Botanika Life Review

Written by Tyler Swell — Edited by Cathy Rozyczko on February 9, 2021

Botanika Life offers oral CBD sprays that are conveniently pocket sized, CBD oil, and a clean line of CBD topicals. Synthetics and even more dangerous ingredients like parabens are common industry-wide in CBD topicals, so we’re always stoked to point out the vendors doing it right. But while the brand does well on this front, their failure to even mention testing protocols for their CBD oil has us reticent to go all in with Botanika Life.

Botanika Life wants to bring people the four h’s — health, happiness, harmony, and a holistic lifestyle — through their catalog of CBD products designed to bring balance to body and mind.

We hear the word ‘balance’ used a lot by CBD vendors, and it’s a good word to use. CBD binds to receptors present in our endocannabinoid system, a complex highway that interacts with all our body’s major processes. When adding cannabidiol to a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle, the endocannabinoid system functions optimally, providing the homeostasis needed to keep us feeling our best.

Full spectrum CBD oil (with other cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes present in the hemp plant) is thought to take this balance a step further by including other beneficial compounds. Botanika never uses the term ‘full spectrum’ or even ‘broad spectrum,’ but they do say that their products retain original terpenes and phytocannabinoids, leading us to believe they do not use isolate. There’s some confusion with this when it comes to their CBD oil tinctures and pumps that we’ll discuss later.

The company claims their hemp is cultivated in the U.S. but does not disclose the extraction method used. Even more concerning, they don’t mention anything about testing. Conclusively, we cannot award the Quality Badge, and we cannot be certain that Botanika’s products have accurate CBD concentration and are void of the nasty stuff like pesticides and residual solvents.

On to the products. First up, Botanika Life makes oral CBD sprays great for on-the-go dosing. They fit conveniently in your pocket and come in two formulas: oral relief and sleep with melatonin. They cost $50 and $30, respectively, and the brand sells other sprays too, but these do not contain cannabidiol.

We’re confused about the CBD oil tinctures and pumps offered by Botanika. They sell a 500 mg “Oil Tincture” and pump, the only difference being the delivery apparatus. These identical formulas (both $70) have two ingredients lists. The first includes MCT oil, phytocannabinoids, and hemp oil; the second, organic hemp oil and phytocannabinoids. Then, they offer a 500 mg “Organic Hemp Oil Tincture” and pump at the same price with identical ingredients lists.

A, what’s the difference? And B, the term ‘hemp oil’ is confusing. We think they are referring to hempseed oil, but definite clarification is needed here about what makes these products different from one another. Is one made from isolate and the other full spectrum? Too bad we don’t have test results to point us in the right direction…

Finally, Botanika has a very clean topical line with ingredients that all check out. A CBD salve, pain cream, and roll-on —though we can’t verify the quality of the CBD oil inside— have none of the chemical nasties we so often see in these types of products.

Bottom Line – We’re in the dark about the most important ingredient in Botanika Life’s products: their CBD oil. We don’t know if it’s tested or how it’s extracted, and we are confused about their tinctures that have different names but identical ingredients lists. Major clarification needed.