Recently in Body Category

Today, for the first time in my life, I know what it's like to have an allergic reaction to a skin product.

For a few years I've been using Mitchum's antiperspirant. They claim, "So strong, you can skip a day," and they're right—it's utterly effective. The price for that effectiveness is aluminum sesquicholorohydrate, which deposits itself in the armpit creases of one's undershirts like orange-yellow starch. After throwing away a few undershirts, I decided to switch to a hippie deodorant.

A few weeks, or maybe over a month, ago, I bought Tom's of Maine lemongrass deodorant. I like supporting hippies, and this one even had a foldout which explained the purpose of every ingredient in the deodorant. I was impressed.

Once my mom commandeered my lemongrass deodorant because she loved the smell, I switched to the "long-lasting" apricot variety of the same brand. I've been using this one for at least two weeks and have had no complaints. Tonight was different.

I took a shower in the evening, then applied the deodorant so I can watch a movie while basking in apricot. About half an hour into the movie I realized that my armits are itching. Trying to ignore the problem, I watched another half hour. At the end of that, I had my hands interlocked on top of my head and alternating blowing air on each armpit to relieve the discomfort. I can't find a proper adjective to describe it... it wasn't painful, it didn't burn... The closest I can come to describing it is: imagine someone gently rubbed your armpits with fine sandpaper for a few seconds.

Eventually I decided that perhaps tonight is a bad night for deodorant, so I went into the bathroom to wash it off with soap. Upon examination under bright lights, I saw that a part of the deodored skin is red and looked flaky. More than anything else, I was relieved that the discomfort was justified and I wasn't just imagining it. After washing it off with soap, I feel right as rain.

Tonight I joined the allergic-reaction-to-Toms-of-Maine club.

Now I understand why hippies smell.

As promised, on Monday Andreas and I tested each other for Navy-required fitness. I'm thrilled to say that I meet or exceed all the criteria, with one caveat: I did exactly the number of required situps, leaving no room for error. I'll keep working at it.

I'm about a month early on meeting my goal.

This would not have been possible without having Andreas as my gym buddy for three semesters. We keep each other from defaulting. Alas, Andreas is graduating this semester, and his life will be in flux. What he does and where he goes will depend entirely on what job he gets.

Now my biggest challenge will be to continue to keep myself in shape. With distractions like Netflix, food, and Slashdot—as well as self-convincing excuses such as having homework or bad weather—I don't know if I can do it.