Whit on the trail at Tsankawi — cliff dwellings and petroglyphs if you’re up for the climb.
My son Whit visited for the first time last week. He’s a young man now (longtime Posse readers may remember him as Buckethead) and he’s also a camping-gear-loving nerd who works at REI while taking college courses. I told him we were going to do some hiking while he was here, but cautioned him it wasn’t anything toooo insane so he wouldn’t show up prepared to summit Everest. I did have a smile at his nifty water filtration device, in case we … didn’t have potable water in Santa Fe? Or maybe he just wanted to show it off.
Anyhow, he’s always offering to get me fancy gear from Arc’teryx or Patagonia with his employee discount, and I knew he’d be underwhelmed by my “equipment” – i.e., hiking shoes I bought secondhand for my 2022 Ireland trip, a fuzzy fleece Uniqlo sweatshirt, and the cheap sling bag I got from AMZ years ago for trips to the gym.
I also realized I didn’t own a single refillable hiking water bottle (we’re getting to scented product, I swear!) and off I went to the Sierra camping outlet to pick one up, so his head wouldn’t explode when I whipped out a bottle of Dasani from the CVS. After I picked that out, I had a goggle at their personal care/grooming area; they often have interesting things. Anyhow, the Humble deodorant caught my eye – they have a bunch of scents that sound nice, and the Palo Santo and Frankincense sounded really nice, so I bought it. It seems to be doing its deodorizing job (I’m not especially sweaty, so I don’t need antiperspirant) and my pits smell fantastic.
We hiked Bandelier and Tsankawi, which is like a rugged outdoor version of the chutes and ladders board game, with narrow paths worn into the volcanic tuff and, yes, quite a few ladders. I’m proud to say I kept up even though I’m 40 years older than that kid, but I was plenty tired after. He couldn’t deal with my cheapo Urban Sport one-shoulder sling bag, so we settled on his giving me his fancy Patagonia daypack as my mother’s day present, since he’d also brought his Osprey one in case his mother planned on hiking with a Trader Joe’s tote.
If you struggle with armpit odor, here’s a couple other ideas gleaned from dermatology YouTube. First, get yourself some hypochlorous acid spray. You don’t need the fancy Tower 28 one, you can probably find it in the first aid section of your drugstore. It’s gentle enough that dermatologists use it post-treatment, and I spray it all over my face in addition to my pits, as well as on my feet if they’ve worked up a stink. It’s safe to use around your eyes, and it’s a great first aid spray for random cuts and scrapes. It does smell very faintly of chlorine but that dissipates quickly.
The other suggestion is to use a glycolic acid on your armits. I was doing it for some weird hyperpigmentation, which it’s definitely helping, but apparently it also helps control bacteria. I use a cheapo one from The Ordinary. If you have sensitive/ irritated pits you might want to skip this, and if you do try it, stick to a lower concentration, and only twice a week. (FWIW I have relatively sensitive skin and it hasn’t bothered me at all.)
I know Tom and some others of you have used the full body deodorant. What other products are you loving?
Sweaty betty over here, swear by the DK Cashmere mist antiperspirant. They also make a deodorant only, but that is not my jam
Ooooh I bet that smells fantastic! What a nice scent to get the occasional waft of.
Post note to my earlier post about Lume/Mando and Mandelic acid. To state the obvious, wet pits–as in SUPER WET will need an antiperspirant which may/may not fully alleviate stinky. Ideally it would–but it doesn’t always. It eliminates…wetness. that’s where the mandelic acid (Lume etc). comes in. So I use both, and not necessarily same places. Lume is better for places that are not particularly sweatprone–but still stinky. It doesn’t in any way stop sweat. Enough sweat– and you WILL stink. Both stop the stinky by their different actions. And then you add your SOTD!
I am sooooo grateful I am not a sweaty person in general — I know I’d get chafing, rashes, etc. I’d probably be looking into … laser or something? If my pits were always damp. I’ve definitely noticed my feet and my gym shoes are less stinky with the hypochlorous spray.
“Mando” or “Lume” (same product company) are essentially Mandelic acid. I’m not a super stinky person (I don’t think) and always used a bit of antiperspirant sparingly, but moving to the mountains, a different workout, getting older –and odors changed. I saw all those annoying Lume commercials, but finally decided to buy– and YES– that stuff works. I will do the dabo-antiperspirant, but the Lume goes kinda everywhere. No foot odor henceforth. So from what I can tell, it’s the acid that is keeping the stinky bugs at bay. Thanks for the post and the comments! I’m going to look into these other options. Mandelic is offered by The Ordinary so maybe somebody could just use that dilute.
Oh, that’s so interesting! So it IS the acid! (glycolic, mandelic etc.) Which makes sense, as long as it’s buffered or whatever so it’s not irritating. It does make sense if you think about it. I don’t get stinky here like I did in DC or I’d be exploring other options beyond “my pits smell like incense, yum.”
I tried Lume deoderant in Peony for quite a while. It worked well, but I got tired of clammy, damp pits, so I went back to a antiperspirant deoderant. I’ve heard that Lume came out with its own since then. Even longer ago, I used another natural product, Schmidts maybe, which comes in a bazillion scents, but I found it irritating to the underarm skin.
I loved your hiking story, March! That’s amazing. Great work on all the chutes and ladders. I’m really impressed!
I’m so grateful I’m not much of a sweat-er; two of my kids are and it has been a journey for them. Ava had to try out soooooo many different products to find one that didn’t give her a rash. The hiking was a blast! Been awhile since I’ve done something like that, but my knees weren’t happy the next day.
LOVE that you kept up with your boy. I’d be very unthrilled at hiking. I can walk all day in a city but anything like that makes me very grumpy.
Excellent that you scored a new daypack. Will you use it for everything? I have an Oakley backpack Jin gave me at least 10 years ago now and I love it for every day, travel, anytime really. It gets a LOT of use. It’s always packed with everything needed to scram if need be.
My deodorant needs to be the real deal. When my pits go, they go fully rank. It’s all the EW.
Portia xx
It’s definitely nice to have a decent day pack — it’s super light (of course it is) with many pockets etc. I’ll probably bring it along on trips so I can use it as needed instead of a handbag. I did get a bigger travel backpack as my “personal item” when the airlines wanted stupid money to have a carry-on.
When I was taking sertraline to help my chronic pain & going through the menopause I was a sweaty mess & started using Mitchum roll on or crème stick. Whilst on holiday I got a reaction & had the most inflamed & itchy pits. Mitchum is off the pit menu now & I’m back to using Dove or Vaseline. I’m also off the sertraline & noticeably less of a sweaty mess!
I haven’t tried natural ones, though my youngest son did try Pitroc & wasn’t impressed.
Congrats on the hiking!
It’s so weird how medications can affect things, including making us more sweaty and/or stinky. One of my kids spent literal MONTHS last year trying to find a product that didn’t inflame her armpits. If I were sweatier I would 100% be using something with aluminum.
Rofl at the idea of hiking with a Trader Joe’s tote
REALLY ROFL at the idea of actually HIKING!
But I’m delighted that you had such a great time!
Oh! I also no longer use aluminum-based AP. I just use basic deodorant… Native ( because I like their scents) … or Mennen ( because…?)
It really was a blast, even if my knees were angry at me for a few days after. I’m grateful I can get away with deodorant; you’re right, Native has some nice ones!
I really respect Whit for the hiking thing (and you for going along.) I’m such an urban gay: I strap myself into machines for exercise but would want the Spanish Steps to have an escalator.
I’ve sued the all-over stuff for the all-over parts but still rely on good old white stuff if I’m going to be out in the heat. But then again if I get really schvitzy I’ll just take another shower. Any excuse for bath goo.
LOL it’s not something I want to do regularly — among other issues, my knees are unhappy about hiking. I’m much more of a treadmill gal, I go to the local gym here. When it gets especially hot/dry here in the summer I hop in the shower for a nice cool-off.
Sounds like your hiking was fun and the prep for it was funny! Glad you both had a good time.
I tried the natural deodorants and they do not work for me. I have no problem getting hot and sweaty and that can lead to smelly. Not a “look” I’m going for. Secret Clinical Strength works wonderfully. I put it on in the morning and I’m good for the day.
We had a GREAT time — he’s not interested in shopping or museum-going and I knew he’d appreciate the outdoor options, so different from Maine. I used Secret Clinical for years in DC where it was so humid!
Last year, I had bought the Drunk Elephant Pitti cream and a couple weeks ago, started to use it. After the first week, I kept getting this random onion like smell or a general bad smell. Then I realized that it was my pits that really smelled, so I am back to the aluminum based deodorant. I still like the Drunk Elephant lotion and body wash though.
Armpit stink really is the pits! The only time mine was ever rough was early perimenopause and then it seemed to settle down. Yeah, onion smell is NOT what we’re going for.