Osea Reviews: Are The Prices Worth It?
There are a couple of Osea reviews out there, but have you read one from an actual beauty editor? Unsurprisingly, considering my job, one of my favorite parts of my day is getting to do my skincare routine. And one of my favorite things to do in general is try out cruelty-free, clean skin care. I didn’t know very much about the brand before writing this Osea review. I had seen some of the products touted on my TikTok For You Page, and wanted to test them out to see if they lived up to all the hype.
Founded by Jenefer Palmer, Osea Malibu is best known for their vegan, natural skincare line that uses ingredients from the sea. I love the idea of this because, every time I go to the beach and take a dip in the ocean, I notice that my skin feels better for days afterward. Obviously, my skin will feel a bit salty and sticky after swimming in the sea, but I notice that the irritation, inflammation, and redness of my skin goes down significantly after I get saltwater onto it.
Because of this, I was excited to give the brand’s bestsellers a test drive and write this Osea Malibu review. Full disclosure, the brand sent me these products through my work as a beauty journalist to test for editorial consideration. Below, you will find my honest thoughts on many of their best-selling products, for both body and face. You’ll see that I liked some of the products, and wasn’t a huge fan of others.
Osea Reviews
Using ingredients like seaweed to create soothing, moisturizing, and anti-aging skincare products, Osea is a California-based brand that’s made a name for itself in the vegan skincare world. What makes this brand different from other skincare brands on the market is that it has a heavy focus on incorporating its star ingredient, seaweed, into almost every product in the line. It’s also one of the original clean beauty brands and was founded in 1996.
You will find in this Osea review that all of the products contain clean ingredients that are mostly natural and very safe for the skin. If you are concerned about using skincare products that are healthy for your skin (and the planet), investing in some Osea skincare might be your best bet.
Osea Products Review: What’s Worth It and What’s Not
Osea Vagus Nerve Oil
Okay so I think this is my latest favorite Osea product. And I don’t know why it doesn’t get more love. This shit smells incredible. So much so, that I put it on before bed one night and my husband asked me what smells so damn good.
I first discovered this oil months ago after I had an Osea facial. The esthetician rubbed the oil in her hands and had me breathe in the smell a couple of times before we began the facial. I remember thinking that I had never really smelled anything like it before. And also thinking that it really did calm my vagus nerve once I breathed it in.
If you are into essential oils, I would definitely snag this one. I like to apply it before I go to bed, or any time I’m feeling a bit stressed.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($48)
Osea Vagus Nerve Pillow Mist
This is another product I discovered during that same facial. The esthetician sprayed this in the room before I entered. It smells almost identical to the Vagus Nerve Oil, but it’s not as strong as the oil. I also like to spritz this around my bed when I go to sleep. Although I do notice that i tend to use the oil more often than the spray. Probably because the oil scent lasts longer on my wrists and helps me fall asleep while I sniff it.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($38)
Osea Undaria Algae Body Butter
This thick, creamy, dreamy body butter is loaded with shea butter, ceramides, and of course, seaweed, to thoroughly hydrate skin for up to 72 hours. This body butter is hella rich, but also somehow soaks into the skin pretty damn fast considering how thick it is.
I like to use it after I get out of the shower. It’s honestly probably one of the thickest body butters I’ve ever tried. And, considering I’ve worked as a beauty editor for about eight years, that’s a lot of body butter I’ve tested previously!
I think this has a nice scent. You can expect notes of grapefruit, lime, cypress, and mango mandarin. I feel like the scent is a more energizing one, rather than a calming fragrance. I usually like to take showers at night, so it would be nice to have a calm-scented Osea body butter to apply at night. But that’s my only gripe with it. Yes, it’s pricey, but I can tell it’s going to last me a very long time.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($56)
Osea Undaria Algae Body Oil
The Osea Undaria Algae Body Oil is probably one the brand’s most popular products, if not the most popular. I’m not usually a huge fan of body oils because they just never soak into my skin and instead leave my body feeling greasy. For whatever reason, I don’t seem to have a problem with this pick. It soaks into my skin pretty fast and I never notice a greasy feeling each time I apply it to my body after the shower.
I think that this body oil does a nice job of hydrating my skin, but I feel like the body butter moisturizes my skin a tad more than this body oil. I feel like the body butter is better for winter, and the body oil is more optimal for summer. It has the same fragrance as the body butter, which is heavy on the citrus notes.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($52)
Osea Vagus Nerve Bath Oil
Admittedly, I haven’t actually tried this one. But considering I’m obsessed with the Vagus Nerve Oil and the Vagus Nerve Pillow Mist, I can only imagine how wonderful this smells. I basically live in my bathtub, so I’m always trying new bath products, especially bath oils.
While I love a great bath oil, the only problem I find with some oils is that they make the bottom of your tub slippery. Not sure if that happens with this particular bath oil, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re prone to falls or you don’t want to have to wipe down your bath each time you use it. For me personally, it’s absolutely worth it.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($48)
Osea Hyaluronic Sea Serum
I have mixed feelings about this serum. First off, I love the sea green color and I also like the bottle, too. It feels very elevated and looks nice in my bathroom. I like that this serum is safe to use on sensitive, acne-prone skin as well as on dry skin. You shouldn’t expect to break out from this pick.
I also love the ingredients in this serum. It contains seaweed, which balances the skin’s moisture barrier. This product also contains hyaluronic acid to boost hydration levels in the skin, as well as snow mushroom, glycerin, and volcanic marine ferment to help with fine lines and wrinkles. I appreciate that the ingredients list is relatively short. To me, that usually means that the formula doesn’t have a ton of additives or preservatives.
The texture of this product feels like a sticky goo. It almost feels slimy. Some folks might love the texture of this formula, and others might not. I’ll be honest and say that I didn’t notice a huge difference in terms of hydration after using this serum. It takes a long time to absorb, which is kind of annoying.
It doesn’t really smell like anything, which could be a bonus for some. I also really love that it doesn’t irritate skin, which is a really important factor for me when choosing a product. All in all, I wasn’t totally wowed by this serum. It’s one of Osea’s bestsellers, so consumers must really love it.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($88)
Osea Ocean Eyes Age-Defying Eye Serum
I was pretty disappointed with this pick. If you like a really lightweight, watery eye formulation, you might like this option. Personally, I prefer a really rich, thick eye cream. I think thicker creams do a better job of plumping the skin and filling in the fine lines and wrinkles around the eyes.
I don’t think you will really get a ton of results after using this product. Some folks love the metal rollerball and find that the cooling effect depuffs their undereye area. I just don’t think this one is worth the price.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($58)
Osea Atmosphere Protection Cream
So I have some good news and some bad news about this facial cream. The good news is that it smells absolutely incredible, and has a really nice texture that soaks into the skin beautifully. It’s lightweight, but not so thin that it doesn’t thoroughly moisturize the skin.
The bad news is that I think that a few of the ingredients might be cloggy for some folks who have really sensitive or acne-prone skin. I like to check all my products with the Sofie Pavitt Ingredients Checker to see if they have any pore-clogging ingredients in them. According to her checker, this formulation has laminaria digitata extract and shea, which have been found to be clogging. (Side note: This is the best skin care for acne prone skin that I’ve tried!)
Personally, I haven’t really found an issue with this pick. I actually like to use shea butter on my face and I know that it doesn’t irritate my skin. I think that if you don’t have acne-prone or really sensitive skin, you should be totally fine with this pick.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($54)
Osea Advanced Protection Cream
This is a really, really beautiful formulation. It’s pretty thick and I think it would be ideal for dry, wintertime skin. It contains a vegan retinol alternative, which could be great for folks who are looking for an anti-aging night cream.
What’s interesting about this pick is that it has no fragrance that I can smell, but its sister moisturizer, Osea Atmosphere Protection Cream, smells strongly of essential oils. I think that people with oily skin types are not going to like this formula, as it is really thick. I would recommend it more for people with dry, mature skin.
One of the problems with this formula is that it might be cloggy to some, according to Sofie Pavitt’s Ingredients Checker. It contains isostearyl isostearate and shea, which are known to clog pores. If you have really acne-prone skin, you might want to avoid this pick.
This cream is $108, and while I know that is a steep price for a skincare product, I think the price is fair. The formulation is really luxe-feeling, and it contains clean, high-quality ingredients that work to target signs of aging, dryness, irritation, and dullness, too.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($108)
Osea Salts of the Earth Body Scrub
This scrub is super hydrating on the skin and it has a nice, light scent of floral lavender. It comes in a big tub and I know it will last me a long time. It contains salt, shea butter, and seaweed to gently exfoliate skin while softening your body, too.
One of the issues with this salt scrub is that it is pretty oily. The second ingredient on the list is safflower seed oil. Because it’s so oily, it tends to leave a slippery film on the bottom of my tub, which is pretty annoying. But other than that, I think it does a great job of exfoliating and hydrating with natural ingredients.
Available at OSEA Malibu ($48)
Is Osea Worth It?
I think that some of the products are worth the price, and others are not! I really love the body oil, the body butter, and the two face creams. They leave my skin feeling like I just took a dip in the ocean. I don’t think the eye serum is worth the price, though. If you like a lightweight serum with natural ingredients, consider trying the Sea Serum. And if you are a big on body scrubs, the Salts of the Earth Body Scrub is worth the cost, especially because it comes in a relatively large tub.
I love that this brand uses ingredients from the sea to benefit your skin—you don’t find that too often in other skincare brands. I also love that you can use these products knowing that you aren’t harming your body in any way. The issue I have with some of the face products (specifically the creams) is that they might be cloggy for some. But other than that, I think this brand is worth the cost—everything comes in nice glass packaging, too!
Where To Buy Osea Products
You can purchase OSEA Malibu products on their website!
I hope you enjoyed my Osea reviews! Interested in checking out another skincare brand that I know won’t break me out? This Paula’s Choice Skincare Set does wonders in calming my complexion and soothing my easily irritated skin.
