- Hey, y'all, welcome back.
I'm Mama Doctor Jones,
a Board Certified OBGYN, a mom to four,
and today we're talking about Lume Deodorant.
Lume, Lume.
I don't know if that's how you say it.
Who knows?
Who actually even cares?
I've gotten request after request after request
from you all to talk about this.
And I think it was because I did the Vagisil video
not too long ago.
So, here we go, let's jump into it.
So, for those who don't know,
Lume, Lume, how will we say it in this video?
Lume.
I can't even say their name.
This crotch deodorant is invented by an OBGYN,
which in and of itself makes me a little uncomfortable
because I'm confused as to why somebody
thought this was needed.
If you think it's needed and you like it
and it hasn't caused you any problems, you do you.
The point of these is never
to make someone feel bad for using something,
it's always just to assess the marketing
and take a look at their strategies
and see if they're being forthcoming with the truth.
And you can all let me know in the comments down below
if you get an ad for them while you're watching this video
because I know they do lots of advertising on YouTube.
(bright music)
♪ I found Lume ♪
♪ And I lost my stench ♪
- They have the pronunciation everywhere,
so you can tell I didn't really prep for this video
because I didn't know how to pronounce it.
It's Lume.
♪ So fancy ♪
♪ I somehow became French ♪
♪ Natural deodorant ♪
♪ That actually works ♪
♪ For your pits ♪ ♪ Pits ♪
♪ Your feet ♪ ♪ Feet ♪
♪ And your privates ♪
Lume is the world's best natural deodorant.
- Okay, so it is an all over deodorant that you can use.
So, on the pro side,
they have included both men and women
in the advertisement, so that's good.
However, it's still very shame-based,
saying that you have fumes, and a stench,
and everybody is just super stinky,
which I don't think is usually the case.
I'm assuming it's fragranced,
we'll look through and see.
But as I said in the Vagisil video,
I recommend against all kinds of fragrances on the vulva,
and certainly inside the vagina,
but on the vulva as well
because that's unnecessary irritation.
So, the aluminum that they're talking about,
some people can have reactions to aluminum.
Although, some natural deodorants
have sodium bicarbonate in them,
and that can be irritating and cause rashes as well.
"We didn't invent deodorant,
we changed everything about it."
"Naturally derived and skin safe synthetics,"
"Safe for any external use."
This idea that natural is safe is a little bit
confusing to me because a lot of things are natural,
like, I don't know, dying, and not getting medical care,
but we go against that all the time
because some natural things are bad.
Snake venom is natural and it can kill you.
So, a lot of things are natural,
including a lot of supplements that can be very dangerous
and can interact with other medications
and things like that.
So, the idea that the word natural
is specifically safer is not true,
but you'll often see that used in this type of marketing.
"Clinically proven to control odor for 72 hours".
How did they test that?
I just wanna get my hands on that study.
Did they do a sniff test?
Or did they have some creative way
of testing smell with a machine?
I am so interested in how this came to be.
- Lume was created by an OBGYN
to be totally safe and effective.
It's made with gentle ingredients
and only goes on the outside, not the inside.
Stop putting things inside!
And despite what the douche bags tell you,
the outside is where the odor is anyway.
- Hey, those are mine.
- You have enough douche bags in your life, Cheryl.
Lume is natural and safe,
even for the most sensitive parts of the body,
like the ones men can't find.
- Okay, it's funny.
I will admit, their advertising is funny.
And I do appreciate that they say
"Stop putting things on the inside,"
I agree, no things on the inside
unless it's for sexual pleasure, or...
I was just trying to think on the fly
of things that would be appropriate to put inside,
like internal condoms, a penis, a sex toy,
a finger, a tampon, lube, menstrual cup.
Can't think of any more.
That's it.
Please don't put other things inside.
I'm sure I forgot something,
but you get the point, right?
You get the point.
I can stop, right?
You understand.
Okay, great.
So, I appreciate that.
But then they also say
"You can put it on the places that men can't find,"
which generally this would be
kind of colloquially understood
as either the clitoris or the G-spot,
which would both be places more on the inside.
So, they're still kinda missing the mark with that.
- And because Lume conquers all body odor,
not just your Privet Drive,
you can use it on pits, feet,
or any other stinky crevice.
(group exhales)
Reclaim your confidence here, here, and here.
- Do these people not shower?
I do not understand.
I don't...
I just, I don't get it.
I see patients in positions where,
presumably, if we all stunk this bad,
I should be aware of it,
and I hardly ever see people that I'm like,
yeah, there's an odor there.
And usually if there is
it's because they're either not regularly showering
because they can't, or they just choose not to,
or there's something going on like an infection.
I just don't understand.
Is this really a problem?
Are we solving an actual problem?
Or is this just something that we're cashing in on.
I'm still confused.
Y'all can let me know in the comments down below,
but in general, and I see a lot of private parts,
I don't notice that people are stinky very often.
- Bonjour.
My friends always ask how I stay so elegant,
even in less elegant situations.
The secret?
I don't stink.
- (inhales) How?
- I could tell you,
or I could sing you!
♪ I ♪ - Please don't.
Please don't do that.
♪ You find in most stores ♪
♪ The aluminum kind ♪
♪ That traps toxins in pores ♪
♪ And through all those years ♪
♪ With stench in my pits ♪ ♪ Ew, ew ♪
♪ There was no solution ♪
♪ For stench when I sit ♪
(man coughing)
- I just don't love it, y'all.
I just don't love it.
I mean, some of their advertisements are funny,
but some of them are also super cringey.
I just don't wanna watch a musical about stinky pits
and whatever crotch smell
that apparently a lot of people have
but I've never noticed despite seeing
more crotches than the average person.
Some of these advertisements are like, six minutes long.
I am not watching that.
Who makes a six-minute commercial?
- I used to dread when my daughter
would take off her shoes in the car
because of the dead rat smell,
but after the second day of using Lume, no odor!
We've all been there.
Your spouse has foot odor that could kill an ox.
Not a metaphor.
He's being sued by PETA.
Or your kids' feet smell
like you should've used birth control.
- [Kid] Hey!
- I love you, just not you-
- (laughs) That was funny, I must admit.
That being said, I think that I notice foot odor
far more than crotch odor.
So, if they want to advertise this as a foot odor fixer,
I personally could probably use that pretty occasionally
when it's hot outside and my feet are sweaty
and I've been exercising, or something,
'cause I do that, I exercise a lot.
But I still just don't understand, is this necessary?
But again, there's a difference
between not being necessary and shouldn't be sold.
I don't think this really crosses the,
this should be illegal, line.
I just think it's kinda cringey.
Their commercials are sometimes a little funny,
mostly cringey, still very shame-based
and a little bit sexist in some parts.
But otherwise, I don't have a problem with it.
So, interestedly, she says she was doing residency
to become an OBGYN, time and time again she was noticing
people complaining about odor below the belt
and getting misdiagnosed with BV.
I find that interesting
because she says she was worried about the problem
of overdiagnosis of BV,
so she created this product.
But to me, if you think we're overdiagnosing BV,
which very realistically could be a problem,
BV is bacterial vaginosis,
and oftentimes any of these complaints,
instead of just normalizing
that it's totally normal down here,
that people feel the need to just prescribe something,
so we're overprescribing antibiotics for BV.
And if you feel like that's the problem,
I don't understand why the solution
is to create a new product that you sell to people,
instead of just normalizing that everybody who comes in
complaining of this doesn't have an infection
that needs to be treated,
and we have ways of diagnosing it
and you shouldn't treat without an actual diagnosis.
I don't understand.
Again, they do include men and women in all of this.
I would prefer no shame-based marketing for anyone,
but at very minimum,
at least they're being relatively inclusive.
And congratulations to the non-binary people out there
because you've escaped the shame-based marketing.
Apparently only men and women smell funny.
Probably one of the only times
being excluded is a good thing.
Let me look at the deodorant ingredients.
Yeah, nothing jumps out as overly concerning,
although there is fragrance in most of these products.
Again, I hate fragranced products on the vulva.
Please, please, please just stay away from that.
It can cause irritation and dermatitis,
and all kinds of problems.
Again, if you're using a product that has fragrance in it
and it's not bothering you, it's probably fine.
Overall, these are not super dangerous,
it's just, if you are choosing a new product
it'd be better to go with one that's not fragranced.
Let's watch some of their YouTube ads.
Yeah, I said they were being relatively inclusive
between men and women in their shame-based marketing,
but actually when you search Lume ads on YouTube,
you find only, I mean, people who seem to be women.
I take it back.
I take back everything I said.
They're shaming women more than men.
- Apply it like lotion to your privates,
then kiss your stinky butt goodbye.
- (kisses) Goodbye. (screams)
- No one likes odor below the belt.
Whether you're at the gym
getting free samples of butt incense,
(gags)
at the office inhaling your own front fumes,
or in bed doing some stinky-winky.
No, not the Teletubby.
Your privates go everywhere you go.
So, why isn't there a deodorant for privates?
Lume's clinically proven to eliminate odor all day.
- Again, I really, really wanna know
how they did that clinical trial.
I haven't been able to find it,
but oh my gosh, I would love to see that data.
- Your privates all day?
Good for you.
Lume's been proven to control odor for 72 hours.
Lume works by stopping odor at the source, bacteria.
Most crotch and butt smells
come from bacteria on the skin, breaking-
- Okay, I'm done. (laughs)
So, their advertising is kinda humorous,
it is still shame-based, which I don't like.
This product is probably not harmful,
although it has potential for harm because of the fragrance,
and is definitely unnecessary.
All you need to not be stinky is typical hygiene.
Just wash, shower, use a gentle unscented soap,
or just water, and you will be fine.
So, that's all you need.
Now, I have said this 100 times already,
if you choose to use these products, it's probably fine.
I just want it to be known that I hate the marketing!
I hate it, I hate the shame-based marketing.
Just, (groaning) it makes me crazy.
My head is going to explode.
Two, if you choose to use them,
just watch for any irritation.
If you start feeling like you're having
more frequent vaginal infections, more frequent UTIs,
or more frequent itching, or just discomfort,
or irritation of the vulva,
then it's most likely related to the product
and you should stop using it.
I hate them less than OMV!,
I would never buy this product,
and it's up to you whether you use things like this.
Thanks for being here today, y'all.
If you're new, please hit that subscribe button.
I would love to have you around.
And I will see you next Monday.
(upbeat music)