Summer in the City // Tip for Surviving Smelly Armpits

SURVIVING SMELLY ARMPITS

Summer in the City // Tip for Surviving Smelly Armpits

It’s that time of year when it heats up a little, which for the most part is a good thing. Less rain and a bit of warmth can make us forget for a little while that winters, in this part of the world, are for the most part cold and dank.

On most public transport systems, temperatures can get uncomfortable, especially while the world and their mother are trying to get home at rush hour. Take this onto overground trains, where people are squished together to get to work. Then go underground. It gets a bit warmer and even the early morning commute can be a form of torture. According to Gizmodo, the Bakerloo line is can reach 31 degrees and the Central line 30 degrees.

With most rush hour commutes, you can, unfortunately, get to know your neighbour pretty intimately. During the summer months, that means you old sweaty armpits too. And let’s be honest, it can be pretty revolting.

Surviving Smelly Armpits

Let me clarify, everyone perspires, yes, even the Queen. (Hey Liz, hope you’re enjoying the read) But, by evening time on a packed train, after a hot day, it can get potent. So much so, I’ve wanted to be physically sick.

Enter a tip I’ve been using for the past couple of years. A major hat tip has to go to Mr Mulley who passed this gem onto me. This will be my third year of using this and I feel, now, it’s my turn to pass on this simple effective tip to survive smelly armpits.

a tub of vapour chest rub

Make Your Own Travel Pack

Pop into your local pharmacy or supermarket. Go to the aisle with all the cold remedies, and look for the decongestants. Now, you see the stuff you rub on your chest? Yes, that minty eucalyptus rub? Pick it up. You can go for the well known Vicks brand, or you can go for a generic brand. If you’re allergic to any of the ingredients, don’t to this! Seek a pharmacist/doctors advice before you go ahead.

I’ve gone for Boots own brand. I think the jar was about two pound something. You don’t need to spend much on this. If you’re in the pharmacy, spend a pound and buy those little travel containers with a screw top lid.

Don’t use your hands for this, an old spoon or something you can throw away. Take a spoonful from the jar and put it into the travel container. Wipe the outside clean.

So now you have your own travel pack. It’s small enough to pop in your bag or even put in your pocket.

Make Your Nose A Happy Nose

There’s two ways to make your nose happy now. Pre-empt the event of smelliness and go straight ahead or wait until you board the train and see what it’s like. Just remember though, if the train is totally mad busy, you may feel uncomfortable doing this.

Get a tiny dap of the chest rub on your finger and dab it on the inside of your nose. It may tingle a bit and if you’ve a tiny cut, it will probably sting. The upside though, is that is all you will smell. You can’t smell your overly intimate neighbour, just minty camphor eucalyptus smells. Enough to make any grandmother proud of you but not enough for the rest of the Tube’s inhabitants think you’re an oldie.

It’s so easy, I never would have thought of this. But as I said, I’ve been using this now for a couple of years and it definitely makes life a lot easier for me. If you’ve a sensitive nose, turn it into a happy nose. Let me know how you got on in the comments below.

Happy travels!
London Underground