OSEA MALIBU: OCEAN CLEANSING MUDD REVIEW

By: Skin Care Ox

Written By: Diane Elizabeth K. // First Published: 03/17/2020

OSEA Malibu’s Ocean Cleansing Mudd is a unique clean cleanser designed to clear away excess oil, as well as gently exfoliate and decongest clogged pores–all without stripping skin of its natural protective sebum. It promises to be a great cleanser for oily and combination skin types, but can the Ocean Cleansing Mudd really get the job done? Is this non-foaming cleanser actually capable of balancing oily skin? Is the formula made with clean ingredients? Is there anyone who shouldn’t use the Ocean Cleansing Mudd as their daily face wash? To answer these questions, the Skin Care Ox team put the Ocean Cleansing Mudd to the test for two weeks, researched every ingredient, and analyzed hundreds of real customer reviews from around the web to create this comprehensive review.

Overall, the Ocean Cleansing Mudd turned out to be a solid cleanser for those with truly oily, combo, and acne-prone skin. Unfortunately, it’s a bit too powerful for dry skin types (leaves skin feeling a bit dry and tight) as a daily cleanser; however, it can certainly be used as a spot treatment cleanser for particularly blemish-prone areas. The experience of using the Ocean Cleansing Mudd is very unique. This is a very deep cleansing face wash that uses tea tree oil, peppermint oil, and wild mint oil. As such, it has a strong minty scent and strong tingling sensation that lingers a few minutes after use. While most find this scent and sensation to be very refreshing, sensitive skin types may find it overwhelming.

Below, you’ll find a complete summary of our in-depth two week review of OSEA Malibu’s Ocean Cleansing Mudd. Our reviews are organized into three categories: The Clean Ingredient Score (is the product made with clean ingredients?), Product Design & Effectiveness Score (does it actually work?), and the Online Customer Review Score (what is everyone else saying?). Combined, this review should provide everything you need to decide if the Ocean Cleansing Mudd is the right cleanser for you. Enjoy!

OSEA MALIBU OCEAN CLEANSING MUDD REVIEW

Product Name: Ocean Cleansing Mudd

Product Description: A non-foaming seaweed-based deep cleansing face wash designed to "banish blemishes," "reduce oily shine," and mildly exfoliate without the use of harsh chemicals. Size: 5 oz Packaging: Thick frosted glass bottle w/ pump dispenser Consistency: Rich brown cream Scent: Mint/Menthol Samples Available: Yes - Shop OSEA Travel Sizes

Price: 48

Currency: USD

Availability: InStock

Overall
4.77
  • Clean Ingredient Score
  • Product Design & Effectiveness Score
  • Online Customer Review Score

Where to Buy?

CLEAN INGREDIENT SCORE
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The Osea Malibu Ocean Cleansing Mudd has earned a Clean Ingredient Score of an “A+”. This organic face wash may be muddy, but it is anything but “dirty” when it comes to its ingredients. The formulation is made with a mix of natural, organic, GMO free, and vegan ingredients. The cleanser creates a very light (almost non-existent) lather and uses decyl-glucoside as a mild surfactant to help break apart dirt, oil, and other impurities. The formula gets its antibacterial properties from essential oils including tea tree, wild mint, and peppermint essential oils. When it comes to preservatives, the Ocean Cleansing Mudd uses natural radish root ferment filtrate, citric acid, and vitamin E as its preservative system.

Clean Ingredient Summary

| VEGAN | NON-GMO | CRUELTY FREE |

Top Clean Ingredients

  • Algae Extract: Chlorophyll containing ocean dwelling organisms. Contains a plethora of potent vitamins, minerals, and nutrients. Known for its ability to help skin retain a lot of moisture (an alternative to hyaluronic acid). The Ocean Cleansing Mudd is made with bladderwrack and laminaria digitata seaweed extracts.
  • Tea Tree Oil: Often criticized for its signature scent, tea tree oil is a powerful antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, and anti-fungal agent. Tea tree oil is most often found in skin care remedies designed for oily, acne-prone, and blemish-prone skin.
  • Peppermint Essential Oil: An essential oil made from the leaves of the peppermint plant. Peppermint oil has been used for centuries for its cooling, calming, aromatherapeutic, and antibacterial properties.
  • Wild Mint Leaf Oil: Slightly different than peppermint essential oil (mentha piperita), wild mint leaf oil (mentha arvensis) is commonly used as a natural acne remedy and antiseptic agent for wound healing.

Preservatives Used:

  • Leuconostoc/Radish Root Ferment Filtrate: Natural | Preservative | EWG Score: 1
  • Citric Acid: Natural | Preservative | EWG Score: 1-2
  • Tocopherol/Vitamin E: Natural | EWG Score: 1

Concerning Ingredients
  • None!
All Ingredients

Ingredients as of: 01/09/2020

water, decyl glucoside Natural | Mild Non-Ionic Surfactant | EWG Score: 1 , sodium lauroyl oat amino acids Natural | Cleansing Agent | Skin Conditioning | EWG Score: 1 , bladderwrack extract powder*, magnesium aluminum silicate (natural smectite clay), sorbitan olivate Natural | Surfactant | EWG Score: 1 , glycerin*, leuconostoc/radish root ferment filtrate Natural | Preservative | EWG Score 1 , laminaria digitata powder (brown seaweed), safflower seed oil*, jojoba seed oil*, tea tree oil*, wild mint leaf oil*, peppermint oil*, xanthan gum Natural | Binder | Stabilizer | EWG Score: 1 , tocopherol/vitamin e, citric acid Natural | Preservative | EWG Score 1-2 , magnesium ascorbyl phosphate Natural | Stable Vitamin C | EWG Score: 1 *indicates organic ingredient

PRODUCT DESIGN & EFFECTIVENESS
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OSEA’s Ocean Cleansing Mudd has earned a solid “A” for our Product Design & Effectiveness Score. On the positive side, this cleanser truly lives up to its claim of providing deep cleansing and oil clearing. Although it is a non-foaming cleanser, it leaves even the oiliest skin skin feeling totally clean–but not stripped. The texture of this cleanser is that of a rich brown mud; thus, just one or two pumps of this cleanser is enough to thoroughly work around the whole face. It’s the ideal cleanser to use on commonly congested areas of the face: chin, nose, cheeks, and forehead. Over our two week trial, several testers reported “smaller blackheads” and “less congested pores.” Additionally, the cleanser helped to calm existing breakouts and lessen future breakouts. The Ocean Cleansing Mudd uses a fair bit of antibacterial and anti-acne essential oils (such as tea tree, peppermint, and wild mint), so it has a strong scent and strong “minty” cooling sensation on the skin. Many of our testers found the sensation and scent to be refreshing; however, more sensitive skin types did not appreciate the minty sensation. Additionally, while the Ocean Cleansing Mudd is made with many hydrating ingredients, testers with drier skin types noted that their skin felt “tight” and dry after using this cleanser. Thus, this cleanser is not recommended for those with dry or sensitive skin.

Product Effectiveness Summary

Works Best For: Congested Skin, Acne-Prone Skin, Oily Skin, Combo Skin.

Official Usage Instructions: Apply face cleanser to damp skin and rinse with warm water. Use Essential Corrective Complex as a spot solution. Finish with Blemish Balm. Use morning + night. Can also be used as a deep pore cleanse for normal skin types.

Ease of Use: Easy to incorporate into an existing routine as a cleanser. Can use as a standard cleanser or as a spot treatment cleanser for congested, acne-prone areas of the skin.

Most Notable Results

  • Strong minty fragrance
  • Strong minty “cooling” sensation
  • Balances oil for combination to very oily skin types
  • Leaves skin feeling “clean” but not “stripped“
  • Helps calm acne-related redness
  • Calms breakouts
  • Decongests clogged pores with continuous use

Claims Not Met

  • None: This product does not make claims of effectiveness that we did not experience.

ONLINE CUSTOMER REVIEW SCORE
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We’ve analyzed 572 customer reviews for the Osea Malibu Ocean Cleansing Mudd from 8 different online retailers (including stores like Detox Market, Amazon, Credo, and Follain). Across all of these retailers, the Ocean Cleanser earned an average customer review of 4.7/5 stars–earning a grade of “A” for our Online Customer Review Score. Overall, customers across all retailers used words like “refreshing,” “strong,” “tingly,” and “invigorating” when describing their experience with this cleanser. Reviewers commented heavily on the cleansers strong scent (some called it “minty” and others described the seaweed formulation as “fishy”), and strong tingly sensation. The negative reviews revolved mainly around the scent and strong minty tingle. While most reviewers reviewed the tingle as positive, a handful described it as too strong for their skin. See Pros & Cons below for a full summary.

Customer Review Summary

Reviews last evaluated: 03/17/2020

  • Osea Malibu: 416 Reviews | Average Score: 4.8 Stars
  • Amazon: 16 Reviews | Average Score: 4.1 Stars
  • Detox Market: 20 Reviews | Average Score: 4.7 Stars
  • Credo: 18 Reviews | Average Score: 4.6 Stars
  • Aillea: 5 Reviews | Average Score: 4.6 Stars
  • Petit Vour: 38 Reviews | Average Score: 4.7 Stars
  • Follain: 54 Reviews | Average Score: 4.2 Stars
  • Blue Mercury: 5 Reviews | Average Score: 4.4 Stars

Pros

  • Made with clean ingredients
  • Deeply cleanses the skin
  • Refreshing minty scent and tingly sensation
  • Non-foaming and won’t strip oily skin
  • Helps to keep skin blemish free 
  • Great for oily, combo, and acne-prone skin.

Cons

  • Not for eye makeup removal due to the essential oils
  • Has a strong scent
  • Has a strong tingly sensation from the mint oils
  • Not recommended for sensitive skin
  • Not recommended for dry skin types
ABOUT THE BRAND
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This Product Was Made By...

OSEA MALIBU

website: OSEA Malibu Website | year founded: 1996

OSEA is an organic skin care brand that has been committed to non-toxic skin care for over 20 years. OSEA was the first company to sign the Environmental Working Group’s “Compact for Safe Cosmetics” pledge and has lead the charge ever since. The line is totally plant-based, vegan, and free of synthetic ingredients. Responsibly sourced organic seaweeds are the star ingredients in nearly all of OSEA’s products.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR

about-author_diane-elizabeth125

This Article Was Written By...

Diane Elizabeth K., Founder at SkinCareOx.com

Diane Elizabeth founded Skin Care Ox in 2016 after her personal struggle to find truly clean, natural, and organic products. Leveraging her background in biomedical engineering, scientific research + analytics, and entrepreneurship, she created Skin Care Ox to be an easy-to-use resource to find real clean beauty options. Since then, her articles have been read by over 3 Million people and have helped millions choose cleaner alternatives. She currently lives in Colorado with her husband and growing family.
Review Standards & Process

Skin Care Ox product reviews are 100% brand neutral. Skin Care Ox does not accept compensation in exchange for reviews. Additionally, there are no paid advertisements on Skin Care Ox. From time to time, brands will submit products to our team for review. Whether we procure the products ourselves or they are submitted to our team for review---our reviews remain honest and neutral.

Skin Care Ox is primarily funded through affiliate commissions. Meaning, when you purchase a product via a link from our website, we earn a small commission on the sale from the retailer (at no additional cost to you). Skin Care Ox is a member of numerous affiliate networks representing hundreds of cleans beauty brands and retailers. Because of this, no single brand or company has control over our review decisions.

Finally, every product we review undergoes our Research and Review Process. This includes faithfully trialing the products for a minimum of two weeks, rigorously researching each ingredient, and consolidating real user reviews from across the web.

PRODUCT BADGES LEGEND
100% NATURAL

100% NATURAL

The product contains only natural ingredients (non-synthetic or lab created). It does not contain anything artificial or synthetic.

100% ORGANIC

100% ORGANIC

The product has been formulated with 100% organically sourced and/or certified organic ingredients.

GMO FREE

GMO FREE

This product does not contain ingredients which have been genetically modified.

GLUTEN FREE

GLUTEN FREE

All of the ingredients contained in the product are free from gluten, wheat, and ingredients which are commonly contaminated with gluten.

VEGAN

VEGAN

The product is made without animal products or byproducts such as beeswax, honey, milk, eggs, etc.

CERTIFIED ORGANIC

CERTIFIED ORGANIC

The product has received an official organic certification from a third party organization such as the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA Certified Organic), ECOCERT, Australian Certified Organic, and others.

MORE OSEA MALIBU PRODUCTS

*OSEA Malibu – Blemish Balm Organic Moisturizer ($48)

Acne skin types--say hello to your new favorite moisturizer! We gave this organic moisturizer for acne to five testers with various kinds of acne and blemish prone skin types and they all rated it 10/10. It's ultra-lightweight, making it great for oily skin types, but it is also packed with hydrating organic algae for drier skin. It is also made with a great blend of acne-fighting ingredients like tea tree oil, rosemary, thyme, and juniper essential oil. Truly a must-try for acne skin types!

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