Thursday, July 24, 2008

Revisiting My Dark Side (Under arm area)

So a few days ago I was wearing a vest and talking to my mother. I raised my hand to scratch my nose and she said "Wow! Your underarms are really black!"

Note that she did not say they are dark...she said they are black.

Then she raised her arms and looked at her arm pits. They were light.

Then she looked back at me and asked what happened. I have no idea. I have been waxing my armpits in order to remove the dark skin but so far I have yet to see any major difference.

My mother has not seen my armpits for years so I guess she was shocked to see them that color. I was just embarrassed by her yelling that out.

8 comments:

Petula said...

Yikes... I would have been embarassed too!

Diva In Training said...

I feel horrible about them.

Anonymous said...

my mama said the same thing about my arms too and she's raised up her arm and her arms aren't dark. i asked her why is hers not dark and she said its because she didn't shave. & plus she barely has hair under her arms to shave she's so lucky!

and i think the waxing is helping me because i see little traces of the dead dark skin coming off on the wav paper. plus i use a fading cream and then put baby powder on top after i get out the shower.. i haven't used deodarent in a while and i see a little difference. I just cant wait to wax again because it really pulls the black stuff off

Anonymous said...

We are not born with dark underarms...underarms get dark because of the things we do to them...and by the time we realise its already too late :(

After I realised what I've done to my underarms here is what I am doing to get them back...

Started waxing underarms every 2-3 weeks and also stopped using antiperspirant on my underarms, instead started using baby powder mixed with anti fungal anti bacterial powder. Whenever I get sweaty..i rush to the wash room...wet some tissues and wipe off sweat and put baby powder.

Every 2-3rd day I scrub underarms with pumic stone. (Do not do this right after you've waxed! start this after 1 week)

I've been doing the above for sometime now...there has been some improvement in the color and texture of my armpits though they are not smooth and silky as i want them to be.

Anonymous said...

Dear, I suggest you stop the waxing and stop the chemical products. It's the cause of your misfortune, trust me. I've been there.

I started professional waxing when I was 16 (I'm now 19) but it just went from so-so to bad. It was been so-so since 12 when I started shaving and using deos. Believe me, I tried a lot of deos that claim they can whiten your underarms.

I used to think that waxing was the answer to my discolored and bumpy underarms caused by shaving and plucking, but I guess I was wrong. We all have different skin types. Unfortunately, mine is sensitive and yours might be too.

I realized that the light brown patches on my underarms were caused by waxing. They were the red spots that were present right after you're waxing session.

Now, I'm just letting the hair grow for 2 weeks then pluck them away. Before I pluck, I wash my underarms with my St. Ives Collagen Elastin Body Wash then put a moisturizing cream. This is to make sure that your underarms are hydrated.

I can say that, from bad, it's back to being so-so. I'm still not proud of it, though.

Also, I stop using deos. I'm now using an alum crystal. It doesn't answer my sweaty problems (trust me, just a little walk in the park makes me sweat A LOT) but at least the smell isn't there.

Be as natural as possible. Or just consult a dermatologist. I'm sure it's not as expensive as your chemical products.

Anonymous said...

P.S. I thought waxing was cool coz you can really pull the black skin off. But after many sessions, it'll be worse. Why? Coz like shaving, it causes skin abrasion because you're trying to pull away the hair and some of the skin too harshly.

I hope you can consider my suggestion. If you don't like it, at least consult a dermatologist. They're more helpful than you think they are.

ecobella said...

sweetie....stop torturing yourself! I have the exact same problem, and it is not caused or helped by waxing or creams or shaving.
I believe you have acanthosis nigricans, but do a google search to read about it to confirm (im not a doctor!). It is a disorder where skin darkens, often in the skin folds ie armpits, behind the knees, or it can occur where pressure points exist ie elbows, joints, bony parts of your butt etc. It can also occur on the back of the neck and groin.
Acanthosis Nigricans can be caused by genetics or ethnicity or can be an indicator of other underlying issues / diseases, such as diabetes, Poly Cystic Ovary Syndrome, Cushings and other endocrine problems.
If this occurs in your family, lightening creams can help, HOWEVER if it doesn't it may be important to go see a doctor for their opinion. I would also reccomend making a diary and rate how dark your underarms are....you may be able to like them to hormones (like your normal period cycle) or types of foods, feeling sick, how hydrated you are etc.
But please do look into these things, your body is trying to tell you something...
Be gentle with your skin, try moisturising them with organic skin creams.
So far, i have not found a cure....mine are cyclical, they darken and lighten, and have spread to my elbows and ankles and groin. I am seeking help from an endocrinologist, and they are trying to get to the bottom of it.
Please, stop hurting your skin and be gentle :)

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

I have recently been scourging the net for an effective arm pit lightening regime and stumbled across your blog. Firstly, I would like to say thank you for speaking and sharing about your journey - you are really helping a lot of girls such as myself with this embarrassing issue. I noticed you have been having a lot of trouble recently with deodorants and would like to share a product and some tips with you that have drastically improved the look and feel of my dark armpits, knees and elbows and back acne scars. Almost a year ago, I bought a body brush from a local linen store that looked something like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Aquasentials-Exfoliating-Brush-15-5in-Clear/dp/B005AYJ6EW/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1334677965&sr=8-10

Talk about exfoliation! Using this brush religiously morning and night on all areas of my skins surface along with an exfoliating body scrub, such as neutrogena's oil free acne body scrub, made my skin feel and look radiant and soft within weeks and I could really see a big difference in my skins dark areas.

My best friend suggested that I switch from regular roll on deodorant and try organic natural deodorizer and I honestly couldn't think of a reason why not to! Regular deodorant are harsh and contain chemicals that can be extremely harmful to your health and I have heard horror stories of sweat glands being blocked and infected with cysts etc. I can only imagine constant underarm shaving+ roll on deodorant application is the culprit of all these issues women suffer from. 1 year ago I decided to use this Thai Crystal Stone for my armpits:

http://www.amazon.com/Thai-Deodorants-Natural-Crystal-Deodorant/dp/B000S83JR0/ref=sr_1_cc_2?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1334678378&sr=1-2-catcorr

And let me tell you, I have not switched back to regular deodorant or regretted the switch ever since. And I am an extremely hairy girl and I perspire a lot more than usual, so I was very concerned how this would work for my pits.

I strongly suggest re-applying this deodorant mid day as needed because the formula usually only lasts 5 hours for me. It is under scented, natural and makes my pits feel smoother and softer than ever. They have a sweet aroma that is unique to my body's natural chemistry and have definitely aided me in my arm pit lightening conquest!

After a year of using these combined techniques, I am pretty comfortable and happy with my results, however my pits are not as light as I believe they could be.

In conjunction with all the things I did above, I also have been epilating my armpits on a regular basis. I see you have given up shaving too and that is probably one of the best things you could have done for your pits.

To reach my desired armpit goals, I have ordered the divine derrieres system and will give you an update after I find out if it's worth while or not. I too am a woman of color so I hope my review will help give you some perspective on it! :) good luck with everything!

Alyssa