Armpit Masking: What It Is & Why You Should Try It

You pay attention to every inch of your body when it comes to self-care, but what about the humble armpit? Other than the occasional shave and swipe of deodorant, what have you done for them lately?

You have a six-step morning skincare routine and a 14-step nighttime version. You dry brush your whole body before coating it in oil and moisturizer after every shower. You have two different lip scrubs and four body scrub options. Hair masks? Three versions. Face masks? Eight versions. Foot masks? One.

You pay attention to every inch of your body when it comes to self-care, but what about the humble armpit? Other than the occasional shave and swipe of deodorant, what have you done for your armpits lately?

Summer is fast approaching, which means short sleeves and tank tops and sundresses, meaning your pits will be on full display. It also means now is the perfect time to make the switch to natural, better-for-you deodorant. Luckily, the two go hand in hand, and all you need to prep your pits for a summer of natural deodorant and show them a little love is a simple mask.

Masking weekly can help soften skin and clear up rashes that can arise from hair removal or natural deodorant. What’s more, a mask can work some seriously detoxifying wonders, something that’s particularly important if you plan to make the switch to natural deodorant. When you adopt a new deodorant routine, your pits might need time to adjust to the natural stuff, and may even go through a “detox” of sorts to purge themselves of the chemicals in the conventional stuff you’ve been using for years. By regularly masking with a detoxifying substance like charcoal or bentonite clay — both of which attract toxins and chemicals before latching onto them to draw them out of the skin — you speed that process way up.

You can go the DIY route if you have bentonite clay laying around — mix the clay powder with a few teaspoons of water — or just repurpose one of your detoxifying face masks. You’ll want to use on with clay like Biodara’s Creme De Clay Purifying Mask or charcoal like the Raw Charcoal Mask from BajaZen. Simply apply the paste/mask to your pits as soon as you get in the shower, do your normal thing, and simply wash it off after a few minutes. Don’t worry about keeping your arms lifted the whole time — the mask will do its job either way.

After the shower, take it a step further and apply a light moisturizer to your underarms. Proceed about your day as usual and feel free to high-five, wave and reach for things on high shelves with abandon.

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How… interesting! Armpit masking is a completely new one to me, haha!

Charmaine Ng | Architecture & Lifestyle Blog
http://charmainenyw.com

Anonymous
5 years ago

If you are doing this….You got way too much time on your hands.

Anonymous
5 years ago

It only takes a minute though. & the benefits are so worth it for me, its really helpful with odor and the shadowy stubble appearance. It leaves them looking and smelling like the rest of my skin.

Luisa
5 years ago

I have been using an all natural deodorant that my daughter mixed for personal use and as you mentioned your body have to get use to it. After a few weeks of using natural mixed deodorant my pits became smoother and whiter.

Armpit mask sounds interesting. I think i wll try this one too.

5 years ago

Love this! I hold workshops and teach yoga. Now I can detox my pits.

Anonymous
5 years ago

What a load of cr#p! If you eat right and take care if the inside of your body, the outside will glow. What you put in is what comes out, naturally, including scent. I’m insulted that you would publish such a suggestion and encourage women to now feel like they have to go the extra mile for their arm pits to smell fresh just so you can make some money. I doubt you would suggest this for men, so why suggest it for women. Staying clean and fresh happens holistically and without need for armpit mask. Any woman who does this is an idiot. Sorry, but you’re way off on the wrong path Free People.

Anonymous
5 years ago

I’m so upset with Free People. I just received a pair of pants in the mail this afternoon. I’m returning them at the store asap just because you are encouraging women to bend over backwards to fit an ideal that you yourself have created. No more FP for me for a while!

Anonymous
5 years ago

Errrr? What about shaving, seriously what am I missing in this picture? Face cleanser for your armpits? I feel humiliated•

anonymous
5 years ago

If you think about it, not everyone has beautiful, glowing armpits.
And just saying someone has too much time on their hands, is in fact a clear sign of someone with too much time on their hands.

After addressing some ignorance I would like to peel back a layer here and just say that I really appreciated this article.
It was something I have pondered doing because I have the most horrible, always red, irritated by shaving arm pits.
I have literally been embarrassed about them, since childhood and I have worked very hard on my gut health over the last 4 years and I take probiotics as well as I use additives for my gut health and rarely do I cook with any processed foods. Nor do I use deodorant often. Still I have sensitive armpits.
So being holistic is not always the answer and maybe this demographics is smaller but you are rude to say that no one could benefit from this just because your armpits are perfect, so shame on you for saying that this wouldn’t help anyone. You are not everyone.

In the last year, I tried a powder deodorant instead, when needed and it has helped me so much but I am going to try a mask on my armpits because I am someone who could benefit from this and this article will be helpful to those who actually feel self conscious about their armpits and they are probably not whiny, over opinionated people who chose to share bad instead of good because they are humble, kind and appreciative.
If you don’t like it, don’t read it or move on. Trolling is lame.

And please don’t tell me about your FP order on an article and your personal issues. If the pants don’t fit, do not wear them, send them back but do not complain about your perception of the identity of a company that you buy from. I do not fit any models profile on FP and yet I still find clothes that fit me and make me feel beautiful and I am a size 12, Large.
I know that the bras won’t fit me and the tiny cute blouses are not for me but I have some beautiful pants, shoes, dresses and blazers as well health and beauty stuff.
That is just so irrelevant here, I do not even know why or where that even came from or why I am addressing it. What does it have to do with the armpit masking article?
I see the good in this article and thank you FP:)
And I support and respect other women and whatever their health, skin and beauty routines are. I know that we are all different and what works for me, might not work for you.
SPREAD LOVE , KINDNESS AND UNDERSTANDING

Anonymous
5 years ago

FWIW, I made the switch to natural deodorant this fall. I made the switch after about 20 years of using antiperspirant. For me, clay masking was an integral part of the transition. I found that the masking helped the odor and reduced the irritation I suffered at the beginning of the transition to natural deodorant. I tried and failed to make the transition in the past, and I think without masking I would have failed again.

Anonymous
5 years ago

I stand by my decision to send back that pair of pants because this blog does not really support women’s issues. As a consumer, I will put my money where my mouth is and only support brands that support women instead of urging them to mask their underarms…just to be pleasing to whom? To yourself? I don’t think so. If you are ashamed of your underarms and any odor despite your saying you live holistically, then shame on you for being ashamed of your body and the way it smells. I stand by the belief that masking ones underarms helps nobody but the company that sells the mask. I’m not going to spend my money on a brand that urges women to do things that are not holistically beneficial. Hence, the pants go back to where they came from–the Free People warehouse.

kait
5 years ago

People need to relax. if some people want to take care of their armpits they can . plus there are some of us out there who deal with armpit rashes cause of sensitive skin like me and i find armpit masks are one of the only things that help me. Thanks for the info free people . the only people who have “ too much time on their hands” are the negative ones.

Anonymous
5 years ago

As a massage therapist with a rare medical condition that makes my underarms sweat/smell more than what is considered normal, I’ve tried just about everything under the sun to stay fresh, especially at work. I would so try this product! I honestly don’t mind BO (on my off days I don’t wear deodorant and embrace my scent), but it would be nice to not have to worry about “smelling” on the job to be considerate of my clients. I’m also allergic to deodorant unless it’s natural so one extra cleansing step for me is no biggy. For people like me these options are exciting! Taking extra care of your pits is neither cool nor uncool. Your body your rules.

Anne
5 years ago

To the people who are bashing FP and saying they don’t care about women’s issues…… I actually used a crystal deodorant for quite some time and it gave me a yeast infection in my arm pits. It’s been humiliating, itchy, and very hard to get rid of. Using a mask along with no deodorant, more ACV, and other changes within my diet it’s decreased. “Always seek to understand”. Maybe this isn’t for you all, sending your pants back, or being upset with FP. But for a woman with true issues, it did help. They aren’t beautiful modelesque arm pits, but they are yeast free! Charcoal and apple cider vinegar for the win!

Anonymous
5 years ago

I read this , didn’t think this would work ,but it did – now at night I also put a moisture cream under my pits and in the morning , my undersarms felt so smooth – great tip ! PS all natural deodorants are the way to go too!! no more chemicals- Try Earth Mama , or Crystal- Vanilla Jasmine- no aluminum .

Tanesha
5 years ago

> shame on you for being ashamed of your body and the way it smells

How silly, what sort of authority do you have telling other women what they do with their bodies? If there’s women here that want to try this out, they are free to do so. I may try this out myself tonight after a pineapple sugar scrub.

5 years ago

Hey, thanks for sharing the products for better armpit. Will try and see.

I am using different product for my armpit and its absolutely waste of time but armpit mask is really a relief .its a really good product.

julie
5 years ago

lol people are really pressed about this
why is it wrong to take care of your armpits, it’s skincare….
no one is saying you should be doing this for men… lmao

Maria
5 years ago

What’s the fuss ladies, are you that lazy? It will smooth out your pits and exfoliate it will also let you shave or wax less. I think it a win!

Can can be humiliating about that? Get a grip ladies.