Season 2, Episodes 19-21: Spice Up Your Life! Pumpkin Spice Deodorant. Seriously.

I’m sure you’ve been wondering to yourself: “Why hasn’t he posted in 3 days? Did the pumpkin spice finally do him in?”

And that would be a very legitimate worry! (and I would appreciate your concern)

But the truth is that I have been working on a review. And not just any review. A special review. My most anticipated review of the month.

It’s finally time for…

Pumpkin.

Spice.

DEODORANT??

(In case you didn’t know, today’s title comes from the Spice Girls sing “Spice Up Your Life”. Link. It is a great soundtrack for this review.)

DAYS 19-21: Native Deodorant, Pumpkin Spice Latte

Item: Native Deodorant, Pumpkin Spice Latte

Purchase Location: www.nativecos.com

Cost: $12

Manufacturer’s Description:

Inspired by the PSL, this deodorant makes the perfect holiday gift. Notes of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove

Before getting in to it, I just wanted to dedicate this review to Cindy C., an old friend of mine and the person who brought this product to my attention. Hi Cindy!

When I began developing the concept that would become “Too Much Pumpkin Spice” in early 2017, I could not have conceived of some of the products that I have had the opportunity to review. It’s pumpkin spice! It’s a basic food flavoring. How wild could it possibly get?

Surely, there had to be some limit on the things that manufacturer’s would put it in to!

And at the beginning of last year, I thought I found that limit when I tried pumpkin spiced butter (DAY 1: Pumpkin Spice Butter. Have we gone too far?). But then the it got pushed even further when I reviewed pumpkin spice pizza (DAY 19: Pumpkin Spice Pizza).

At that point, I swore that had I hit the absolute creative barrier of pumpkin spice.Honestly, once you’ve pumpkin spiced PIZZA, where else can you go?

But 2 weeks ago, Cindy sent me a link to Native’s Pumpkin Spice Latte deodorant and everything I thought I knew went out the window. Naturally, I ordered it right away and I began planning how I would test it.

My ground rules were:

I would wear it by itself for 5 days straight

I would go about my normal routine

I would strenuously exercise with it on at least 1 day

I wouldn’t tell anyone I was wearing it unless they asked

And there were reasons for each: I did not think it would be fair to test it just one day, I wanted to judge it both for scent and as a deodorant, I wanted to see how it held up under stress, and I did not want to prime anyone by letting them know I was wearing it (but not lie about it).

A little background on Native, by Native:

After reading more about the company, I found that Native was founded with the mission of offering stripped down and natural deodorants that are free of any harmful chemicals or additives. They have a pretty interesting selection (both men’s and women’s) with offerings that utilize scents such as eucalyptus, mint, and sandalwood. Most importantly, their customers LOVE them. The reviews on every site were glowing and it seems like they have a very local following.

But I’ll be honest, I was still REALLY curious as to how a natural deodorant company decided to get on the pumpkin spice train. Were people actually buying it? Did they face any backlash from their loyal customer base?

So I did what anyone would and reached out to Native themselves for a little background on the product. I got a very nice reply from Katie, the Senior Marketing Manager on their social team (Hi Katie!). Here’s what she told me:

The product has been received amazingly well. This is our second year releasing the scent and it is only generating more buzz this year. Of course, this scent isn't for everyone, but the people who try it LOVE IT. We will probably bring it back again next year, but it really depends on if we think it's buzz-worthy.

One of the things our customers love about Native is our seasonal and limited edition scents! These are more target (sic) towards our existing customers, but new customers love and try the options as well.

First off, I don’t know how I missed this last year. But I’m happy I found it this year. (Thank you again, Cindy!). What excited me was that they have been getting great reviews! And from existing customers!

PSA: She also mentioned that they offer a rose scented deodorant in the summer. Plan accordingly.

Back to the review:

On Tuesday afternoon, I got my package in the mail and proceeded to flip out. I immediately texted a picture to a few of my classmates, Cindy, and my mom. (Hi Mom!) I almost applied it right away, but I realized that I put on a strong antiperspirant in the morning and that it would not only cover the smell of the PSL when I put it on, but it might also rub in to the top of the deodorant stick.

And I didn’t pay $12 and wait a week to mess with this.

The packaging was delightful. Opening up the box, the deodorant was cradled delicately in a cardboard holster. The writing on the stick was PSL orange (nice touch), and the product was accompanied by a card that looked like a Starbucks order! (Hey Native, just one recommendation on the packaging: if you really want to sell the Starbucks PSL aesthetic, you have to spell something wrong on that card. Otherwise it’s just not believable.)

Taking the top off the deodorant, I was met with a very fragrant aroma of pumpkin and pumpkin spices. Honestly, I was a little shocked! I did NOT expect it to smell so good OR so natural. Normally (with candles and things like this) you get hit in the nose HARD with synthetic PSL essence, but this one was very clean and pleasant. You can even smell the coffee! This is incredible.

On an aside: I don’t know if it was in my head, but the bar looked like it had an orange tinge to it. If it IS real, it was a very nice touch.

DAY 1: Low key is the way to be.

I applied the deodorant in the morning without any issues. It went on well and didn’t leave any white marks on my shirt (#blessed). I went through my full day of classes, but either nobody got close enough to notice or I didn’t apply enough where anyone could smell it through my shirt. To be fair, it was 45 degrees outside so I wore a sweater. The layering might have kept it trapped in. BUT it did hold up nicely in both smell and sweat level.

I smelled it on myself a few times, but I really caught a whiff of it when I changed in to my sleep clothes. I could swear I was momentarily transported to a Starbucks in Central New Jersey. It was a lot warmer of a smell after being on me all day, and it STILL didn’t have any artificial after-smells to it (is that a thing).

But I was most surprised about the sweat level I had. It was pretty much non-existent! I have been wearing an antiperspirant for the past few years and I was expecting to sweat through my shirt.

DAY 2: Field testing.

On Thursdays, I wear athletic clothes to school for a specific class obligation. Because they are thinner, I expected more people to be able to smell it. It ended up being less subtle than I expected because someone asked me on my way in if I was wearing it (and I didn’t lie!). So when I said yes, several people came up to me to sniff my general armpit area.

Awkward? A little.

A great way to get closer to your friends? 100%.

The reception was extremely positive. People could not believe how much like a PSL it smelled, and they loved how they could pick out real spices and notes of coffee! I’m pretty sure it convinced at least one other person to take the plunge.

Since I was already in athletic clothes, I decided to make this my workout day, and went to play some pickup basketball at the gym. This was a good idea because it was the perfect setting to stress test the deodorant, but also a bad one because I am terribly out of shape and was sucking wind from the moment I got on the court.

BUT HERE’S THE THING. Once I was done, I STILL smelled great! Even after 2 hours of running back and forth, I still smelled like a freshly prepared PSL. The scent didn’t get rubbed/sweat off in that time, and it smelled great before I got in the shower.

DAY 3-5: Activities of daily living.

From Friday-Sunday, I went through my planned schedule and checklist while wearing the Native PSL deodorant.

On Friday, I went on a study break to get lunch and shop in downtown Philadelphia. On Saturday, I studied in the library and did some gardening to prepare my house plants for the cold season. Today (Sunday), I did some more studying in the library and took an evening break to play some solo basketball again before heading home to finish writing this review.

Each day, the deodorant carried me for over 12 hours, and I loved every minute of it. I kept catching drafts of the scent and I personally felt so festive! The spices weren’t too strong or obnoxious as a deodorant, and it did not get gross when I was sweating.

I’m torn here because I want there to be some limit to what people put pumpkin spice in, but if it is THIS good as a deodorant, what can’t it do? Pumpkin spiced water? Pumpkin spiced shampoo? Pumpkin spiced pizza? Oh wait.

Overall, I really liked this deodorant. The smell worked so well. But here’s the thing. I can’t tell if this is a testament to pumpkin spice or the Native product itself. Either way, I really liked it.

I like this so much that it might actually become my daily driver until Thanksgiving (the absolute end of pumpkin season).

Final ratings:

Native PSL Deodorant 5/5 Pumpkins

Cindy 25/25 (1 for each year of our friendship)

Season 2 Entries:

Season 2, Episode 18: POP ROCKS

Season 2, Episode 17: Pumpkin GAINZ

Season 2 Episode 16: Half Way There | (more) Edible Pumpkin Coffee??

Season 2, Episode 15: Werther's a will, there's a way.

Season 2, Episode 14: Don't toss these cookies!

Season 2, Episode 13: Pop-Pop, it's corntime!

Season 2, Episode 12: Pee-KAHN or Pee-CAN