Sweating, like running into your ex, is an unfortunate and unavoidable aspect of life, and it seems they both tend to happen at the most inconvenient times. And although we might not be able to help you with the second problem, we've got you covered when it comes to stopping your sweat. Follow our 11 Tips to Combat Summer Sweat and the only thing glistening this summer will be your shiny personality:
1. Replace Your Deodorant With an Antiperspirant
Fun fact - your deodorant is not actually designed to impede moisture! Deodorant simply masks odors. If you want to avoid sticky, wet sweat, you should switch to an antiperspirant. There are even cool antiperspirant/deodorant hybrids that do both. Welcome to the future.
2. Put Your New Antiperspirant On at Night
After you buy your cool new antiperspirant, try putting it on your pits before you go to sleep! Apparently this is the best time of day to preemptively avoid those embarrassing sweat marks.
3. Wear Clothes Made of Natural Fibers
When you're choosing your outfit on a hot day, try to lean toward natural fibers like cotton. They're more breathable and will help your body resist sweat.
4. Avoid Caffeine
I know, I know. This is a tough one. But apparently drinking caffeine stimulates the central nervous system in a way that can lead to increased sweating, so it's either Starbucks or Sweatmarks. Pick your poison.
5. Choose Your Colors Wisely
Although white may seem like a smart choice on a blistering day, white clothing actually shows the most sweat. Choose brighter colors or patterned shirts to attempt to camouflage any sweatmarks that may soak through.
6. Try Garment Shields
If you're set on that crisp white blouse, try putting garment shields under your pits. These nifty little inserts will soak up your sweat before it can be seen by the outside world.
7. Stop With the Salt
Like caffeine, having too much salt in your diet will increase your tendency to sweat. Lessening your sodium intake will not only leave you feeling fresh and flowery, but it will have a positive effect on the rest of your health in general.
8. Shave it Off
The hairiest parts of the body tend to sweat the most, so the more hair you get rid of, the less likely you are to sweat in those areas. Time to pull a Britney Spears circa 2007.
9. Wear Layers
This might seem like the opposite of what you'd want to do on a scorching summer day, but a cami or an undershirt can keep your sweat contained. What they don't know won't hurt them.
10. Skip the Hat
A lot of heat escapes from your head, so putting a hat on can actually make the rest of your body hotter, which in turn leads to more sweat. Take this as your invitation to throw out the fedora.
11. Easy on the Hot Sauce
Food restrictions are the worst kind of restrictions, but eating spicy foods is one of the worst things you can do when trying to sweat less. Put the Sriracha down.
You're looking fresher already.