Lume Deodorant Review: Healthier Than Regular Deodorant?

Lume Deodorant Review: Healthier Than Regular Deodorant?


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Lume is a deodorant brand targeted to women that claims it’s “clinically proven to control odor for 72 hours.” The brand also markets itself as healthier than commercial alternatives, describing their deodorant as “naturally derived” using “skin safe synthetics” and no aluminum.

But is Lume actually proven in a medical study to have better odor-blocking effects than commercial deodorants or is this just a marketing claim? Does the brand use effective and safe ingredients? Where's the cheapest place to buy Lume deodorant? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of the product?

In this article we'll answer all of these questions and more as we review the clinical trial on Lume to give our take on whether it's really superior in terms of blocking bad odor.

We'll also review the ingredients in Lume to share our thoughts on whether it's likely to be effective and if it has any unhealthy additive ingredients, publish a price breakdown with the cheapest place to buy it, and share real, unsponsored user reviews of Lume deodorant.

Is Lume Really Better at Odor Blocking?

Lume clinical trial results graph

Lume worked with a private, for-profit consulting firm called Princeton Consumer Research to test the effectiveness of their products.

The study found that Lume was more effective at blocking odor than Native deodorant and Schmidt's. 

We have a few issues with this study.

First, how is "odor blocking" determined? Is it just a Princeton Consumer Research employee smelling the trial participants and assigning a score? Because the full study isn't published, we have no way to tell.

There is no comparison or proof that Lume is effective for odor blocking at 72 hours, even though the core of Lume's marketing claims is that the deodorant blocks odor for 72 hours.

We recommend that consumers disregard results from company-funded clinical trials that are not published in peer-reviewed medical or scientific journals. There is too much potential bias involved for the results to be useful in our opinion.

Ask yourself when was the last time that you saw a company-funded clinical trial that had unfavorable results.

We also have ethical issues with brands making claims of clinical efficacy and failing to even publish the full study for consumers to access. It is not very transparent.

Until Lume publishes a clinical trial in a peer-reviewed medical or scientific journal, we will not consider their products to be more effective than competitors.

Real, Unsponsored Lume User Review

A YouTube creator called "Hallease" published a review of Lume that overviews everything from consistency, smell, packaging and uses. It's a very well-produced video and definitely worth a watch for anyone considering this brand:

What's Actually in Lume? An Ingredient Analysis

Lume deodorant ingredients

Lume sells a variety of scented deodorants, but we’ll be reviewing the unscented version (ingredients shown above) as we recommend that consumers avoid fragranced consumer products for health reasons.

Maranta Arundinacea Root (Arrowroot) Powder is a natural deodorizer and a botanical alternative to talc that we consider much safer.

Neopentyl glycol diheptanoate is a non-toxic emollient compound which is used to soothe and soften skin. 

Panthenol is derived from vitamin B5, and was shown in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Cosmetic Science to improve skin hydration.

We consider this deodorant to be significantly healthier than commercial deodorants. As we highlighted in our Dr. Squatch review article, many commercial deodorants found in a drugstore contain questionable ingredients like fragrance, artificial dye and aluminum.

Lume’s ingredient list is free of aluminium, fragrance (for the unscented version), phthalates and talc.

A recent medical review published in a French dermatology journal found that antiseptics, aluminium compounds, and fragrances found in deodorants may be damaging to human health.

Where to Buy Lume for the Best Price

Lume is sold at a variety of retailers. Here's the price breakdown for a single stick of the fragrance-free version at the time of updating this article:

Walmart: $54.69 (third-party seller, link)

Brand website: $29.98 (free shipping, link)

Amazon: $29.49 (free shipping, link to official Amazon listing)

Lume unscented is currently 2% cheaper on Amazon than on the brand's website, and around 50% cheaper than on Walmart.

Does Lume Work for Genital and Foot Odor?

Lume's marketing suggests that their deodorant is effective not only for underarm odor but to treat odor anywhere on the body. The brand claims you can "apply anywhere you have odor."

A dermatologist named Dr. Dray who runs a popular health and beauty YouTube channel reviewed Lume deodorant and shared her thoughts on whether the products are likely to be effective for odor on the feet and private parts:

Real Lume Deodorant Customer Reviews

Lume deodorant is sold on Amazon, which is a more objective resource for customer reviews than a brand's website in our opinion. The brand's most popular product on Amazon is their deodorant stick, which has an incredible 55,000 reviews.

The top positive review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named "john" who claims the product has been more effective than a leading brand:

"This stuff basically kills BO for a HELLA Long Time! I usually have to reapply my other stufff like Degree for example, I usually have to wipe off my Pits after like 3 hrs because I'm sweating so hard that the funk is like meshing with the scent of the Degree and it isn't nice at all. I usually do that 3x a Day with a Body Wipe or Soap and Water and a Clean Towel (kinda like a homeless person)...I won't ever have to do that again so long as I have this!"

The top negative review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named "Botanically Beautiful" who claims Lume deodorant doesn't work and that the product smelled so bad it caused them to vomit:

"After applying the deodorant I then realize the smell that was coming from the tube and now my body. It was so bad I threw up. You cannot imagine what it feels like to throw up with the amount of stitches I have in my chest right now. It was pure torture! I have spent multiple attempts using a warm washcloth & soap to scrub the stink off my arms. This disgusting stuff is not coming off!"

Our Clean Deodorant Pick

The natural, non-toxic deodorant product we recommend is Native Deodorant Unscented.

This deodorant contains the probiotic Lactobacillus acidophilus which was shown in clinical research to reduce odor and normalize bacteria levels when applied topically.

It also contains coconut oil which is another natural antibacterial and antifungal ingredient.

Both Lume and Native are free of harmful ingredients but we consider Native's deodorant to be a better option because it has more research-backed ingredients for odor prevention in our opinion. It's also cheaper than Lume at $11.67 per stick.

Interested consumers can check out Native Deodorant Unscented at this link to the product's official Amazon listing.

Stay up-to-date on our research reviews

Conclusion

We consider Lume to be a high-quality deodorant brand that uses entirely non-toxic ingredients. From a health perspective, the unscented version of this product is significantly superior to the standard commercial deodorant which may contain artificial dye, aluminum and fragrance.

Lume makes claims of superior clinical efficacy based on testing that does not appear to be published in full anywhere on their site. We hope that the brand will publish the full study for greater transparency.

We dislike when wellness brands make claims of clinical efficacy based on company-funded trials that are not published in peer-reviewed medical journals, and we recommend that consumers disregard such claims.

We believe there are better options in the natural deodorant market in terms of both formulation and price than Lume, but for consumers set on purchasing from this brand, buying on the brand's website is currently cheaper than any third-party retailer like Amazon.




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