Native is a popular, easily accessible personal care brand that many people assume is totally natural and non-toxic—my readers ask me about it frequently! In today’s post, we’re gonna dive in and take a look at the ingredient labels to determine whether that’s actually true or just classic greenwashing.
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About Native
Native was founded in 2015 by Moiz Ali, who was curious about the aluminum in antiperspirant. Since then, the brand has boomed and was acquired by Procter & Gamble in 2017 for $100 million. Native makes vegan and cruelty-free personal care products “without dirty secrets,” including deodorant, body wash, hair care, and lotion.
Related post: “How to Detox Your Armpits & Best Natural Deodorants (That Actually Work!)”
Native Product & Ingredient Reviews
After sifting through all of Native’s products, I’ll share which ones I recommend skipping and which have better ingredients.
Native Products to Skip ❌
My main gripe with Native is that they use undisclosed fragrance in almost ALL of their products and state that it contains synthetic oils. While it’s phthalate-free (that’s a good thing), it’s still proprietary, so we can’t know for sure if it’s safe or not. The primary issue with fragrance is that it can be a concoction of 4,000+ endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and brands don’t have to tell you what’s in it!
I suggest avoiding these Native products due to certain ingredients:
- 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner (contains fragrance, polyquaternium-10)
- Body Wash (fragrance)
- Conditioner (behenamidopropyl dimethylamine, fragrance, polysorbate 20)
- Deodorant Cream (fragrance, PEG-100)
- Deodorant Spray (alcohol denat, dipropylene glycol, fragrance)
- Deodorant Stick (fragrance)
- Detoxifying Body Scrub (fragrance)
- Face and Body Sunscreens (fragrance)
- Facial Cleanser (fragrance)
- Hair Mask (behenamidopropyl dimethylamine, fragrance)
- Liquid Hand Soap (disodium EDTA, fragrance)
- Moisturizing Lotion (fragrance, sodium acrylates copolymer)
- Peppermint Toothpaste (titanium dioxide, which is safe topically, but shouldn’t be ingested)
- Shampoo (fragrance, polyquaternium-10)
- Shave Cream (fragrance)
- Shave Oil (glycereth-26, fragrance, phenoxyethanol, polyquaternium-10, polysorbate 20)
Wanna learn more about these ingredients and how to read a label? Download this Ingredient Index! It has a glossary of 60+ ingredients to watch out for in your cosmetics, cleaning, and personal care products. Plus, sources and studies for further reading.
Safer Native Products ✅
Now, I wouldn’t say these are perfect, but they don’t contain any majorly concerning ingredients!
- Charcoal Toothpaste (I like that it’s fluoride-free, too. I don’t like the added “flavor” but it’s not a huge concern. It does contain “cocamidopropyl betaine,” which is not necessarily harmful, but can be irritating to sensitive skin, so just a heads up.)
- Facial Moisturizers
- Gentle Facial Cleanser (only the GENTLE cleanser, which is fragrance-free! contains cocamidopropyl betaine)
- Unscented Body Wash (has cocamidopropyl betaine)
- Unscented Deodorant Stick
- Unscented Face and Body Sunscreens (uses mineral SPF zinc oxide, which is great!)
Related post: “Swap It Out: Clean Alternatives to The Ordinary Skincare Products”
Conclusion: Is Native Clean? 🤔
THE SHORT ANSWER: No, Native is not completely clean across the board, but some products are okay.
THE LONGER ANSWER: Some Native products are low tox, but most I would recommend skipping. They’re certainly not the *worst* brand and are still much cleaner than most, and I like that they’re free of parabens, phthalates, sulfates, and aluminum. However, it really sucks that they use undisclosed fragrances in most of their products.
In addition, I prefer to support smaller businesses that aren’t owned by giant conglomerates, but that’s just me. The flip side of that is you can often find Native in big-box stores/drugstores, and they’re pretty affordable.
Related post: “13+ Low Tox Skincare & Beauty Products from the Drugstore”
Shop 500+ Low Tox Products 🛒
If you’re looking for truly green and natural brands, head to The Organically Becca Shop! It’s a curated selection of hundreds of products that I have personally vetted and recommend. It includes makeup, skincare, hair, body, personal hygiene, household items, and so much more.
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I hope this information was helpful! As always, my intent is not to shame you or make you feel bad if you do use Native. My goal is to provide the information you need to make informed decisions and determine what’s best for you going forward. Thanks for reading 💚
