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I tried Aldi’s viral £3 toner to banish body odour – my stinking pits have gone for good
Glycolic acid has recently gained star status on TikTok for banishing armpit odour
COULD it be time to ditch your deodorant for good?
But I don’t mean going cold turkey — instead, a hero ingredient likely found in your skincare stash is proving popular for stopping the pong.
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Glycolic acid, better known for exfoliating your face, has recently gained star status on TikTok for banishing armpit odour.
The hashtag #GlycolicAcidAsDeodorant has had 33.7million views and counting, as a wave of people claim it to be the best solution yet.
Despite sales of deodorant recently rising by 15 per cent, which pharma giant Unilever claims to be a result of workers now regularly being back in the office, the general consensus on social media is that the products don’t work.
Tiktok user Liv Judd posted: “Five or six years ago I stopped using anti-perspirant because I found lumps in my breast — all good. But it’s now hard to find a deodorant that works properly.”
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But with fellow TikTok users promising that glycolic acid only needs to be applied to your underarms two to three times a week and can last you twice as long as normal deodorant, it is not surprising more people are now willing to give it a go.
I am definitely one of them.
I have tried every odour-blitzing product out there — from anti-perspirant sprays that feel too harsh for my sensitive skin, to more gentle natural balms and roll-ons, that inevitably disappoint by the end of the day. And that’s after putting up with the “detox phase”.
As I’ve still not found “the one” for me, I decided to purchase Aldi’s £2.99 glycolic acid toner, to see if it really is all it is cracked up to be.
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Aldi’s Lacura skincare range has become extremely popular for its high-quality products and low-cost price tag, and therefore can often be hard to get your hands on.
Taking notes from a stream of TikTok videos I scrolled through, it was advised to dab a little bit on your armpits using a cotton pad.
As glycolic acid is a potent ingredient that can cause irritation, it is also recommended to only use products that contain five per cent or less — and Aldi’s toner gets the green light, at five per cent.
Fresh from a shower, I poured a drop on a cotton pad and swiped under my arms.
Unlike most deodorants, there was no fear of white streaks or crumbling powder spoiling my outfit, plus it didn’t leave that wet, sticky feeling you often get. Instead, it dried straight away.
The only downside is that you don’t get the sweet scent that often comes with deodorants — instead this one smells like talcum powder.
A little unsure at first, the real test for me was when I returned home after a busy day running errands around London. That had involved getting on and off a sweaty Tube and attending a Pilates class.
But all these strenuous activities had surprisingly no impact on Aldi’s glycolic toner.
I returned home with pits that were not as fresh as they had been in the morning, but they were not stinking either.
We were off to a good start.
That being said, for peace of mind, I wanted to check this was still going to be a safe option for my armpits.
Glycolic acid is an alpha hydroxy acid derived from sugarcane.
It chemically brightens and exfoliates the skin, and has been favoured for lightening dark underarm areas too.
Its ability to banish body odour is by shedding dead skin cells and lowering the skin pH so that the bacteria that cause BO cannot survive.
As a result, AHAs are now popping up as a key deodorant ingredient — with high-end Necessaire The Deodorant, £18, and more affordable Kosas Chemistry AHA serum deodorant, £10.95, both promoting the ingredient in their armpit fresheners.
Safe if it’s not strong
But some claim using glycolic acid toner is unsafe for your armpits with a number of skin experts responding to the trend.
Dermatologist Dr Hamdan Abdullah Hamed, founder of hair care platform Power Your Curls, says: “The skin under the arm isn’t much thicker or thinner than other parts of the body — except the hands and feet — and repeatedly removing dead skin cells can lead to irritation. So avoid using it daily.
“Glycolic acid is an AHA. So it’s a nature-derived acid that is mostly used in toners to remove the top layer of skin cells, which could also be useful in the armpit area.
“It can help combat fungal infections, and malodour by sloughing off the dead skin cells.
“It is safe as long as it’s not strong. I would at most suggest using five-per-cent glycolic acid-based products — and not to overuse it.”
After the recommendation from a dermatologist to not overdo it, I stuck to applying only every two to three days.
This way, I didn’t experience any irritation — and I also made sure not to apply the product straight away after shaving.
A week in and I already noticed a massive difference.
I easily went two days without applying and would only start to notice a slight lingering smell right before my next top-up.
Yet it was nowhere near as bad as what I’ve often experienced after wearing a legit deodorant.
Though it hasn’t lightened my armpits, it definitely has worked to combat odour and means I don’t have to clog my pores with products every day.
Plus, a couple of weeks in and the 250ml bottle’s content has barely decreased — so my underarm care is now set for the next several months.
Better still, long-standing fans of glycolic acid say your odour reduces even more over time — so not only do you start to smell less, you can reduce the frequency of applying to once a week.
The product is not something to play around with, though.
Like Dr Hamed said, glycolic acid can lead to irritation so does need to be handled with care, applied in small doses and with a low-percentage dose.
If you suffer from underarm stench and have struggled to find a deodorant that works, give it a go. It can make a powerful pairing for your natural deodorant, to really get it working for you.
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It has definitely made my underarm smoother, softer and sweeter-smelling.
This may be a TikTok trend that divides beauty fans but, certainly for me at least, applying deodorant is now one less thing to sweat over.
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