Native is one of the most popular online deodorant brands along with Lume and Dr. Squatch. The brand positions their products as natural, healthy alternatives to commercial deodorants, claiming to "care a lot about what ingredients are going on and in your body" and to have "nothing extra added."
But is Native Deodorant actually better for you than drugstore deodorants? Does it contain research-backed odor-blocking ingredients? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? And what was our honest experience trying Native Deodorant for a month?
In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Native Deodorant to give our take on whether or not it's likely to be effective, and whether or not it's healthy.
We'll also analyze the ingredients in a popular deodorant to examine whether Native is healthier, share our experience purchasing and testing Native Deodorant for a month, and compare Native to other popular "healthy" deodorants to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- We consider Native much healthier than traditional deodorant
- Some scents contain fragrance which we consider unhealthy
- We recommend Native Unscented Deodorant
Is Regular Deodorant Unhealthy?
To examine whether or not Native deodorant is a healthier option than most drugstore deodorant brands, let's review the ingredients in a traditional deodorant.
Old Spice is one of the most popular men’s deodorant brands, and the ingredients in their “Swagger Deodorant” are shown below:
Blue 1 is an artificial dye which has been shown in medical research to cause hypersensitivity reactions.
Fragrance is a broad categorical term that fails to describe the specific chemical compounds used.
As we documented in our review of Buff City Soap, there are documented toxicity concerns with fragranced consumer products and we recommend avoiding fragrance entirely in personal care products.
We're also unable to identify any ingredients in this formulation that are proven to block odor in clinical trials. It appears that it may be effective simply by masking odor with fragrance.
Is Native Deodorant Healthier?
The ingredients in the unscented version of Native Deodorant are shown below:
Lactobacillus acidophilus is a probiotic that was shown in a medical study to significantly reduce odor when applied topically. The ingredient was tested on trial participants with bacterial vaginosis rather than underarm odor, but since both conditions are bacterial in nature this suggests this is an effective anti-odor ingredient.
Sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, is another safe and non-toxic ingredient for natural odor control.
It’s used in detergent for exactly this purpose, and has been shown in a 2015 clinical trial to reduce odor by up to 70%.
Shea butter is included as a skin moisturizer, and has proven benefits for that effect. The linked study found that a shea butter moisturizer was effective for patients with sensitive skin.
Coconut oil has antibacterial and antifungal effects when applied topically, as we documented in our how does anti dandruff shampoo work article.
Overall we consider this product likely to be effective for odor-blocking and the unscented version of Native deodorant is one of the healthiest deodorant products we've reviewed to date.
It's free of any unhealthy additive ingredients like aluminum, fragrance and phthalates and it contains several research-backed odor-blocking ingredients.
We Tested Native Deodorant
As one of the authors of this article (Calloway), I wanted to try Native Deodorant myself to share my thoughts on its scent and the overall product experience.
I purchased the Aloe & Green Tea version from my local Target.
Even though this is a fragranced version, the scent was subtle and not overpowering which I liked. It had a "fresh" smell and did smell like a slightly sweeter version of green tea.
Unlike a brand like Dr. Squatch soap that provides a cut-out to smell the product before purchasing, this product was fully sealed so I couldn't test the scent before purchase, which is a slight negative, but standard for deodorants.
As far as odor protection, I was underwhelmed. This deodorant worked fine on regular days, but on days when I would exercise or be really active, it did not mask my body odor well enough.
For the price, I would expect a better-performing deodorant.
I like the product packaging a lot and that's a minor plus.
Overall, I would not recommend this deodorant to friends or family and would rate it 4/10.
Native Deodorant vs. Popular "Healthy" Deodorants
Here's how Native Deodorant compares to other popular "healthy" deodorant brands in terms of potential effectiveness and healthiness, in our opinion:
Dr. Squatch
Contains research-backed, naturally-derived active ingredients like pine tar, which is clinically shown to help soothe the skin.
Also contains fragrance, which gives Native the edge from a health perspective.
Winner: Native Deodorant
Mando Deodorant
Contains fragrance, which can have negative health effects.
The brand also makes uncited health claims, which is a red flag, as we documented in our Mando Deodorant review article.
Winner: Native Deodorant
Lume
This brand sells an unscented version without any harmful additives, so we consider it equivalent to Native from a health perspective.
Native has one more active ingredient we could find research backing for, so we consider it superior from a potential efficacy perspective.
Winner: Native Deodorant
Native Deodorant Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Brand sells unscented version
- Contains research-backed active ingredients
- Should control odor
- Healthier than competitors
- We liked the scent upon testing a fragranced version
Cons:
- We didn't personally find odor-blocking to be impressive
- Doesn't appear to be clinically tested
