There is no denying that I am a huge fan of the African Botanics line – each and every product I have used is uniquely beautiful in terms of texture and smell but more importantly they also perform. The founders of the African Botanics line, Julie and Craig Noik are also incredibly lovely people who are so passionate about what they do and really do want to create a line that is not just pleasing at face value (ie. through the general aesthetics of the brand and ingredients used in the products). They are also extremely driven to find and create products that actually do make a difference in the skin, working endlessly with scientists and botanists to not only seek the best ingredients but also making sure these ingredients work together to create results. This passion and drive shows in each and every one of their formulations and it shows as the brand has quite a following with many on Instagram – myself included!
The Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum from the African Botanics line is probably one of my favourite products in the range and quite possibly one of my favourite evening serums I have ever used. This serum ticks all the boxes for me and could easily be one of my holy grail skincare products as it does everything I could ever want. It combines a mixture of proven active ingredients and botanical extracts in its formulation to help hydrate, calm, lift and brighten my skin and in a time where I needed it most, really helped to heal my awful breakouts and boost my complexion.
****UPDATE 01/09/2018**** The Boxwalla are having this in their latest October 2018 Box! Its a great way to try this serum!! For only $49.95 you will have the chance to try this full size beauty. My affiliate link here (but you don’t have to use it!)
***Please note that this item was kindly gifted to me by African Botanics with no expectation of anything in return. However, I absolutely love, love, LOVE this serum and I just had to share how much I enjoyed using this product with everyone. All opinions are my own and are my honest opinions, and I just honestly love this serum.
What Is It?
The African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is quite simply a serum that is of a lightweight gel texture that sinks easily into the skin without leaving a heavy residue.
What Does It Do?
The Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum promises to be a powerful serum to be used in the evening and helps the skin with anti-aging issues by lifting, brightening, hydrating, firming and overall giving a more radiant complexion. In a nutshell, this serum promises to do a little bit of everything for the skin in terms of protection and treatment.
Ingredients:
Aqua (Water), Hamamelis Virginia (Witch Hazel) Distillate Oil, Vegetable Glycerin, Arnica Cordifolia Extract, Aloe Ferox (Bitter Aloe) Leaf Extract*, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Extract, Myrothamnus Flabellifolius (Resurrection) Plant Extract, Sambucus Nigra (Elder) Flower Extract, Malva Sylvestris (Mallow) Extract, Hedera Helix (Ivy) Extract, Anacyclus Pyrethrum (Pellitory) Extract, Panthenol, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein, Sodium Hyaluronate (Hyaluronic Acid), Phytic Acid, Sclerocarya Birrea (Marula)* Seed Oil, Adansonia Digitata (Baobab)* Seed Oil, Linoleic Acid, Kigelia Africana Fruit Extract*, Sorbitol, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Ascorbyl Methylsilanol Pectinate, Urtica Dioica (Nettle) Extract, Equisetum Arvense (Horsetail) Extract, Hydrocotyl (Centella Asiatica) Gotu Kola Extract, Chamomile Martricaria Extract*, Chlorella Vulgaris (Green Algae) Extract, Lepidium Sativum Sprout (Swiss Garden Cress) Extract, Lecithin, Aspalathus Linearis (Rooibos Tea) Extract, Pichia/Resveratrol Ferment Extract, Retinyl Palmitate, Palmitoyl Tripeptide-5, Citrus Aurantium (Neroli) Essential Oil, Eriocephalus Punctulatus (Cape Chamomile)* Essential Oil, Rosmarinus Officinalis (Rosemary)* Leaf Essential Oil.
*Organic and Wild-Harvested Ingredients.
My Thoughts:
If you told me I was only allowed to use one serum for the rest of my life – I would most definitely pick the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum as the serum to use. It has definitely become one of my favourites in my skincare stash and has become an item I like to reach for on a regular basis. When I travel – I am rarely without this. You might wonder, what makes the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum so special? Well for me this serum is like the jack of all trades, it does a little bit of everything and it does it quite well. I find the serum does do what is says – it does indeed hydrate, lift, brighten and overall help maintain beautiful healthy skin.
I find that when using the Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum, the first thing that I do notice is that my skin is instantly calmer and redness is dramatically reduced once I apply this serum on the skin. This serum is recommended to be used in the evening due to the addition of Vitamin A and when I wake up in the morning, I notice that my skin looks even in tone, complexion is lifted, skin is definitely more hydrated and most importantly I have a healthy lit from within glow. This is a serum where instant results can be seen – who doesn’t love that instant hit of gratification?!
In the slightly longer term, the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum has also shown some amazing results. I used this serum almost every night for two and half weeks when I was in Malaysia and in the Maldives recently (prior to that I used this serum on and off depending on my skin and my mood). At that point in time my skin was AWFUL. I had experienced some awful breakouts due to stress in the weeks leading up to the big day and I definitely have some scarring and pigment from the breakouts. When using this serum (in conjunction with face oils) in that 2.5 week period, my overall skin has definitely improved. The difference in my skin has been quite remarkable – my scarring has faded and I no longer require ‘heavier than normal’ coverage with my foundation. Redness in the breakout area (mainly around my mouth) is completely gone and it is well and truly into its healing phase. The darkened spots have faded quite nicely and I haven’t really broken out since. There is no doubt that lack of stress has contributed to no further breakouts but I do personally think the speed in how the affected area has healed is largely contributed to the use of the Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum. Using this (in conjunction with Vanderohe’s No 1 Facial Oil whilst on holiday) has definitely helped brighten the skin and improve it’s overall health and appearance. My complexion is almost back to normal and when using this my skin definitely had enough hydration (especially since I spent all that time in the sun!), was plump and lifted. For the first time in a very long time, I felt that my skin was returning back to normal again and I believe the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum was in key player in that.
African Botanics in the Maldives!
So what makes this serum work so well? Looking at the ingredients overall, it is obvious that the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is definitely on the more natural/organic side of things with many plant and botanical extracts in its formulation. However, in conjunction with these extracts, there are also some clinically proven actives such as Retinol (Vitamin A), Resveratrol and Hyaluronic Acid. We all know that Retinol is huge in the skincare industry due to the fact it helps stimulate the production of new skin cells and helps to fade dark spots from sun damage or blemishes. Resveratrol is something that is most often found in grapes and in red wine and is packed full of antioxidants which help fight pollution and free radicals in which can age our skin further over time. The addition of Hyaluronic Acid helps to keep the skin hydrated, plump and fresh as this amazing ingredient helps the skin to retain water.
The plant extracts and botanicals that stand out to me in the formulation of the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is inclusion of Green Algae, Marula Oil and Swiss Garden Cress. The use of Algae in skincare is something I have discussed previously in this blog post, that algae has shown promising results in being an anti-inflammatory, keeping the skin looking firm and also helping fight the effects of free radicals in the external environment. Marula on the other hand is rich in Vitamin C, which is fantastic for brightening the skin’s complexion and also contains an abundance of essential fatty acids which is crucial in keeping the skin nourished, healthy and glowing. The other interesting ingredient that has been used in the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is the use of Swiss Garden Cress Liposomes. This ingredient is regarded to be an effective in treating dark spots, age spots and hyperpigmentation and has the ability reduce the production of melanin. The reason for this is that Swiss Garden Cress is rich in sulforaphane, an antioxidant phytonutrient that inhibits pigmentation in the skin. This incredible ingredient has also been found to have an effect on brightening skin tone and fading the appearance of dark spots. The careful formulation of these ingredients in conjunction with others in the ingredient listing boasts a gentle serum which delivers potent results.
In terms of texture, the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is gel like in consistency. I like to press/pat this liquid gel in the skin (usually 1-1.5 pumps is enough for my face) and it sinks in to the skin relatively quickly and effortlessly leaving no trace of residue. It feels comfortable and lightweight on the skin and works beautifully underneath a facial oil and/or moisturiser due to the way it sinks into the skin. The packaging of the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is hygienic, travel friendly and easy to use because this serum uses a pump mechanism. In terms of scent, there is a light scent to this product due to the botanicals used. For me, I do find the smell quite pleasant but also very feint, so those who are not a huge fans of scents in skincare may find this quite tolerable. The African Botanics brand does not use artificial scents of fragrances in any of their products and any smells found are due to the botanical plants and oils used in the formulations.
Overall, I absolutely adore using the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum. This helps to calm down my skin, leaves it looking brighter, has helped with the healing of my breakouts and helped to fade scars, has kept my skin looking hydrated and most importantly has boosted the health of my general complexion post wedding and during a very ‘sun’ filled honeymoon. Whilst yes, the price is a little bit more on the luxurious side (it retails for USD$160 for a 30ml glass bottle), but if you are someone who is lazy and are looking for just one serum to use that covers most aspects of skincare – then the Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum from African Botanics is something that you should most definitely look into if its within the budget. It really does do a little bit of everything in terms of keeping skin fresh, healthy and glowing and does it impressively well.
Repurchase YAY or NAY?
The African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum was kindly gifted to me by the lovely team at African Botanics and once this has ran out (and I know it will soon), I will most definitely be looking to repurchase as I love it that much. The Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum is possibly one of my favourite evening serums that I have used to date as its ingredients are not only gentle on my skin but my skin loves this and it has shown through some of the fantastic results that I have had from using this both over a period of time but also on and off.
A 30ml bottle of the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum will cost USD$160 from African Botanics, GPB£132.00 from Cultbeauty and AUD$233 from Mecca Cosmetica. However, the Boxwalla are having this in their latest October 2018 Box! Its a great way to try this serum!! For only $49.95 you will have the chance to try this full size beauty. My affiliate link here (but you don’t have to use it!)One to two pumps is all that is required to cover the face, so you will find that a little does go a long way with this precious serum!
Have you used the African Botanics Resurrection Cell Recovery Serum? What did you think? Have you used anything else from the African Botanics range? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Featured 
Sep 2, 2018 First Impressions of Jurlique’s New Botanicals Cleanser Range Sep 2, 2018 Sep 2, 2018 
Aug 5, 2018 Empties Part 2 – May/June/July 2018 Edition Aug 5, 2018 Aug 5, 2018 
Jul 22, 2018 Empties Part 1 – May/June/July 2018 Edition Jul 22, 2018 Jul 22, 2018 
Jul 15, 2018 Moss Skincare’s Beurre Celeste Cleansing Balm Might Just Be the Best Cleanser I Have Ever Used (Review) Jul 15, 2018 Jul 15, 2018 
Jun 17, 2018 Au Naturale Beauty with Bobbi Brown – First Impressions Jun 17, 2018 Jun 17, 2018 
Jun 14, 2018 Unboxing MINTD Box’s “Explore”June Edit Jun 14, 2018 Jun 14, 2018 
May 21, 2018 Getting that Healthy Glow with Goldfaden MD Brightening Elixir (Review) May 21, 2018 May 21, 2018 
Apr 28, 2018 March/April Empties 2018 Apr 28, 2018 Apr 28, 2018 
Apr 15, 2018 Save or Splurge? Lancôme Advanced Génifique Hydrogel Melting Mask Review Apr 15, 2018 Apr 15, 2018