OSEA Malibu Skincare Review (Vegan, Cruelty-Free, Gluten-Free)
I’ve been using OSEA Malibu skincare for years, so I want to share an updated review of these vegan, cruelty-free, and gluten-free products I use—and how they’ve helped my sensitive skin.
First, it’s important to note that (before I began using OSEA) I suffered a lifetime of skincare challenges—rashes, rosacea, blemishes. I wore makeup to hide my skin’s challenges.
Thus (before I began using OSEA), I’d never found a skincare product line that could help my skin. I didn’t think one existed. I didn’t think there was hope for me.
But one day, I stumbled across rave reviews for OSEA skincare products. Products that were vegan, gluten-free, eco-packaged—with a 30-day return policy.
If OSEA products didn’t work on my skin, I wouldn’t lose money. That was the clincher for me. That made me want to try the OSEA skincare product line.
When I first began exploring OSEA’s products, I wanted to ensure the best possible chance of a positive outcome. So I approached this skincare adventure intellectually.
I carefully analyzed all of OSEA’s products. I carefully analyzed all of OSEA’s product reviews. I carefully analyzed which OSEA products seemed wisest for my skin type.
I even contacted OSEA’s customer service and asked them detailed questions to verify I was proceeding as carefully as possible.
All that analysis helped me see how vital it was to know my skin type. I needed to ensure I tested the proper products on my skin.
At that time, my sensitive skin was transitioning from oily-combination into a slightly drier combination skin. It was in a strange place and seemed to need special nourishment.
So, I started small. I only ordered a few products at a time.
In addition, I knew I’d only test one product at a time. Try it out. See the result. Know the verdict.
Plus, when my OSEA products arrived, my microbiology education kicked in. The first things I did to ensure I started with a clean slate were the following…
I verified that I wasn’t experiencing any rosacea symptoms. Not even the tiniest.
I thoroughly washed my hands (and dried them with a clean/previously unused towel) before I applied any skincare products.
I kept my hands off my face throughout each day and night—only touching my face if I first thoroughly washed my hands (and dried them with a clean/previously unused towel).
I made sure I slept on a clean pillowcase (I changed it every night or so).
I didn’t want to introduce bacteria into the containers that held these long-lasting skincare products. Nor did I want to add unnecessary bacteria to my face throughout each day or night.
Bacteria would interfere with this experiment.
My microbiology professor would have also insisted on these steps for any experiment, any product, or use in any location. I like being a good student.
Even though I began this skincare adventure with essentially no hope—because no skincare line had helped me before—I still wanted to give this experiment every chance.
Needless to say, as soon as I began using OSEA products, my skin improved immediately. I still find it hard to believe these positive results have been real.
Serious Reasons To Try OSEA Malibu Skincare
I want to emphasize that I tried OSEA skincare products due to everything OSEA offered…
rave reviews
vegan
cruelty-free
gluten-free
climate-neutral
nutrient-dense
free of artificial colors, dyes, synthetics
packaged mostly in glass
pumps and lids transitioning to PCR/alternative materials
shipped in cardboard (using paper tape)
available inter/nationally
30-day return policy that allows me to try OSEA products worry-free
And, now that I know OSEA products truly work on my sensitive skin, I can’t believe I ever tried skincare products that offered less. I care about what goes on me and how it impacts our earth.
First, Two Product Tips (When Using OSEA Malibu Skincare)
After I began using OSEA skincare products, I realized how helpful it was for me to remember two tips…
a little bit of OSEA product goes a long way on my skin
water droplets on my skin make OSEA products stretch even further
I place the tiniest bit of cleanser on moist skin. My cleanser lasts so much longer. It cleans my skin beautifully.
I use the tiniest bit of moisturizer on moist skin. It spreads further and lasts longer. It moisturizes beautifully.
The same goes for all the other OSEA products I’ve used.
I would have never thought a little bit of moisture and small amounts of skincare products would work so well on my skin, but they do. These tips save me product and save me money.
Ocean Cleansing Milk (My OSEA Malibu Cleanser)
I selected Ocean Cleansing Milk as my first OSEA cleanser to buy because its product description and customer reviews read like something incredible I’d not previously seen.
It also appeared to be the best match for my skin type, even though my skin was in transition mode and I wasn’t absolutely positive which skin type I was at that moment.
Since then, I’ve tried OSEA’s other cleansers whenever I’ve received free samples. All of the cleansers have actually worked on my skin, which I think says a lot about OSEA’s products.
So why do I keep choosing OSEA’s Ocean Cleansing Milk as my cleanser? It leaves my skin feeling the absolute best. There is no other comparison.
Even with my skin naturally changing over the years. Even as I travel through different climates (from dry climates to moist climates).
This makes me so grateful that I was so careful about studying these products before ordering them. I feel so grateful to have enjoyed this cleanser from the start.
And it’s been so easy to use.
I cleanse my face and neck with Ocean Cleansing Milk, including over and around my closed eyelids. It removes the crunchiest mascara, yet it never irritates my eyes.
I can actually open my eyes while the cleanser is on my eyelids, and my eyes remain perfectly happy—no redness or irritation at all. Of course, I close my eyes to rinse.
Ocean Cleansing Milk also gently removes all other debris build-up, too—dirt, grime, salt, oil, and even my hearty layer of facial sunscreen (even if I sleep in it and it hardens on my face).
Why does sunscreen stay moist all day, but dries hard onto our skin if we sleep in it? I don’t know, but this cleanser still gently cleanses away sunscreen that has hardened on my face.
After I rinse, my skin feels clean, soft, and slightly dewy (not moist, not wet, not greasy). I wonder how this soothing result is even possible.
As well (most importantly?), Ocean Cleansing Milk has my skin looking clearer than ever before. This is huge for me.
Ocean Cleansing Milk calms my skin. This feels so nourishing to me.
I don’t experience the irritation or reactions that past cleansers once caused (especially from oils). This is the first hydrating cleanser I’ve been able to use successfully.
But what about those rare moments when I eat heavily greasy food (which I should never eat because it makes my sensitive skin react, and it’s bad for my arteries and more)?
My skin’s reaction is now almost non-existent.
OSEA’s Ocean Cleansing Milk has brought relief to my always sensitive skin, previously somewhat combination skin, and now completely dry skin … while I travel and live in both moist and dry climates.
Advanced Protection Cream (My OSEA Malibu Moisturizer)
Ever since I realized menopause seriously changed my skin, OSEA’s Advanced Protection Cream has been my absolute lifesaver of a moisturizer. Visually and emotionally.
I must note (again) that, years ago, in my early OSEA years, my skin was more combination. Back then, I used Hyaluronic Sea Serum under Seabiotic Water Cream as my moisturizers. They made that pre-menopausal, younger skin feel nourished, clear, and glowy.
But then menopause hit. My skin changed. Yet it took me a while to realize menopause was what shocked my skin into a new reality.
It took me a while to figure out what was going on with my skin because nobody had ever warned me that the collagen and elastin in my face and neck would essentially disappear.
Overnight. Due to menopause.
I don’t think it helps that I’m pretty scrawny, so I don’t have much plumpness to fill out my skin.
Which means, one morning, I woke to severely dry, crepey skin that looked shriveled and curdled all at once. If I leaned forward, the skin on my neck looked like it was trying to hang.
My firm face and smooth neck were gone. Seriously. Overnight.
I felt like I’d become an old tree trunk, with dried, shredded bark about to fall off.
Growing up, I had never been a sun worshiper. I didn’t even like being in the sun. The sun would make me rash. I avoided it. If I accidentally got too much sun, it was rare, and I’d cringe.
I didn’t even have wrinkles for my age. I assumed that meant I’d done everything necessary to keep my skin supple forever.
But when menopause hit, my skin changed in ways that supposedly have nothing to do with the sun. It supposedly had to do with menopause causing the loss of my collagen and elastin.
I felt like I looked quite frightful. It freaked me out. I didn’t recognize myself.
Was I going to have to get plastic surgery—another thing that frightens me? I actually watched such videos.
I also began applying my old serum and old moisturizer much more heavily, thinking that’s what my skin needed. After months, I realized they were doing nothing for my new problem.
At the same time, I went to multiple spa treatments, thinking that’s what my skin now needed. After months, I realized that those were doing nothing for my new problem.
No product or treatment helped.
Then, thankfully, I realized my skin had changed, but I hadn’t changed my daily skincare routine to match my skin’s new needs. Ah ha.
Once I realized that, I placed an order for OSEA’s Advanced Protection Cream. And once I began applying it each morning to my face and neck, my skin appeared dramatically different.
My dry, crepey skin appeared to be a moister, plumper, slightly lifted version. My shriveling and curdling appeared dramatically reduced.
I think my skin looks so much better now. I am so much happier now. I am grateful to be this age now—alive.
I’m still aging, of course, because I’m alive. That is normal.
But I no longer feel like an old tree trunk, with dried, shredded bark about to fall off. I now feel like a moister tree trunk, with smoother bark.
OSEA’s Advanced Protection Cream has been a lifesaver for my sensitive and now (menopausal) dry skin … while I travel and live in both moist and dry climates.
Seaglow Overnight Serum (My OSEA Malibu AHA/Exfoliator)
An important thing I have to remember is that if I want my cleanser and moisturizer to work properly on my skin, I must exfoliate regularly. So I buy OSEA’s Seaglow Overnight Serum.
Interestingly, Seaglow Overnight Serum is not marketed for sensitive skin, yet it works incredibly well on mine. I discovered this after receiving a sample (in my order) with special instructions…
“Use at night, after cleanser. Use 1-2 times a week, or as needed.
“Apply 1-2 pumps to clean, dry face. Allow to absorb. Avoid eye area.
“For added hydration, or for those with more sensitive skin, top it off with a thin layer of moisturizer…
“Seaglow Resurfacing Scrub and Seaglow Overnight Serum should not be used together, instead use on alternative days as to not over exfoliate skin.
“Sunburn Alert: This product contains an Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA) that may increase your skin’s sensitivity to the sun and particularly the possibility of sunburn.
“Use sunscreen, wear protective clothing and limit sun exposure while using this product and for a week afterwards.”
I am so thankful for that sample, that opportunity to try this product, and for the result.
I like that this alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) treatment is made from naturally derived acids. I tend to think natural acids at lower concentrations are safer for my skin.
Prior to this, I was purchasing and loving OSEA’s other exfoliants—they also worked great on my skin. However, the Seaglow Overnight Serum truly works best for my lifestyle right now.
Specifically, while traveling right now, marinas and campgrounds are where we often shower, so I don’t have endless access to running water. Thus, my bathroom time is limited.
I find it so much easier to apply Seaglow Overnight Serum the night before I shower. I let it work on resurfacing my skin overnight, as I sleep.
The next morning, I find it easy to cleanse off this serum in the shower. Afterward, my skin seems doubly smooth and a tad brighter.
The more I use OSEA’s Seaglow Overnight Serum, the more I feel like I’m witnessing the refurbishing of my skin. The cell turnover. The regeneration.
The key, for me, is to remember to use it! One can so easily forget, which is not fair to one’s cleanser or moisturizer. The proof is in the use.
If my skin starts to look less than lovely, I know I’ve been forgetting this step, which doesn’t do me any favors. I want my cleanser and moisturizer to have direct access to exfoliated skin.
So I need to keep important reminders from OSEA close by, to focus on what I’m doing and why…
“Don’t exfoliate more than twice to three times a week … [to] help avoid skin irritation, inflammation, and flakiness … tell-tale signs of over-exfoliating … lead to dryness and tightness over time
“It’s also important to consider your skin type⁵
“Physical exfoliation might be better for sensitive skin … to control the intensity of the scrubbing
“Dry … oily … blemish-prone skin benefit from chemical exfoliants … clear away flaky skin and pore congestion
“Balanced, combination, or mature skin … both physical and chemical exfoliants are likely to work well
“Wash your face and body thoroughly before
“If you use a physical exfoliant, massage it on the face and body skin for a minute or so before washing it off
“Remember to pat your skin gently to dry off
“After exfoliating, wait a few minutes before applying additional skincare products
“Your skin … needs … moisturization, as exfoliation can take away … natural oils … dead cells
“Moisturizers … rehydrate to prevent the dryness, itchiness, and tightness associated with … exfoliated skin
“When skin is hydrated, it’s easier to control oil production, as sebaceous glands won’t provide more sebum to prevent dryness
“Hydration also keeps the moisture barrier intact, which helps the moisture stay in your skin
“Exfoliating eliminates the top layer of dry skin cells, so applying sunscreen will protect the sensitive skin while it recovers
“Before you go outside … apply sunscreen … protect… from UVA and UVB rays and skin-harming external forces … to prevent photodamage—regardless of how often you exfoliate…”