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Last week we had an office happy hour on a rooftop bar in New York, which was lovely but the only problem was that it was 85 degrees and all the girls sweated through our dresses. You wouldn’t have known from the trail of sweat we left on the chairs behind us that we’re actually a pretty well-groomed group. We might have mastered the perfect cat eye, but we hadn’t quite figured out how to NOT be a sweaty mess in summer. Fails.
I immediately went home and set out to write a story about just that–how to avoid sweating through your dress while sitting down in summer (whether it happens on the subway, at a wedding, while driving, or at rooftop happy hours). You know that thing where if you’re sitting for too long you get either back sweat stains or ones on your upper thighs. You know the ones.
Here are the results of my exhaustive search to find the answer, folks:
1. Wipe your back with DERMAdoctor wipes. These medicated antiperspirant wipes are the best, according to the internet (proof: they are completely sold out on Sephora). Customers seem to widely agree that they do the job that they advertise–preventing you from sweating on trouble spots all over the body. If you have a dress that’s tight on the back, upper thighs, etc. or you know that you’re going to be sitting for awhile in the hot sun (like, as a guest at an outdoor wedding) apply the wipes where you need to not sweat. I own them, they work:
DERMAdoctor MED e TATE Antiperspirant Wipes ($48 for 30)
2. Apply deodorant to your back. If you don’t own the DERMAdoctor wipes, the next best thing you can do is simply apply deodorant to the same area. It will have the same effect on your back that it has on your underarms–it effectively plugs the pores on your skin surface to reduce sweating.
3. Wear breathable, natural clothing. Look for dresses that are mostly cotton blends and not synthetic–cotton (esp. linen) is the most breathable fabric which means it absorbs or wicks the moisture (aka your sweat) off your skin and breathes it out through the fabric (rather then letting it bead on the surface). Synthetic fibers, like polyester, actually trap sweat on the surface of your clothing, which is why you get really bad sweat stains.
There you go, no more embarrassing sweaty-back situations. Let me know if you try these and whether they work in the comments below!
[Photo: Prosecco And Plaid]
