We Tried Lume Deodorant and Antiperspirant Creams and Wipes to Find Out If They Actually Work
And are aluminum-based sweat-minimizing products safe to use regularly?
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First, let’s state the obvious: Most people sweat, and it’s perfectly normal. Our bodies release sweat to regulate our body temperature, but it doesn’t always happen in the most pleasant of ways.
For me, it doesn’t matter the season; I am always sweating. My mom jokes that I was the first kid in elementary school who needed an antiperspirant and deodorant long before any of the other girls. I’m a stress sweater, a spicy food sweater, an exercise sweater, and sometimes even an angry sweater.
- Facts From the Experts: Is Aluminum in Antiperspirants Safe? Other Treatments for Hyperhidrosis Can Preventing Sweat Cause Overheating?
- Do Sweat-Minimizing Products Work?: How We Tried Them Lume Whole Body Deodorant Plus Sweat Control Cream Sweatblock Antiperspirant Wipes and Duradry PM Sweat Minimizing Gel
Aluminum and Antiperspirants
You can’t talk about antiperspirants without talking about the elephant in the room: aluminum. Antiperspirants with aluminum compounds or aluminum chloride temporarily block the sweat ducts in the parts of the body where the product is applied, says Shoshana Marmon, MD, an assistant professor of dermatology at New York Medical College. Several scientists suggested in the early 2000s a possible connection between the use of aluminum-based antiperspirants and the development of breast cancer, according to the National Cancer Institute.
The institute states on its website that there is “no scientific evidence [that] links the use of these products to the development of breast cancer.” The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that no studies have been conducted by the Department of Health and Human Services or the Environmental Protection Agency on the “carcinogenic potential of aluminum in humans” but that “aluminum has not been shown to cause cancer in animals.”
Other Ingredients and Treatments for Controlling Excessive Sweating
Marmon says that besides aluminum, there are a few other ingredients in antiperspirants and prescription-strength treatments for hyperhidrosis (the medical term for excessive sweating). “Powders like arrowroot and cornstarch typically work by absorbing moisture and reducing friction on the skin,” she says. The Lume cream I tried contained tapioca starch as one of its ingredients.
According to Marmon, other treatments can be prescribed by a physician to treat hyperhidrosis, including Botox injections, the Brella SweatControl Patch, and medications known as anticholinergics, like glycopyrrolate, oxybutynin, and propantheline, which block the action of “the neurotransmitter responsible for stimulating sweat.” But these medications can also cause side effects and potential complications.
Products labeled as deodorants usually don’t contain any of the sweat-fighting ingredients mentioned above and are just meant to mask odor, not actually control the cause of it (sweating). I’ve experimented with all kinds of deodorants, “natural” and otherwise, but I’ve found that without those antiperspirant ingredients, they just don’t do enough for me.
Is There a Risk of Overheating While Using an Antiperspirant?
I was concerned about this: Could it happen? And if it did, how bad could it be? Marmon calmed my fears. “It’s important to allow the body to sweat, especially during exercise or in hot weather,” she said. “However, local use of antiperspirants is generally considered safe for most people, even for long periods of time.” She went on to say that as long as they use the products as directed, they should be okay, with a few exceptions. “In some people, skin irritation or allergic reactions may develop from certain ingredients. Antiperspirants may also clog pores, leading to skin conditions such as acne.”
But Do They Work?
After confirming with a dermatologist that sweat-controlling products are generally safe to use, I decided to test a few myself. First, I replaced my Megababe Rosy Pits deodorant with the Lume Whole Body Deodorant Plus Sweat Control Smooth Cream for one week. I spent the following week using no deodorant at all and instead applied two products that didn’t require daily application: Sweatblock Max Clinical Antiperspirant Wipes to one armpit and Duradry PM Sweat Minimizing Gel to the other.
All three are aluminum-based products like most antiperspirant sticks, but they differ in their application method and how frequently you have to apply them to see results. The results during both weeks were impressive.
