Why your deodorant might need to change with the season
The end of August does something strange to a daily routine around here. One day you're in shirtsleeves at a match in Dr Hyde Park, the next there's a fleece back on and you're thinking of turning the heating on. Most of us adjust the wardrobe without a second thought, but far fewer stop to ask whether the deodorant that got us through a humid July is still the right one for October.
Skin behaves differently in cold, dry air than in warm, damp air, and a product that suited one set of conditions won't always suit the other. Anyone who has stepped out of a hot shower on a frosty morning, reached for their usual deodorant can and felt it sting will know the feeling. Nothing has gone wrong with the product. The conditions around it have changed.
What cold air actually does to your skin
Cold air holds far less moisture than warm air, and once the heating goes on you spend the day moving between two dry environments. Skin loses water faster in both, and the outer layer gets tighter and quicker to react to things it shrugged off in the summer.
Underarm skin feels this early. It's thin to begin with, and it gets shaved, rubbed by clothing and covered in product every single day. A formula that felt refreshing in July can feel sharp on skin that has already dried out.
What to look for in a deodorant once the weather turns
Check the alcohol content first, because that's usually what causes the sting. Higher-alcohol sprays dry fast, which is what you want in the heat and the opposite of what you want in November. Roll-ons, sticks and creams sit more gently on dry skin, and plenty now come in versions made without alcohol or added fragrance.
So it's worth looking at what's out there rather than reaching for the same thing out of habit. Retailers like Notino carry enough variety in deodorant formats that you can change texture without giving up a brand you get on with.
Don't forget the rest of your skin
Underarms rarely act up on their own. If they're dry, your shins and forearms are almost certainly drier too, and treating the lot together beats chasing one problem area around the house.
A body lotion applied while your skin is still damp from the shower traps the water that's already there, which does more good than putting it on bone-dry skin twenty minutes later.
Timing matters more than quantity
Most people put deodorant on right after showering when their skin is warm and their pores are open. That moment is the least effective time to use products that contain alcohol. Applying it then often causes skin irritation, causing many people to think they have developed an allergy to a product they have used for a long time. You should dry your skin completely and wait a few minutes before applying deodorant. Applying it at night is also effective, particularly for antiperspirants. The active ingredients need several hours of low sweat production to work properly.
You don't need many products or a lengthy morning routine for this process. You only need to change one product twice a year, similar to how you store summer clothing for winter. Your skin works differently in October than it does in July. The process works better when your skincare products take these seasonal changes into account.