Need another product to stick to the pole? Try Stunt Grip!

While at Pole Expo, I met up with Steve Gale, one of the creators of Stunt Grip (he and his partner, Victor Flores, are also known for bringing us Pole Sleeves).  As Steve has been in the business of stunts and Chinese pole for many years, I very much respect what he has to say and any products he endorses. 

Earlier this week, I wrote a review about Dry Body, a product to help you stop sweating.  Now I want to write about how to stick to the pole once you've stopped the sweating.

Stunt Grip comes in a little black bag.  You tap the bag onto your hands.  You can use it dry OR you can use a spray bottle of alcohol to set the product (which is why a little sweat doesn't hurt...and maybe if you are sweaty, you don't need the alcohol, as your sweat will be enough).  I find that the delivery system helps keep the clumps (which happens with chalky tacks) from falling into your hands and only allows a fine dust to cover you.  Over the last week, I've asked several people to try it and give me their feedback. 

For myself, I found it to work well.  It is a chalky powder but it didn't get everywhere.  Since you do use liquid to help set the product, sweaty hands isn't an automatic death warrant.  However, for my *super* sweaty-hand friends, they did sweat through it (remember, I sweat from my head, not my hands).  It might be a good product to layer over something like an anti-perspirant or Tite Grip (or Dry Hands, or whatever product you like to get your hands to stop sweating).  I feel like Ginger gave a great assessment.  It gave her more stick than Mighty Grip, and I would add, but less grip than iTac2.  It would be a great medium grip product to add to your arsenal (you know, trying to avoid that "cooter squeak" by not over-tacking yourself). 

So if you're still looking for that perfect product to stick you to the pole, give Stunt Grip a try.  You can check out their website HERE.  You can also find them on Facebook HERE.  They have a deal on the price if you purchase before November! 

Check out Steve in action below:



Have you ever tried Stunt Grip?  If not, pick some up and let me know your thoughts!

Dry Body and Mighty Grip

At Pole Expo, someone from the Mighty Grip booth gave me a couple of samples of Dry Body.  It stops sweat, they told me.  Stops sweat?  This can't be true.  Yeah, I've heard of the medications you can take to stop sweat.  And yeah, I'm a sweaty person, so you would have thought I'd have looked it up before now.  But I guess I'm just lazy and until someone handed me a product, I never really thought to try it. 

[Want to catch up on my sweaty adventures?  Read THIS about my issue and THIS about magnesium.]

Anyway, back to the Dry Body.  My first concern is that sweat rids your body of toxins, so will stopping the sweat allow toxins to build?  According to THIS article, we have nothing to fear: "Another common concern about antiperspirants is that they may plug sweat glands and prevent toxins from leaving the body through underarm lymph nodes. However, there's no connection between your sweat glands and your lymph nodes [source: American Cancer Society]. In addition, your body doesn't get rid of waste through the sweat glands -- your kidneys and liver filter out toxins."  I mean, if it's on the internet, it MUST be true, right?

Dry Body is essentially like rolling your anti-perspirant all over your body.  You can read up on how that all works HERE:  "When an antiperspirant is applied to the skin surface, its active ingredients – usually aluminium salts – dissolve in the sweat or moisture on the skin surface of the armpit. The dissolved substance forms a gel, which creates a small temporary ‘plug’ near the top of the sweat gland, significantly reducing the amount of sweat that is secreted to the skin surface."

In this case, Dry Body, however, claims to work for an entire week.  I felt like the best way to find out if it worked was to try it!  So, here are my sweaty times.  I sweat in the middle of the night.  I sweat after showers.  I generally sweat when I get to work (left-over post-shower sweat plus now I've walked to work).  I sweat when I work out.  I sweat when I get nervous or am in pain.  I sweat when I eat sugar.  I sweat under hot lights.  I pretty much sweat all the time (which I have always attributed to my clear skin, so I'm mostly okay with it!).  My sweat mostly comes from my head, which then drips down my body.  I don't get super sweaty arm pits or palms.  If I am doing a crazy work out, then I will sweat all over my body, but for the most part, I have wet hair constantly from sweating (losing weight did help me be less sweaty but I've never been non-sweaty, regardless of my weight; my grandma is sweaty, as are a few other people in my family). 

So I followed instructions to dab (not rub) the towellette on my scalp, hair line, neck, and then, for good measure, added in some dabs under the boobs (yeah I guess I do get boob sweat) and arm pits.  Then I went to bed.  I did NOT like the tingle it gave me around my face.  It felt like little needles poking me over and over.  However, it didn't kill me and I was able to fall asleep fine so I wasn't uncomfortable for long.  It also smells like cloves, which triggers some old memory that I can't exactly put my finger on.  So it brings me to a weird place mentally when I use it.  That's not the product's fault though. 

Day 1:  Woke up un-sweaty.  Normally I sweat in the middle of the night.  After my shower?  Not sweaty.  Got to work?  Not sweaty.  I was even wearing Bb cream on my face and didn't sweat thoguh that!!  (Oh yeah, heavy lotions, especially on my face also make me sweat.)  Day 2:  I did sweat a bit in pole class that night but it took longer to start and I didn't sweat as badly.  Days 3 and 4?  No sweating.  Day 5:  Back to normal levels of sweat in all areas.

So maybe I didn't get a full week of non-sweatiness, but four days wasn't so bad.  I did another wipe again last night, and this morning, have had very little sweat.  I am still nervous about not sweating, so maybe this isn't something I would do to myself every single week, but perhaps before large events where I don't want to sweat through my performance, this would be perfect for me.  In fact, I wish I had used it before our pole show on Sunday, because I was a freaking wet wreck before/during/after that performance.  It does require a little forethought, as you are supposed to apply it the night before (and I don't like how it makes my hair feel, so a wash is definitely required in the morning). 

Below, you can see some photos of the packaging, the towelette and how I used it.  If you are interested in checking out Dry Body, please visit Mighty Grip's website HERE.  If you use the product, let me know how it works for you!

 

Pole, Sweat and Magnesium

I have complained in the past about sweating.  I strangely associate it with being a fatty, even though I have been basically sweaty since I was born.  Yes, I've had my thyroid checked.  That's not it (supposedly...more on that later).  Some people are just sweaty.  Sweat isn't dirty.  It's just wet.  You'll dry after I hug you.  Get over it.  I sweat when I workout.  I sweat if I have anxiety.  My body just likes to sweat.  I remember starting a brand new job about ten years ago and my entire head was drenched.  It looked like I had taken a shower.  Oh yeah, that's basically where I sweat from -- my head.  I don't get ridiculous pits or clammy hands.  I mean, my body sweats, but my head SWEATS. 

I also have psoriasis, which is kind of like extremely dry skin.  Technically, it is an autoimmune disease that causes skin to grow faster and die in certain areas.  So, it's less just regular ol' dry skin and more like nasty ol' dead skin.  But whatever.  It's ugly and I hate it. 

So, which pole products will work for me?  I'm not sweaty everywhere and I'm not overly dry everywhere.  Products like Dry Hands or a spray on anti-perspirant might work for me if my hands were sweatier.  And products like Dew Point or shaving cream might work if my hands were even more dry.  I feel like iTac and Mighty Grip have stick factor that require my hands to be somewhat dry.  Honestly, I feel like I can get a good stick off my hands if they are dry, then I touch them lightly to my sweaty face.

But what about my body?  When I really start moving and my head starts sweating and it drips down to my body, when then?  I slip off the pole like a buttered pig.  God forbid I had any product in my hair and accidently ran my hands through it during class.  Double whammy.  So slippery. 

At Pole Expo, I met the girl who created Dirty Girl Poletice.  It is a product created for people who are sweaty.  And you don't just have to use it on your hands (but you do need to follow instructions because if you use it incorrectly, like I did the first time, you will slip right off the pole...it needs to be washed off after it dries...it also feels lovely as a mask on your face). 

Anyway, Summer mentioned to me that a magnesium deficiency can often cause excessive sweating.  So I did a little research and it sounds like magnesium deficiencies can wreak a lot of havoc in the body.

According to THIS article, here are the top five health benefits of magnesium:

1. Magnesium may reverse osteoporosis

2. Magnesium prevents cardiovascular diseases

3. Magnesium regulates high blood pressure (Hypertension)

4. Magnesium treats diabetes

5. Magnesium treats migraines, insomnia, and depression

And according to THIS article:

Particularly if you do not replace electrolytes and fluid lost through excessive sweating, you increase the possibility of developing an electrolyte imbalance. Hypomagnesemia, or a low serum magnesium level, is one of those imbalances.

So even if the low magnesium doesn't cause excessive sweating, certainly being a sweaty person could lead to low magnesium levels, which may lead to other issues. 

HERE is another interesting take when someone asks a question about whether a magnesium deficiency could cause excessive sweating (which can be found in the comments section):

So, I don't have a great 'Aha' type answer for you for your hyperhidrosis, but since you seem open to finding some solutions, I can recommend some things that have worked for other people that may or may not work for you.

There seems to be a LARGE relationship between hyperhidrosis and the thyroid. You said that your thyroid tests were normal, but doctors are NOTORIOUSLY BAD at UNDERDIAGNOSING hypothyroid, so anyone who tells me that they have been tested and their thyroid is normal, I don't believe it.

I also found THIS list of vitamins that may reduce sweating, which does include magnesium, among other vitamins.

The sweating thing aside, the fact that magnesium may help treat depression was enough for me to try it.  I have been taking a calcium supplement that includes magnesium, but have recently added additional magnesium pills throughout the day.  I definitely feel like I'm not quite as sweaty as I was before.  I mean, there are certainly some moments on BART when the air is broken and all the bodies are making me overly anxious, so I sweat.  But I feel like, whehn I workout, I'm not quite as drenched.  It's enough for me to continue taking it.  I also feel less depressed but the holidays are over and that is probably helping a lot too.

Does anyone else have any experience with sweating and magnesium?  I'd love to hear your advice!