Have you been struggling to find a solution for your sweaty hands preventing you from playing sports and video games? Have you tried a ton of antiperspirant hand lotions which ultimately came to no avail? Well, worry no more because we’re here to help you out!
How Do Antiperspirant Hand Lotions Work?
Most antiperspirant hand lotions make use of aluminum-based compounds as their active ingredients. These compounds, once effectively spread around the surface of your skin, form a barrier over your sweat glands and block your sweat ducts, preventing any sweat from escaping the body.
Factors to Consider Before Buying an Antiperspirant Hand Lotion
Quick-dry
When applying an antiperspirant hand lotion, you expect your hands to be dried rather than get more slippery. A slow-drying lotion would also leave residue on anything you touch, which can be quite irritating for people who prefer to keep their stuff clean. Therefore, when searching for an antiperspirant hand lotion, you need to look out for the ones advertised as “quick-drying” so that you aren’t left with a layer of slippery lotion over your hands after every use.
Nourishing your hands
When hands become excessively dry, it’s essential to use nourishing ointments to repair your skin and keep it healthy. However, what’s better than having the nourishing extracts in your antiperspirant hand lotion? Extracts like Centella Asiatica, Witch Hazel, and Baiwei are extremely beneficial for dry and rough hands and provide great nourishment to the skin when incorporated into your antiperspirant hand lotion. Further, you can also try searching for antiperspirant hand lotions that feature compounds to brighten up your skin and make your hands look shiny all day long.
Scents
With a ton of antiperspirant hand lotions on the market, it’s hard to miss out on the scented ones. While scented hand lotions may seem like a lucrative choice, they are often more expensive and contain numerous ingredients which aren’t actually listed on the packaging. These ingredients could be harmful to your skin and spike unwanted allergies. Therefore, we would advise getting yourself an unscented antiperspirant hand lotion which could remove bad odors but prevent your hands from smelling any specific way. This would in turn avoid the chances of any skin irritation or allergic reactions but make sure that your hands are odor-free.
Myths About Antiperspirant Hand Lotions
Antiperspirant hand lotions are famous for spreading cancer, however, this is a complete myth and has been debunked by various researchers. The theory in speaking is that antiperspirant hand lotions contain aluminum-based compounds which could seep into your skin and cause breast cancer. However, this has been completely debunked by numerous studies as breast cancer tissues show no sign of any more aluminum than normal breast tissues.
Ingredients to Avoid in Antiperspirant Hand Lotions
Phthalates
Although present in most consumer products, including lotions and deodorants, this chemical disrupts our endocrine system and leads to obesity, reduced female fertility, and asthma symptoms
Triclosan
Even though the use of this chemical has been banned by the FDA in hand soaps, it is still popularly used in most deodorants and antiperspirant hand lotions. Although triclosan effectively kills bacteria on your skin, it disrupts your natural hormones, leading to infertility, asthma problems, and more.
Diethanolamine
Labeled as DEA on most skincare and pharmaceutical products, this chemical is known to increase the risk of skin irritation when applied as a lotion. Further, diethanolamine, if inhaled, also causes nose and throat irritation and is considered a carcinogenic product.
Antiperspirant vs Deodorant
Seeing the characteristics of an antiperspirant hand lotion, many may question the difference between an antiperspirant and a deodorant. To put it simply, deodorants effectively eliminate body odors, occurring due to excessive sweating, by killing the bacteria on the skin. On the other hand, antiperspirants block the actual sweat glands, preventing any sweat from accumulating on your skin, and therefore reducing any musty body odors along the way.
Getting the Most Out of Your Antiperspirant Hand Lotion
To get the most out of your antiperspirant hand lotion, wash your hands with mild soap and dry them completely before starting to apply the product. Next, apply a pea-sized amount to your hands and rub your palms together for 20 seconds or until you feel that the lotion has been fully absorbed. Further, it's advised to use antiperspirants at night before you sleep or in the morning because the sweat glands are the least active at that time.
