Health3 min(s) read
Many individuals invest significant time and care into facial skincare while completely neglecting their underarms.
Beauty editor Ariana Yaptangco learned this lesson the hard way in February 2026, she explained in an op-ed for The New York Post.
Despite using high-quality products on her face and body, her armpit routine consisted of quick shaves and hasty swipes of deodorant. She rarely considered whether her razor was sharp or if her deodorant was past its shelf life.
This lack of attention eventually caught up with her. Yaptangco developed a sudden outbreak of itchy, irritated skin with a rough texture under her arms.
Initial attempts to ignore the issue failed as the inflammation worsened over several months. A visit to a dermatologist revealed that her routine had triggered a case of underarm dermatitis.
Left untreated, the simple irritation progressed into atopic dermatitis, also known as chronic eczema. The skin became thick, dry, and scaly, featuring dark discoloration and leathery lines. Her experience highlights how simple everyday habits can compromise delicate skin.
According to Dr. Chelsea Hoffman, MD, a board-certified dermatologist at Hudson Dermatology and Laser Surgery in New York City, dermatitis is a general term for skin inflammation.
The most common variation found in the underarm area is contact dermatitis, which falls into two main categories: irritant dermatitis and allergic dermatitis.
Irritant dermatitis happens quickly when a substance triggers a direct reaction on the skin. Dr. Hoffman notes, per The New York Post, “If someone’s putting an active ingredient under there, such as a retinoid, which some people try to do for pigment, that could cause irritant dermatitis. But even just sweat alone can be irritating to people.”
Allergic contact dermatitis involves a delayed immune reaction to a specific trigger. Dr. Hoffman explains, “The most common causes are certain ingredients and additives, like preservatives or fragrances in deodorant.”
Other factors can also create issues. Dr. Hoffman points out, “There’s other conditions that can happen too. It’s more rare, but you can get fungal infections in your underarms. Yeast can play a role. There’s all these other microbiome, pathogen aspects because they thrive in that moist environment.”
To heal the damaged area, Dr. Hoffman instructed Yaptangco to stop shaving and pause deodorant use for nearly three months. “We treat underarm dermatitis by reducing irritation, so you want to try to minimize shaving or waxing for that time,” says Dr. Hoffman. “Anything that’s going to compromise the barrier, you want to avoid.”
She added that using a clean blade is critical because “Shaving basically kind of takes off the top of your skin.”
Lauren Lovelady, founder of the body care brand Each & Every, notes that armpit skin requires deliberate care. “I don’t want to say we abuse our underarms, but we do tend to put a little bit more stress on it than other areas of our skin by shaving and applying products,” she says.
“That skin is sensitive and can get really dry, so it is really important to keep it moisturized. Look for products that have ceramides or lactic acids, things that you would apply to your body to keep it moisturized.”
Product choices can also influence skin health. Baking soda, a common ingredient in natural deodorants, can alter the delicate balance.
“Baking soda raises the pH of your skin,” says Lovelady. “Your is naturally acidic and sits at about a pH of 4.5 to 6.5. And baking soda is very alkaline, so it’s about a 9. When you apply deodorant with baking soda, it raises the pH of your skin above its normal levels.”
Treatment for Yaptangco included a prescribed topical steroid along with daily application of La Roche-Posay Lipikar Daily Repair Moisturizing Body Lotion. Dr. Hoffman also suggests light options like Person & Covey DML Moisturizing Lotion or Vanicream Moisturizing Lotion.
If issues persist, Dr. Hoffman notes, “If it continues to become a problem, we’ll do patch testing on the back looking for what you might be specifically allergic to.”
After months of consistent moisturizing and treatment, Yaptangco successfully returned her skin to a healthy baseline and resumed shaving safely.
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