NEXTY Awards finalist Oxters gives armpits the care they deserve

You could say that Scott Crowder, co-founder of the underarm wash Oxters, respects the armpit.

“The armpit is super complex,” Crowder says. “It needs more than an errant swipe of a soapy hand to get clean.” With two types of sweat glands, a forest of hair follicles and over 20 lymph nodes, armpits keep us cool and protect our soft tissue. But due to their tendency to be warm, moist and dark, armpits also house multiple varieties of bacteria, making them prone to offensive body odor.

Frankly, armpits can smell (and feel) funky.

Oxters is on a mission to give this high-performing area of the body the specialized care it deserves. Designed to cleanse and detoxify the armpit, the New Hampshire-based company’s innovative underarm wash is available in four SKUs: Charcoal, Clay, Oatmeal and, coming soon, Aloe.

Each product contains soothing ingredients like coconut oil, RSPO Certified palm oil, safflower oil, apple cider vinegar and more. Smooth or Grit versions are also available for added exfoliation and protection against ingrown hair: Oxters Charcoal Grit contains flaxseed and pumice; the Clay Grit features walnut shells and pumice; Oatmeal Grit combines oats and pumice.

“People are using Oxters as a deodorant-companion product,” Crowder says. “It allows their underarms to be properly cleaned by removing deodorant residue, sweat, bacteria and extra skin cells. This allows natural deodorants to work more effectively during the day,” says Crowder. “Proper cleansing allows people to feel confident that they can get through the day without a funky smell.”

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Convenient and ‘green’ as possible

While Oxters is not the first company to create an underarm wash, its product is the most intuitive in the category—especially for consumers who have not seen an underarm-specific detox product before. According to Crowder, other underarm washes on the market are “clunky, messy and time-consuming to use correctly.”

Oxters is the first brand to package the product in an easy-to-use, twist-up oval deodorant container that feels familiar and protects the product so it doesn’t melt away in a hot shower.

In his attempt to have an environmentally conscious brand, Crowder would rather not use plastic in the product. But currently, it’s a “necessary evil,” he says, as a cardboard-based container would disintegrate. However, the company is taking steps to offset its plastic usage. In addition to being a 1% for the Planet brand, Oxters is also plastic neutral. The company partners with rePurpose Global to recover just as much plastic pollution from the environment as it uses in its products.

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Despite the familiar container and clear benefit for staying fresh and eliminating armpit odor, Crowder acknowledges that educating consumers about how and why to use Oxters presents an opportunity for growth.

“With Oxters, you swipe the product on in the shower about five to 10 times for each armpit, wait 30 seconds and rinse it off,” he says. “It’s pretty simple. But underarm wash is a relatively new category, and we are a new brand with a new product. We’re always asking ourselves how we can educate customers on natural armpit care.”

A wellness message resonates

So far, Crowder has found that messaging focused on celebrating the armpit’s unique and important performance resonates with shoppers, who may believe the underarm is just another area on the body to clean. While many consumers are worried about B.O., it is less common for people to know and respect the armpit’s important health role.

Bringing a wellness approach to the underarm is a consumer education strategy. Because many consumers have already transitioned to natural deodorant, Crowder believes his brand can extend this attention to natural underarm cleansing products.

Exhibiting at Newtopia Now was an important step in widening the underarm wash category and debuting Oxters to retailers. The expo was the brand’s first-ever trade show.

During Newtopia Now, New Hope Network editors chose four exhibiting brands that will enter the 2025 NEXTY Awards competition as finalists, bypassing the the first round of judging. Oxters was chosen as the finalist from the Glow neighborhood.

“We went to Newtopia Now to introduce our product to the industry in a more formal way, and being nominated as a NEXTY finalist certainly gave us validation that what we’re doing is unique,” Crowder says. “It was a nice pat on the back that we’re moving in the right direction!”

Based on positive retailer interactions at Newtopia Now, Oxters will soon be on East Coast store shelves, a milestone for the young brand, which previously sold products only online.

“One of the best conversations I had at Newtopia Now was about merchandising our product with a retailer,” Crowder says. “Is it better to place it next to the deodorant shelf, where consumers may seek armpit solutions, or next to the body soap, where there is more opportunity for discovery? Our new retail relationships will help us test merchandising best practices.”

To learn more about Natural Products Expo West, which will be March 4-7, 2025, at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California, click here. To get the best badge pricing, register now.