Live Botanical Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir: Review

Live Botanical Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir Mini

Live Botanical is a brand that is pretty new to me and popped up as I was looking into clean/green/natural skincare brands to try. Two main things struck me about the brand, firstly that it was fairly priced without being crazy expensive and secondly that they grow many of the herbs and plants used in their products themselves or try to source them regionally if possible. 

I love the beautiful card that came with my order!

The majority of their products come in glass containers to cut down on plastic and the boxes are paper without plastic wrapping. The only plastic I could find was in the pump tops which are difficult if not impossible to make without plastic. Another excellent aspect of the company is that they have trial/mini sizes of many of their products (I purchased this Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir in the trial size), which are generously sized to really give you a feel for the product, but aren’t full sized so you can tell whether you like the product for your skin before committing fully.

Run by a lovely woman Carolyn McRory (who was very helpful and patient when I reached out with a couple product ingredient questions), she has background education in herbalism and makes the products herself too! She also grows many of the ingredients for the products right there in Portland Oregon and makes the products in small batches. They often use fresh herbs instead of dried if possible, and really focus on the quality of the ingredients- such as using the herbs at peak freshness and choosing unrefined oils for full benefits. All the ingredients are biodegradable and cruelty-free. The only animal-based ingredients are some from local bees. 

 

Close-up of the lovely artwork on the label

They also use dark glass bottles to help conserve the ingredients longer. Not only does this make the products last longer it gives the whole brand an awesome specialty apothecary vibe. I love their line art on the boxes and the labels- so simple and pretty! 

Live Botanical really focuses on being environmentally conscious and they give back to Indigenous People and Environmental Stewardship groups, which is awesome. All in all, I feel that Live Botanical is a great little gem of a company. I feel they really live up to the slogan I found on their website: Beautiful. Fresh. Responsible. Simple.

 

Full-size bottle of the Clarifying Elixir (image from the Live Botanical website)

The first things I tried from the company were their organic bamboo/organic hemp face cloth (upcoming review), their Illuminating Exfoliating Serum (I’m still testing this one so it will also be in an upcoming review) and the star of this post, their Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir.

I’m going to start this by being completely honest in that I rarely use facial mists. I find them to mostly be disappointing and/or useless. I purchased the Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir on a whim with the hopes it would maybe help add moisture to my skin right before I put a mask on, thus trapping the liquid in. So, this product had those pre-conceived notions to overcome.

Trial-size of the Clarifying Elixir (Image from Live Botanical website)

I was really pleasantly surprised by the Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir. It smells firstly of spearmint then a touch of ginger and sweet herbs. The scent isn’t too strong, and it dissipates quickly after spraying. I’m not a huge fan of spearmint but I enjoy this. Important to note is that there is no added fragrance to this- all of the scent comes from the ingredients which all have a purpose for your skin. 

What I liked the most about this mist is that it’s slightly mattifying on the skin. This is wonderful for late afternoon and I’ve begun to get oily or if it’s warm, a little sweaty. I love spraying this on and it is very refreshing, and it takes the oily/sticky feeling on the skin down significantly. Now the oiliness doesn’t disappear, but the feeling of oiliness on the skin reduces. The mist itself is fine too which helps a lot as it feels more soothing somehow.

On the skin this is not tacky (slightly matte) to the touch and sinks in quickly. It doesn’t stain clothes and if accidently breathed in closely after spraying (as I have done- try not to do this) it is only sweetly herbal in taste. Make sure you close your eyes before you spray too!

The only thing I’m not sure about would be the clarifying aspect of this. Mainly this is due to the fact that my skin is very rarely clear from acne and congestion. I really like that this product has clarifying ingredients in it though as my skin can use all the help it can get.

The ingredients in this are wonderful, and for the Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir 92% regionally sourced! I recommend reading the product pages on Live Botanical to get more of an understanding for what certain ingredients are for and why they are included in the formula of the products. Carolyn explains them all really clearly. Here’s the full ingredients list:

aloe barbadensis juice*^, mentha spicata (spearmint) hydrosol*^, zingiber officinale (ginger) hydrosol*^, distilled water (and) palm-free vegetable glycerin* (and) spiraea ulmaria (meadowsweet) extract*^ (and) glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract*^ (and) arctium lappa (burdock) root extract*^, populus tremuloides (aspen) extract* and lactobacillus ferment 

*organic   |   ^regionally sourced

I honestly didn’t think this would be as lovely as it has turned out to be. I am loving it for the current sporadic warm weather and look forward to using it even more during the hot summer to come. This is great when you want to take the icky feeling away from the skin but don’t want to disturb the underlying skincare, sunscreen and/or makeup yet as it isn’t the end of the day. I also like to add it into my routine in the morning right after I wash my face as it helps my serum glide on my skin a little more easily. It’s also lovely smelling so it adds a bit of pizazz to my routine. One thing to remember is that this should be shaken first before use. 

You can find Live Botanical through their website (check for coupon codes they often have them, plus they have a flat rate $15 USD shipping rate for Canadians), Integrity Botanicals, and if you’re in Canada, The Green Jungle Beauty Shop. The Fresh Complexion Clarifying Elixir retails for $38 USD or $52 CND for their full 100 ml size and $14 USD (not available on the Canadian retailer) for the 15 ml trial/mini size. This product has a 6-month freshness guarantee and the best before date is labelled on the paper box that it comes in (which I appreciate, I can never remember when I purchased things).

Sprite Rating: 8.5/10

I really like this addition to my routine, and I am highly tempted to get the larger size of this for the coming summer! I will be purchasing it again when I can swing it. I’m looking to try some of their other products too.