5 Natural Solutions Against Armpit Odor

Armpit odor does not always have to be prevented and eliminated with chemical and potentially harmful substances. It can also be done gently and naturally!

Armpit odor is extremely unpleasant and can be quite embarrassing. But conventional deodorants often contain harmful substances that are criticized. Apart from deodorants from natural cosmetics, there are natural solutions with home remedies for armpit odor.

How does armpit odor arise?

Armpit odor is generally seen as something negative, but without it we would not be able to survive. Without sweat, our bodies would overheat quite quickly and we would die from it in the long run.

This applies not only to armpit sweat in isolation, but also to all body sweat in general.

Sweat is initially a very odorless body fluid, the composition of which is slightly different for each person. Only when interacting with bacteria does sweat, such as underarm sweat or foot sweat, become an unpleasant and odor-intensive thing.

Some sweat glands, which are located under the armpits, in the genital area and on the nipples, also secrete other substances that can be summarized under proteins and fats.

This liquid is also odorless, but due to its different composition it is particularly interesting for odor-causing bacteria.

The odor-causing bacteria that form on our skin not only love some of the components of body sweat, but also the warm, humid environment that prevails in our shoes or under our armpits.

They then convert the odorless body fluid into odor by forming, among other things, butyric and formic acid. This is how the characteristic armpit odor is created.

What helps against armpit odor?

If you want to eliminate armpit odor, you should first make sure that as little armpit odor as possible develops. There are basically only two strategies that complement each other:

• Reduction of perspiration
• Reduction of the surface on which bacteria become active

It is possible to prevent armpit odor even without harmful chemicals. Deodorants against the smell of sweat have come under fire from criticism because more and more ingredients turn out to be harmful.

However, it is not even necessary to smear chemicals under your armpits every day, products from natural cosmetics show how it is.

The following can help:

Shave

The simplest tip is: shave! The larger the surface on which the sweat can adhere and the bacteria can do their work, the more intense the smell.

Those who do not shave under their armpits have a much larger surface area and a much more intense fragrance development, against which even some deodorants are powerless.

A shave of the armpit hair helps a lot, because you minimize the surface that is available to the bacteria for odor formation. This means that less armpit odor can arise even if you sweat.

Black tea tincture

The active ingredients in black tea have an astringent effect, which means “astringent”. They ensure that your sweat glands contract too and can secrete less sweat.

To do this, you brew a very strong tea, a kind of concentrate, from cheap black tea and use it instead of deodorant.

Keep the black tea concentrate in the refrigerator and dab it under your armpits with a cotton ball as needed.

Important: the extract has a coloring effect and you should let it dry completely before you get dressed. Do not use this method against armpit odor with light-colored fabrics.

Rosemary oil

Rosemary has an antibacterial effect – also against the bacteria that produce the smell of sweat. Simply drizzle a few drops of pure, essential rosemary oil from the pharmacy onto a cotton pad and brush your armpits with it.

Pure essential oils are irritating to mucous membranes and skin, so they should only be used carefully and undiluted! Since they are easily soluble in fat, you can mix essential oils with some skin nourishing oil such as sesame oil or almond oil to apply under the armpits.

If you don’t have rosemary oil on hand, use lavender oil, which is just as good antibacterial and can prevent armpit odor. Many also find the scent of lavender oil more pleasant.

sage

Sage has an antiperspirant effect and is said to help both internally and externally. Make a strong tea from fresh or dried sage leaves that should simmer for at least 15 minutes. Let the tea cool down and dab your armpits with the cold tea.

If the effects of sage tea are not enough for you, carefully wet your armpits with sage essential oil. Caution: Too much essential oil can irritate the skin and lead to skin irritation!

It is important to know that these natural methods for treating armpit odor do not have the same, long-lasting effects of commercially available, conventional antiperspirants, which advertise “48 hour effectiveness”.

If you want to take action against armpit odor using natural methods, be prepared that after about half of the day you will have to “add something” in order to achieve a similarly good effect against armpit odor as with potentially harmful agents from conventional retailers.