My Brutally Honest Lume Deodorant Review
TL;DR: Lume deodorant actually worked for me but I can’t stand the smell of some scents.
🌟🌟 After using the three types of Lume natural deodorant during my entire 2-week Asia trip (aka really hot weather!), these are some key takeaways from my Lume deodorant review:
- The Unscented Invisible Cream was my least favorite. It smelled like rotten cheese. But I gave it a try on my underarms and it was disappointing.
- The Fresh Alpine Stick Deodorant was my favorite. I actually loved the smell. No sourness, just the smell of sweet fresh pines. I had my husband try this one and give his opinion.
- The Peony Rose Stick was…just okay. It did cover up smell quite well but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the scent. Smelled a bit too sour for my liking.
How I Tested The Products
I applied Lume deodorant once in the morning before I headed out the door. The weather was in the upper 80°F so combined with all the walking I did, I sweat a lot. I didn’t carry my deodorant with me so I only applied it once a day.
Lume Deodorant Review
Lume Unscented Cream Deodorant:
When I first opened the Lume cream deodorant, it made me slightly nauseous. It smelled like a mixture of rotten cheese and a baby’s bottom.
Even though it smelled so bad, I still decided to give it a try and apply it to my underarms. Even after a few hours, I could still smell the bad deodorant odor when I smelled my underarms up close.
I read other reviews like this one saying the bad smell goes away after applying but that wasn’t the case for me.
“I tried unscented it was weird. Had a weird scent to it but once applied no smell!”
Then, I digged a little deeper into the customer reviews and some people had similar thoughts as me. They had negative reviews:
“The cream deodorant is not unscented – it smells horrible.”
“I only used it once and it just smelled bad on me after a very short period of time.”
“The smell of the deodorant itself wasn’t the best. I used it for 4 days, and by the 4th day it failed BAD! “
Ultimately, I couldn’t even tell if it covered up my body odor because the unscented “scent” was way too overpowering.
Lume Fresh Alpine Deodorant:
After testing the unscented deodorant, I did not have high hopes for the other two scented deodorants I was about the try. But surprisingly, the Fresh Alpine scent became my favorite one out of all 3 Lume products.
I got this one for my husband. He’s not much of a deodorant user but he actually liked it. The smell is slightly more masculine but is also a bit floral so it’s not too sharp smelling.
This is what he had to say about the deodorant:
It smells light and has a sour lemon scent. Also has a slight chemical smell but not overpowering. The scent on the skin feels slightly more muted than without. In terms of preventing body odor, I find that it does for light to moderate exercise. When I have a lot of sweat, it may not cover the odor completely.
Lume Peony Rose Deodorant:
I ended up using the Peony Rose deodorant for most of the trip. It’s definitely not a bad scent but also not my favorite. I’m neutral towards it. It has a slight sour and sweet smell that reminded me of Starburst candy.
However, I was impressed with how well it would prevent body odor. At the end of the day, even with all the sweat, I could barely smell any bad smells on my shirt. My body was significantly less smelly than a day I didn’t put deodorant on.
I know Lume isn’t an antiperspirant so it wouldn’t reduce my sweat. I was fine with sweating as long as it didn’t smell. And the Peony Rose scent did do that.
I didn’t experience any skin irritation. I only put on 1-2 swipes because I didn’t want it to feel too sticky. I’d say it dries quickly on the underarms and the scent still lingers for a long time.
There were mixed reviews on the Peony Rose scent:
“Peony Rose works very well with my body’s oils and I actually forgot about smelling. Now I just give off a subtle floral aroma.”
“I got the peony rose and the smell is terrible, I really hate it. Apart from the terrible smell, it seems to work, not sure if because the deodorant smell is stronger than my body odor or if it’s really effective.”
“It is effective however this peony scent smells sour.”
Lume Ingredient Breakdown
Almost all the ingredients were clean in this deodorant except for two questionable ones. Those two are Ethylhexylglycerin and Fragrance.
Ethylhexylglycerin: The problem with this ingredient is it may be considered a skin irritant for some people. A study found that the ingredient is low risk but can cause skin irritation for people who are allergic to it. If you have highly sensitive skin, I recommend not using Lume.
Fragrance: I didn’t like that Lume chose not to disclose their fragrance list. This is a product you’re putting on your skin so I would very much prefer to have the transparency. But I wouldn’t rule their products out completely since they are free from parabens, talc, phthalates, and sulfates.
The Good And The Bad
Pros of Lume Deodorant
- Actually works: Actually for me and prevented body odor most of the day.
- Some Good Scents: Fresh Alpine Scent smells really good.
- Toxin Free: Free from parabens, talc, phthalates, sulfates, baking soda, or aluminum.
- Vegan and Cruelty-Free.
Cons of Lume Deodorant
- Expensive: A bit pricey compared to other natural deodorants. ($14.99 for Lume compared to $10-11 for most others)
- Cap: The cap is hard to open. Had to use a lot of force.
- Some Bad Scents: The unscented scent smells terrible. Not going to sugarcoat it.
- Fragrance: Has undisclosed “fragrance” ingredients. If you have sensitive skin, you may want to stick with unscented. But knowing how bad the unscented one smells, I don’t recommend Lume for anyone with sensitive skin.
Lume Refund Policy
According to their website, you can return Lume within 60 days of purchase. You’ll receive a prepaid return label once you request a refund.
Your refund will likely be processed within 10 days of their returns department receiving it.
Would I buy it again?
That’s a wrap on my honest review on Lume deodorant! Overall, I think it’s only worth it if you really love the scent. There are many other natural deodorant options that I think are better than Lume in terms of ingredients and scent. So I likely won’t buy it again.
I tried another brand of natural deodorant called Humble deodorant and I liked their scents 10x better and it actually works too. It’s also cheaper. I wrote a review on Humble deodorant here. I wrote a roundup post of all my favorite natural deodorants here.
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