I Tried These Hot Weather Hacks To Make My Summer Commute More Bearable And This Is What Worked

No more sweaty tube rides.

Hi, I'm Hannah and one thing you should know about me is that I'm a total Summer Girl. I love the summer and everything about it - the hot weather, the summer fashion and the excuse to wear sunglasses any and everywhere.

However, I'm an "adult" now which means my summers are mostly spent speed-walking to catch tubes, commuting on two stuffy trains for 20 minutes while trying to avoid having someone's armpit in my face, all on the way to work. And frankly, I HATE commuting to work in the summer.

Something about the tube produces oven-like temperatures and which is a recipe for disaster and sweat. I like to think that I'm not that sweaty (or maybe I'm just in denial) but a few stops in and I can already feel the beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

Comedy Central / Via giphy.com

Sort of like this.

What I really want most of all is to enjoy my commute and get to work not feeling sweaty and too hot. So I tested a product a day to see how effective each individual product really is against the sweltering London heat. Five products, five days. Pretty simple, right?

Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

The products:

- Mobengo Disposable Underarm Sweat Pads, £6.99, Amazon

- Silky Underwear, £6.95, Lush

- Magicool Body and Face Cooler Spray, £4.88, Boots

- O2COOL ArcticSqueeze Insulated Mist 'N Sip Squeeze Bottle, £9.30, Amazon

- WitMoving Portable Electric Cooling Mini Fan with LED Light, £15.99, Amazon

Hannah Agbeni / BuzzFeed

Let's get started...

Day 1: Magicool Cooling Spray

Magicool / Via youtube.com

Magicool is a cooling spray for both face and body that is supposed to leave you feeling cool and refreshed.

I have very distinct memories of their adverts from the early to mid '00s and couldn't wait to test this on the first day to see how good a good it does at keeping me cool on my way to work.

Hannah Agbeni / BuzzFeed

As instructed, I sprayed this at a short distance on both my face and body just before I left for work. And felt absolutely nothing. This didn't make me feel any cooler, and the only thing I can note was that it smells like Oil Sheen hairspray which is kind of worrying considering I sprayed it on my face. Massive fail and so disappointing.

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Day 2: Lush Silky Underwear Dusting Powder

Hannah Agbeni / BuzzFeed

The next product I tried was Silky Underwear, a dusting powder from Lush. Dusting powders are often used for sweating, heat rash or chafing. I'm using it for sweaty thighs, under-boob and feet sweat (TMI, I know but it's hot out here). I've tried Lush lip scrubs and their balm cleanser, both of which I loved, so I had pretty good hopes. Plus, the reviews have said that this is the best thing for chafing and sweating.

On application it feels very light and lightly scented. It's easy to rub in and doesn't feel drying at all. It definitely works but it doesn't last all day. However, if you only need it for a few hours then I'd say this does a pretty good job. Success...sort of.

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Day 3: Mobengo Disposable Underarm Sweat Pads

Hannah Agbeni / BuzzFeed

These were interesting. They pretty much felt like small sanitary pads that come in individual packets, and when I put them my armpits definitely felt cushioned. You literally have to peel off the backing and stick one on the inside of your top/shirt. My biggest worry was that they'd fall off, but they actually stay on throughout the day. So much so, that I even I forgot that I had them on at on point. I would say though, that these work better with cotton/polyester tops. All in all, these actually stop sweat, which I'm impressed by. Even though they work, personally, it's a bit of an effort to use everyday.

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Day 4: WitMoving Portable Mini-Fan

Hannah Agbeni / BuzzFeed

Remember how I mentioned earlier that I sweat a lot on the tube? Yeah, well I wasn't joking and I needed something to stop me sweating so much. So I had to try the most obvious hot weather hack and test a mini-fan. What I wanted to know is how practical it is to carry a mini-fan on a commute and how well it would work. The answer to both of those is very practical and great. This is probably my favourite product out of all of them. It's not loud but still really effective. It comes with a USB cable that you can use to charge it (so 2018) and funnily enough a torchlight. You know, in case I ever need it. But seriously, I'm in love with this mini-fan.

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Day 5: O2Cool ArcticSqueeze Insulated Mist 'N Sip Squeeze Water Bottle

Hannah Agbeni / BuzzFeed

You know those tube announcements that suggest you carry a water bottle with you when it's really hot? Yeah, I never pay attention to those (but I should, I know). I was excited to try this water bottle, mostly because of the mist function and also because it promised to keep water cooler for longer (due to being insulate).

It's quite large but that's expected because it's looks like its designed for sports. Overall, the water bottle felt pretty basic considering the price (£9.30 plus £5.45 for delivery). It didn't stay cooler for longer, and apart from the mist function (which I admit is a nice touch) there isn't much difference between this and a regular old water bottle. And no matter how much I try, I'm too busy trying to get to work on time than to worry about drinking water in transit. Maybe that's just me.

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Final Thoughts

What was the best product? Hands down the mini-fan. It wasn't loud at all, convenient to carry and I promise you won't look weird on the tube.

What was the worst product? Definitely the cooling spray, considering it didn't work at all.

What would I use again? The underarm sweat pads were great as they were convenient, comfortable and really easy to use. Also, I would happily use dusting powder again because it does work pretty well.