African Botanics was one of those brands where I read the inci lists of their products and immediately fell in love. Eco Luxe at it's finest. African Botanics mixes science and natural ingredients which is what I love the most in skincare. I love the time old traditions of natural plant extracts, but as a nurse I also love science and want more than just natural ingredients. I have found several products from African Botanics that are becoming hero products for me. In all honesty I almost have to have an African Botanics product touch my face everyday. A little obsessed maybe?
I splurged on the new Fleurs d'Afrique Intensive Recovery Cream for my birthday last year. I'm so glad I did (even though the price tag does give me some pain). Details per African Botanics:
From a distant world of truly wild and remote locations far from all civilization and light pollution in the most southern hemisphere of Africa, there is eternal beauty that endures all time. Where exotic night blooms, indigenous African Desert and Bush Plants™ have adapted to survive the challenges of their environment - harnessed and captured with a potent concentration of highly advanced marine biotechnology that is packed with anti-aging, anti-inflammatory, soothing and healing properties.
Key Benefits Enhanced with a unique Blue Marine Micro Algae and a high concentration of plant peptides, this light, multi-correcting face cream stimulates cell renewal, plumps, protects and envelops the skin. Restores skin’s density and bounce while improving texture and luminosity. Deeply hydrates, infuses skin with moisture. Helps fade and fight the signs of aging skin: fine lines, wrinkles, blemishes, inflammation, dryness and sagging skin. Strengthens skin’s barrier and offers superior protection from free radical damage. Promotes firming and toning of the skin with ultra-light and silky texture. Soothes, calms and reduces redness, speeding the recovery of the damaged cells.
Directions Suitable for all skin types. Use AM and PM to increase hydration, replenish moisture, soothe and de-stress the skin while firming and promoting rapid repair. Apply to face, neck and décolleté. Glide in gentle strokes along jawline up towards the ears from the center of your face towards temples and from the base of your neck upward to boost circulation. For skin in need of intense hydration, apply a few drops of Intensive Recovery Oil before applying the cream.
The texture is actually a lighter cream despite the name intensive. For being so light this cream does have quite a bit of moisturizing properties. This has become my go to cream when I want results combined with soothing hydration without a heavy feel. It's never greasy, oily or heavy. Just hydrating, nourishing and calming. The color of the cream is a lovely pistachio color. The scent is a mixture of natural oils, jasmine and a variety of other light plant extracts. It's light and not overpowering--no added fragrance.
I prefer to use this as my night cream. I live in a hot and humid environment & I can't get away with this on days. This cream always sinks right in and keeps my skin hydrated all night long. I wake up with happy, hydrated skin that feels calm and soothed. This cream comes packaged in a luxe, heavyweight, matte black glass jar.
I liked this cream at first, then found myself reaching for it more often. Slowly it's creeped it's way up to being a hero product for me. If I could only have three creams for night and nothing else it would be this, Zelens 3t Complex and Allies of Skin 1A Overnight Mask. Though Votary's new Super Seed Nutrient Cream is also working its way up there too.
This cream contains jasmine flower water which has antioxidants and helps balance the skin. Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract is another version of aloe. Grown in arid conditions, like South Africa, it's also known as cape aloe or bitter aloe. There's some reports that aloe ferox aids in wound healing and inhibits microbial growth. There's even a study that shows aloe ferox to be superior to standard aloe in its anti-inflammatory aide to the skin. Cape Mahogany butter was a new one for me. Also known as Mafura butter it's rich in palmitic, stearic, oleic and linoleic fatty acids. It's also antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory. Add in some sodium hyaluronate and rice protein for hydration and calming/soothing.
Gotu Kola is rich in amino acids and fatty acids. Soy protein is soothing and an antioxidant. Vitamin E, Vitamin C Ester & Resveratrol are well known antioxidants. Cylindrotheca Fusiformis is a blue marine micro algae that stimulates cellular proliferation and increases collagen synthesis. Green Coffee Extract is a potent antioxidant as well as anti-inflammatory. I've been seeing this in all the African Botanics products and I love it. Oxido Reductases are enzymes that block oxygen from doing environmental damage. CoQ10 is soothing and an antioxidant.
I talked about the Resurrection Plant more in the recent review of the eye cream HERE. The basic roles of the plant extract are an antioxidant & increasing production of elastin and collagen. It also helps increase skin elasticity and radiance. Roobois extract is native to South Africa. It's rich in flavinoids, antioxidants as well as soothing and anti-inflammatory. I love arnica extract. It's anti-inflammatory and helps with wound healing. I actually rub arnica gel on my sore muscles.
Next up is emollients like mango seed butter, marula oil, baobab, kalahari seed oil, Mongongo kernel oil, cucumber extract & rosehip oil. Then you have caffein which is a powerful antioxidant, it increases circulation/reduces capillary size so it can also reduce redness, it also has natural anti-inflammatory benefits to the skin. Niacinamide is a vitamin B3 derivative that helps with hyper-pigmentation, reducing fine lines and wrinkles and can improve elasticity of the skin. It's also antioxidant and anti-inflammatory as well. That's why you see it everywhere, it's an anti-aging powerhouse.
I've used quite a bit of luxury face creams including La Mer. This is easily in my top three because it performs and produces noticeable results. It so well rounded and helps with every aspect of aging--pigmentation, antioxidant protection, reducing inflammation, restoring hydration and increasing elasticity in the skin, improves skin texture, stimulates cellular renewal. I could go on but you get the idea. It does what it says. Not all creams do that. Yes it will cost you some pain when you purchase it, but it's so worth it. This is an amazing well rounded cream that easily earned and deserves to be in my hero products.
Ingredients
Jasmine Flower Water, Aloe Ferox Leaf Extract, Trichilia Emetica (Cape Mahogany) Butter*, Sodium Hyaluronate, Hydrolyzed Rice Protein, Centella Asiatica (Gotu Kola) Leaf Extract, Hydrolyzed Soybean Fiber, Hydrolyzed Soy Protein, Hydrolyzed Millet, Hydrolyzed Pea, Verbena officinalis (Vervain) Extract, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract, Jasmine Grandiflorum (Jasmine) Flower Oil, Tocopherol, Cylindrotheca Fusiformis (Microalgae) Extract, Resveratrol, Green Coffee Extract, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Protein, Oxido Reductases, Ubiquinone (CoQ10), Myrothamus Flabellifolius (Resurrection) Plant, Panthenol, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter*, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula) Seed Oil, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab)*, Citrillus Lanatus (Kalahari Melon)* Seed Oil, Schinziophyton Rautanenii (Mongongo) Kernel Oil, Cyclopia Genistoides (Honeybush) Leaf Extract, Bulbinella Nutens Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Extract, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl Alcohol, Vegetable Glycerin, Schinziophyton Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Copper Gluconate, Niacinamide, Anthemis Nobilis (Roman Chamomile), Rosa Mosqueta (Rosehip) Oil, Caffein, Tetrahexyldecyl Ascorbate (Vitamin C Ester), Saccharide Isomerate, Pearl Powder, Arnica Cordifolia Extract, Aspalathus Linearis (Rooibos) Extract, Calendula, Diamond microspheres, Citrus Bergamia Oil, Ethylhexylglycerin, Phenoxyethanol.
*Wild-Harvested. Not tested on animals. Formulated without silicones, mineral oils, parabens, allergens, phthalates, synthetic fragrances, PEGs and SLSs.
