Humble Deodorant is a popular stick deodorant that's marketed as a natural alternative to traditional deodorant. The company markets their product line as "Aluminum Free" and containing "4 Simple Ingredients."

But does Humble Deodorant contain research-backed ingredients for odor-blocking? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? How do real users rate and describe its effects? And how does its healthiness stack up against other popular "natural" deodorant brands like Native?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Humble Deodorant to give our take on whether or not it's likely to be effective for odor-blocking, and whether or not it's healthy.

We'll also feature real customer reviews, and compare the healthiness of Humble Deodorant to other popular deodorant brands like Native and Wild Deodorant.

Key takeaways:

• Contains research-backed odor blocking active ingredients
• Ingredient lists are unclear and confusing
• We do not currently recommend Humble Deodorant

Ingredient Analysis

The ingredients in Humble Black Spruce Deodorant are shown below:

This ingredient list directly disproves the marketing statement of "4 Simple Ingredients" -this formulation contains either seven or 12 ingredients (it's unclear to us whether the last group are distinct ingredients or just mentions of compounds that occur in the previous group.

This is one of the stranger ingredient lists we've come across in a deodorant review.

The four active ingredients are effective choices.

Caprylic/capric triglyceride (MCT) was shown in a 2018 medical review to have an antibacterial effect.

Corn starch is clinically shown to be an effective cleansing ingredient, as we documented in our Mando Deodorant reviews article.

Baking soda was shown to decrease odor up to 70% (albeit in industrial settings) in a clinical trial published in the Waste Management journal.

The fragrance ingredients are essential oils and botanical extracts, which we consider to be significantly healthier than generic "fragrance," which can contain compounds clinically shown to be harmful to human health.

Given the research-backed active ingredients and non-toxic fragrance ingredients, we would consider recommending this product if not for the ingredient disclosure concerns.

Compounds like benzyl benzoate can naturally occur in essential oils, but they can also be added to a formulation. The way Humble publishes these ingredients is entirely unclear, because manufacturers are not required to publish all of the sub-components of ingredients.

We urge the brand to clarify this because clear ingredient disclosures is a consumer safety issue.

Real People Try Humble Deodorant

A YouTube creator named "RAY-CHUL" shared her experience trying Humble Deodorant:

A YouTube creator named "Non-Toxic Healthy Finds" explains why she prefers Humble Deodorant:

Humble Deodorant vs. the Competition

Here's how the healthiness of Humble Deodorant stacks up against other popular "natural" deodorant brands in our opinion:

Native Deodorant

Contains research-backed active ingredients, including a probiotic species that's clinically shown to significantly reduce odor when applied topically.

Native has one of the most impressive formulations, and is free of the ingredient disclosure issues.

Winner: Native Deodorant

Lume Deodorant

Clinically shown to work (although the trial was privately published), and contains a superior active ingredient profile to Humble Deodorant.

Also doesn't suffer from the same ingredient disclosure issues.

Winner: Lume Deodorant

Wild Deodorant

Contains fragrance, even in its "Sensitive" formulations, as we documented in our review of Wild Deodorant.

This is a bigger negative than the ingredient disclosure issues.

Winner: Humble Deodorant

Humble Deodorant Pros and Cons

Here are the pros and cons of Humble Deodorant in our opinion:

Pros:

• Research-backed active ingredients
• Fragrance derived from natural compounds
• Healthier than traditional deodorant
• Should have odor-blocking effect
• Good option for consumers who require fragranced deodorant
• Relatively affordable

Cons:

• Doesn't appear clinically tested
• Ingredient list is non-standard and unclear
• Active ingredient profile is less impressive than some competitors

Conclusion

Humble Deodorant appears to be one of the better options for consumers who require fragranced deodorant.

This brand is one of the few deodorant brands we've reviewed on Illuminate Health that appears to exclusively use botanical extracts and essential oils to provide the fragrance in their formulations, which is significantly healthier than generic "fragrance" (which can include toxic compounds).

We do not currently recommend Humble Deodorant because we find the ingredient list to be unclear, and straightforward ingredient disclosures are important for consumer health.

We consider Humble Deodorant to be a healthier option than Wild Deodorant, but a less healthy option than Native Deodorant and Lume.

If Humble Deodorant improves the ingredient disclosure panel, we will consider recommending this brand.