I have a love-hate relationship with my armpits. No, scratch that – I have a hate-hate relationship with my armpits. I hate the fact that the laser hair removal treatments didn't exactly work on me. I hate the fact that they're not pretty. And I hate the fact that no matter how much I seem to do for them, they never really yield positive results. So, while I may hate the fact that my legs are big and my tummy looks like I have a baby inside of it, if God were to give me the chance to change anything, it would have to be my armpits.

Growing up, I have heard about the wonders of tawas. Tawas will make my armpits pretty. Tawas is magic. Tawas will be my savior. But no matter how wonderful tawas seemed, the fact that they came in powder form meant they were unwieldy and complicated. And so I stuck to deodorants. And I tried all kinds: roll-on, spray, gel, cream, and powder. Most importantly, I bought every single thing that promised me whitening or smoothening.

The fact that I am writing this post means only one thing: none of the promises materialized.

So when a friend recommended that I try out a solid tawas deodorant, I immediately said yes. What's yet another product to subject my armpit to, right?

The come on:

As I've mentioned, tawas allegedly equals pretty armpits. That was enough. No, that was MORE THAN ENOUGH for me.

The verdict:

Since the product is solid tawas inside a jar, you'll need to make sure that the surface is wet before you “apply” it onto your skin. I gently rub the product over and over the entire armpit area cause, and this is the biggest problem for me, I never exactly know if I am actually getting any product on. It just feels like you're rubbing a smooth wet stone on your armpit.

Since tawas is a deodorant but not an anti-perspirant, be ready to sweat when you're exposed to high temperatures. And of course, since sweat is liquid, I think (believe?) that some of the tawas “washes off” when I sweat, leaving me “unprotected” for the rest of the day. And, for some reason, there are times when I sweat and I smell okay, and there are (quite unfortunate) times when I sweat and I smell like someone who's been out on the sun the entire day. Translation: you never know what you're going to get. Me, I've learned my lesson – on days that I know I'm going to end up sweating a lot, I use a regular deodorant/anti-perspirant so no surprises for me.

Have they changed my armpits? I'd like to think so. I think they're not as dark as they used to be. Sweating aside, I try to use them as much as I can so that I never have to go back to artificial products which I believe have caused the darkening on my armpits after years and years of use. In fact, I can't wait for summer to end and for the cool days to begin so I can use them exclusively day in and day out.

Here are more pluses: (1) you don't get sticky armpits since the product dries almost immediately; (2) you don't get “product transfer” on dark-colored clothes (don't you just hate on putting on a black top only to see “stripes” caused by your deodorant?); and (3) white or light-colored tops don't get yellowish. In three words: I love this.

And save for the sweating (which, let's admit, is really a normal thing for armpits to do on a warm day), I think my armpits love it too.