HEALTH & BEAUTY
Originally published on Monday, 14 July 2008
Sweat Stop
We’ve had the ‘Spa of Embarrassing Illnesses’, ‘Sweaty Betty’ and an entire week of TV dedicated to ‘Embarrassing Bodies’. Even a certain shameless magazine pin-pointer of red carpet cock-ups favours celebrity sweat-patch specials. Nice. Apparently women don’t really glow; nor do we perspire. We sweat.
It’s no surprise then that LA’s latest import – underarm botox – is proving popular with London’s ladies. Having abandoned paraben and aluminium loaded antiperspirants, I’ve been quite literally winging it this summer only to discover that flapping your arms about in the hope of avoiding soggy patches does not count as wedding chic; photographic evidence exists to prove it. So, I head off to see Dr Hilary Allen to get to the bottom of the armpit phenomenon.
Apparently, ‘It’s ideal for women who have always sweated excessively, but also, because sweating is often a nervous response, fantastic for people who have to give speeches or lectures that involve raised arms or professionals who have to lean in close to their clients’ Fifteen minutes later and approximately 12 tiny pinpricks of Botulinum Toxin in each pit, and I’m swabbed and sent back to the street with comprehensive aftercare instructions.
It’s been three weeks and my deodorant has sat, defunct and untouched, on the bathroom shelf ever since. The usual triggers – a job interview, an overheated friend’s party, a 30 minute jog at the gym – have all left me dry as a bone, which is simultaneously miraculous and unnerving. But hey, I’m not going to sweat it. Even if I could…
Dr Hilary Allan is based at Woodford Medical Centre , 8 Upper Wimpole Street, Marylebone, W1G 6LH • 0845 6021161 Price varies per individual, based on area to be treated.