Why Does Lume Smell So Bad? and How to Tackle It

Being one of the most popular deodorants in recent years, lume had almost everyone try it at least once. However, the first time was the last time for many people. The reason? It’s an annoying and stingy smell.

While lume works on the root cause of smelly armpits by inhibiting the bacteria from reacting with the sweat, it gives you an additional aroma you won’t be a fan of. 

Imagine a product that is supposed to mask the bad smell of sweat, which makes you smell even worse. You would be offended, right? 

So, have you got a Lume deodorant recently and wondered “Why does Lume smell so bad” and how to tackle it? If yes, this article is for you.

Table of Contents:

• Part 1: Lume Deodorant Ingredients
• Part 2: Why Does Lume Smell So Bad?
• Part 3: Tip for Minimising the Smell of Lume

Part 1: Lume Deodorant Ingredients 

Before discussing the smell of Lume deodorant in detail, let’s understand its composition and working principle. 

List of Ingredients of Lume

Let us talk about the ingredients of the Lume that might be the reason behind its bad odor. 

• Mandelic Acid: Mandelic acid is the key ingredient in Lume deodorants. It does a great job is killing bacteria. However, mandelic acid used in lume has a natural unpleasant cinnamon smell. 

• AHA and BHA: Used as exfoliating agents, AHA and BHA naturally smell like vinegar which does not offer a pleasant experience when applied to your body. 

• Hydrogenated Castor Oil and Helianthus Annuus (Sunflower) Seed Oil: These natural oils are added to Lume deodorant to enhance its fragrance. However, their smell is too strong to bear. 

• Lemon Grass, Lavender, and Clary Sage: Some essential oils with strong odor are present in Lume as well. When their smell is mixed with that of other ingredients, Lume smells stingy.

In addition to these Lume deodorant contains,

• Emollients: These include Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate, PPG-15 Stearyl Ether, and Isododecane.

• Viscosity-controlling ingredients: These include Zea Mays (Corn) Starch, Ozokerite, and Stearyl Alcohol.

• Surfactants: Stearyl Alcohol is a surfactant as well. 

• Humectants: Moisturizing ingredients like Isopentyldiol act as humectants.

How is Body Odor Produced?

Our skin has a variety of bacteria, some of which are useful for its health while others can be troublesome. Furthermore, hot weather causes your body to sweat and sweat contains water, salts, fats, and some other substances. Regardless of the type of ingredients present, sweat has no smell on its own. 

Bacteria like Corynebacterium and Staphylococcus hominins react with the molecules present in the sweat. These bacteria break down the sweat into an acidic form. And this form of sweat makes you smell.

Although this smell is bad in most people, it does not smell at all in a few. The cause of this boils down to genetics, hormonal status, lifestyle, and diet. 

How Lume Works to Reduce Bad Body Odor?

Deodorants work by masking the smell of the sweat, reducing the formation of the sweat, or killing the bacteria that cause sweat. Several deodorants contain synthetic ingredients to do so.

In the case of Lume deodorant, it works by killing the bacteria that are causing the bad body odor. The ingredients involved in this include, 

• Mandelic Acid: Odor-causing bacteria live on neutral to alkaline pH of the skin. Mandelic acid reduces skin pH to the level that bacteria cannot survive on it. 

• AHA: AHA is an exfoliating agent that removes excess oils, impurities, and bacteria from the skin playing its role in the prevention of bad body odor. 

Part 2: Why Does Lume Smell So Bad?

What Does Lume Smell Like?

Here are some reviews related to the smell of Lume. 

Musty or Sour Milk:

“It smells musty. Smells like body odor or an overload of the spice called cumin. Which can smell very musty. Lume most definitely works, but I stopped using it because of the smell.” ~ Reddit User

Curdled Baby Formula:

“When I opened the deodorant, it smelled overly sour, more than I would expect from a lime scent. But the sour soon gave way to a more familiar smell, a sour milk smell.”

Furthermore, she adds, “I went to pee and immediately noticed something wasn’t right. There it was again — that cheese smell from the wine bar. Sour milk. Curdled baby formula. Someone ELSE’S parts!” – A blogger from Green Matter

Plastic-Like Smell

“ left my skin smelling like plastic” – A Review from Lume

From the reviews of Lume, it is clear that it smells like something has gone bad.

Why Does it Smell So Bad?

Lume deodorant has a bad smell because all its ingredients are natural and strong-smelling. They smell like vinegar, whether it is AHA, BHA, or mandelic acid.

Additionally, the fragrance of lemon grass, sage, and other ingredients is equally sour. Not to mention, the additional smell of its essential oils. When all of these fragrances are mixed together without any adjustment of the notes, Lume smells bad. 

Also, note that it smells stingy right out of the packaging and your body plays no role in creating its odor. 

Part 3: Tip for Minimising the Smell of Lume

Here are some tips to reduce the smell of the Lume.

1. Go for a Fragrance-Free Formula of Lume

The strongest smell in the Lume’s scented formula is that of essential oil. This smell makes the overall product more stingy and offensive. Therefore, if you have little to no problem with the acidic smell of mandelic acid, simply switch to the fragrance-free formula of Lume.

2. Do not Overdo the Application

The more you apply it, the worse it will smell. So, apply as little as you can. Even a small amount of Lume is effective in killing odor-producing bacteria. Therefore, you do not need to overdo the application.

A small amount of Lume won’t make you conscious of the bad smell all day.

3. Apply it on Dry Skin

As a deodorant works to eliminate the odor of the sweat, putting it on sweaty skin will enhance the smell of the deodorant. Therefore, use it at night after drying your skin completely.

In this way, it will protect your skin from the odor of sweat without feeling overwhelming. 

4. Use it Along with an Antiperspirant

Lume deodorant that smells the worst out of all its products. But it does an amazing job of preventing sweat and bad body odor. Therefore, you can use it along with an antiperspirant on alternate days. 

Also, you can use the Lume deodorant at night as you won’t have to smell it consciously and use antiperspirant in the morning to smell good. 

5. Wait for a While 

When you apply a fragrance-producing substance like Lume on your skin, your sense of odor will likely be more sensitive to the smell. Once some time passes, your sensory receptors become used to the smell and Lume becomes bearable. 

6. Go for Lume’s Synthetic Formula

After coming across thousands of bad reviews about Lume deodorant, its founder decided to switch its formula. Therefore, Lume is now making products with a pleasing synthetic smell and ditching its all-natural stingy formula.

Also, their synthetic smell is equally skin-friendly. 

7. Choose Another Deodorant 

Last but not least, if all of the tips mentioned above are not working for you or your mind cannot accept using Lume, start using another deodorant with a better fragrance. 

Conclusion 

Although effective, Lume smells anything but nice. From curdled baby formula to medicine-like smell, Lume failed to satisfy its consumers regardless of its hype. Therefore, it is essential to understand your needs and choose a personal care product accordingly. 

Furthermore, go for the synthetic formula of Lume if you want to try it.