Drunk Elephant Mello Marula Cream Cleanser

Editor's Take

Among cream cleansers, this one earns its shelf space: marula oil and colloidal oatmeal soften a thorough wash without turning the rinse into a grease slick.

Four-pillar formula scores

• Performance: 8.5 / 10
• Innovative Ingredients: 7.8 / 10
• Clean Standards: 8.1 / 10
• Formula Sustainability: 9.1 / 10

The Verdict

The mild isethionate surfactants cleanse well while glycerin, plant oils, and amino acids help preserve the comfortable after-feel. Colloidal oatmeal gives sensitive or dry skin another useful buffer against post-wash tightness. A synthetic polymer and conventional preservatives prevent stricter clean certification, though the overall environmental profile remains strong. This is a top-tier cream cleanser for daily washing, not merely a moisturizer with bubbles.

Is Drunk Elephant Mello Marula Cream Cleanser clean?

DARE scores Drunk Elephant Mello Marula Cream Cleanser by Drunk Elephant 8.1 / 10 on Clean Standards, the human-health pillar of the Formulation Architecture Model™. That reading comes from the published INCI list read as a system — preservative, fragrance and surfactant choices in context — not from flagging single ingredients in isolation.

What are the key ingredients in Drunk Elephant Mello Marula Cream Cleanser?

The formula leads with Water/Aqua/Eau, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol. DARE reads the full INCI list below in order, so position and pairing shape how each ingredient contributes under Performance and Innovative Ingredients.

How does DARE score Drunk Elephant Mello Marula Cream Cleanser?

Under the Formulation Architecture Model™, Drunk Elephant Mello Marula Cream Cleanser by Drunk Elephant scores Performance 8.5 / 10, Clean Standards 8.1 / 10, Innovative Ingredients 7.8 / 10, and Formula Sustainability 9.1 / 10. Each pillar is scored from the finished formula rather than from isolated ingredient flags.

Read the Formulation Architecture Model™ →

DARE vs single-ingredient apps like Yuka →

Full INCI list

Water/Aqua/Eau, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Cocamidopropyl Betaine, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetearyl Alcohol, Sodium Lauroyl Methyl Isethionate, Lauryl Glucoside, Sclerocarya Birrea Seed Oil, Sodium Methyl Oleoyl Taurate, Coconut Acid, Colloidal Oatmeal, Glyceryl Stearates, Salvia Hispanica Seed Oil, Oenothera Biennis (Evening Primrose) Oil, Caprylyl Glycol, Rosa Canina Fruit Oil, Shorea Stenoptera Seed Butter, Sodium PCA, Vanilla Planifolia Fruit Extract, Althaea Officinalis Root Extract, Sodium Lactate, Coco-Glucoside, Oleic Acid, Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer, PCA, Alanine, Arginine, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Valine, Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Sodium Isethionate, Palmitic Acid, Tocopherol, Trisodium Ethylenediamine Disuccinate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Benzoate, Aspartic Acid, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Chloride, Chlorphenesin, Phenoxyethanol, Sodium Hydroxide