The Dreaded Chub Rub

It's the summer and most of us are dressing accordingly so that we don't overheat. This means ditching the tights and wearing more skirts and shorts, which is fine for some, however can cause a few problems for the rest of us. As a slightly bigger girl without a thigh gap, I usually suffer a lot this time of the year from what is affectionately known as Chub Rub. This is when your thighs rub together when you walk, making the skin chafe. Lots of people get it, of all genders and sizes, and I decided to make it my mission this summer to try out the three options I've heard of, so that I can actually wear short shorts and skirts again.

Before I start this post properly, I'd just like to mention that this post will contain mentions of sweat and upper thighs, sometimes even in the same sentence. If this is something you don't think you can deal with then you a) probably don't get chub rub and b) probably shouldn't read any further. Let's begin.

First I read that aerosol deodorant can help if you spray it onto the areas that usually rub, as there is a powder that settles onto the skin when it is sprayed, which helps keep the skin dry. I decided to get a mini deodorant so that I could carry it around with me and reapply when needed. 

This was great when I first put it on. However, within a few minutes of walking out of the house my thighs started to rub again, and obviously it's a little awkward to keep spraying deodorant in that area every few minutes, especially in public. 

After that I kept looking for solutions, and another I came across was sports chafing gel. This makes a lot of sense, as it would be something that it designed to stay working while keeping active, so a bough a tube of it and tried it out. 

This was way more effective. I could walk around for ages without any rubbing, and I was convinced I'd found the solution. But then I sat down for a bit, and as it was a hot day I sweated. When I started walking again I found that the gel had basically sweated off, and my thighs continued to become a painful, chafed mess. I tried to keep reapplying during frequent trips to the ladies', but the same thing kept happening every time I sat down. I decided to keep looking.

I honestly didn't think that Tumblr of all places would lead me to the solution, but one day a post came up on my dash that suggested Lush's Silky Underwear Dusting Powder as the perfect Chub Rub solution. It's only £4.25 for a 60g bottle, so I decided it couldn't hurt to give it a try. 

It was great when it came to walking around, but I was very wary about how it would be after sitting down. I stood back up again and continued walking, and waited for the pain to start as the sweat dried. It never started. I found that once my legs had dried they felt just like they'd felt when I'd just applied the product in the morning. It continued to stay the same all day, whatever I did. Since then I've been able to wear pretty much whatever I've wanted this summer without having to worry about the chub rub pain, and as you can see from this picture taken today, I've barely used any of it. I would definitely recommend this dusting powder. Plus, as it's from Lush, you know that it's handmade and wasn't made by testing on animals, which makes it even better. Thumbs up!