to go completely cold turkey on the deodorant just yet, there are some less extreme alternatives to consider if you want to explore your underarm options. More and more people are making the switch from chemical to natural deodorants of late. Here’s what happened when one Yahoo Style UK writer tried it for a week.

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