I tried an armpit haircare routine for a fortnight, here’s how it went

Pampering my pits.

Since graduating high school, I’ve felt less and less of a need to shave my body hair. Maybe it came from the separation of unhealthy gender roles in the high school environment, or the pressure I felt to repress the exploration of my identity. Maybe it was growing up and realising I’m more than beauty standards, and I can present physically in a way that works for me. Whatever it was, it has caused some rifts between me and my family.

Despite the conflict my natural body has caused (e.g. being asked to shave for family events), I’m still not really a shaver. My armpit hair doesn’t really bother me sensory-wise. In saying that, I’m quite the sweaty boy every now and again, to the point where even antiperspirant doesn’t really help in keeping my pits dry throughout the day.

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When Googling ‘armpit hair care routines’ as part of my research for this story, I got a lot of links about the best ways to shave your armpits from health blogs and (surprise surprise) shaving brands. Thank goodness for TikTok. The platform may be a nightmare sometimes, but it does provide some really juicy discussions about niche topics. Like this TikTok I came across by creator @solanathegreenfairy, which inspired me to try using shampoo and conditioner on my armpit hair to see if it made a difference in smell, sweat and feel.

Why do armpits smell?

In trying to understand my own body better, I had to know why my underarms betray me at the end of a long day. The Cleveland Clinic states that our body odour comes from the interaction between our sweat and the naturally residing bacteria in our armpits. The dark, moist environment of folded skin is always a good place for bacteria to grow. So when it interacts with sweat, it causes the odour we all know and love. In conclusion, it isn’t the amount of sweat produced that makes us smell, but rather the bacteria present in our armpits.

I’m personally a sweaty person, mostly due to situations that trigger anxiety responses in my body (which occur daily). However, since I started exfoliating my armpits about three years ago, I’ve noticed my body odour has reduced (at least I think it has – nobody’s told me I’m super stinky yet). Exfoliation helps in removing the dead skin cells trapped in the armpits, but it’s not enough to make me completely stop using deodorant.

I found when I stopped shaving my armpits, I felt the pool of sweat that usually sat on my underarms became much less frequent. I wanted to see if an armpit hair routine made the area less smelly, so I could possibly adopt other methods of armpit care beyond exfoliation in my daily routine.

Trialling armpit hair care

In order to effectively trial the shampoo and conditioner, I stopped exfoliating – I didn’t want itchy and dry armpits after stripping the natural oils from my underarms. I used my usual combo, the Sukin Hydrating Shampoo and Conditioner. Since I shaved my (head) hair to a buzzcut, I’ve been looking for cheaper alternatives for hair care until it grows back, and Sukin has proven effective for the time being.

The first time I tried shampoo and conditioner on my armpit hair, the conditioner immediately sets off alarm bells in my brain. Something weird and soft was in a very sensitive area of my body (innuendo not intended). The ‘ick’ of feeling conditioner on my armpits immediately put me off the idea of oiling my armpit hair. The thought of oil on my armpits was nauseating to me. I did everything TikTok instructed, including letting the conditioner sit in my armpits before rinsing.

After a week of shampooing and conditioning my armpit hair, I didn’t notice too much of a difference except that I felt sweatier than usual in my underarms. I wasn’t sure if it was the conditioner that made sweat slip through easier or some active ingredient in the shampoo, but I felt a lot sweatier – a feeling which persisted until the end of my trial a week later.

As for smells, my underarm hair smelt pretty good for the first 12 hours (and I’m a night showerer, so no physical activity was involved after the shower) – but after a night’s sleep, I noticed my armpits returning to neutrality. After going through the day with sweatier armpits and no deodorant (for science), I noticed a slight odour returning to my armpits, but not that much in my opinion.

Final thoughts

To be honest, I didn’t find too much of a difference between my normal armpit routine (exfoliating with scentless soap) and the shampoo and conditioner regime. With the shampoo and conditioner, my armpits felt a bit sweatier and temporarily smelt a bit nicer. But beyond those minor changes, there wasn’t much to comment on.

I did, however, find my hair to be much softer and less irritating when I wore tank tops or anything that exposed my armpit hair to my actual skin. It wasn’t as irritating or noticeable sensory-wise, which is a major bonus. It’s also a major bonus for online spaces to discuss haircare routines for body hair, which occurs just as naturally as the hair on our heads.

For more on armpit haircare, head here.