Rituals has plenty of gorgeous products (their deodorants, facial cleansers, body creams and fragrances are my go-tos), and I think most people could pick out a favourite "ritual" (collection) from their offer. There's the Sakura line (cherry blossom, my pick), Laughing Buddha (orange and cedar wood), Tao (white lotus and yi yi ren), Hammam (eucalyptus and rosemary), Oriental Dream (cocoa and almond) and, finally, the collection I will be talking about today: Ayurveda. The Ayurveda line is based on Indian rose (complemented with almond and honey), and since my sister goes weak in the knees for anything rose-scented, the Ayurveda ritual is her fav.
Which is kind of ironic, because we grew up with these super New-Age parents who seemed to be into some new Deepak Chopra book or lentil dish or yogi tea every week. I grew up surrounded by stuff like Ayurvedic cookbooks and I remember my dad telling me my Dosha nature was the Vata. I can't say that their overbearing weirdness sparked an affinity with the whole concept of Ayurveda with me - give me ratio over faith and mindfulness and all that shiz any day of the week. But here we are, 15 years later, with me giving my favourite little sister a gorgeous gift box containing most of the Rituals Ayurveda collection. She could use a little pick-me-up because she's been buried under an avalance of school work, and that's where big sisters come in!
I mean, would you say that this is the prettiest beauty product gift box you've ever seen? Just try to deny it. Dat ribbon is turning me on.
I appreciate fancy teas - and I know my sister does too. That's the thing about siblings, you've experienced the same shit in your past, and you know what made them the person they are today. Both of us grew up in a household where no one drank any coffee, but our parents did make custom, bespoke-ass tea mixes of stuff like cinnamon sticks and dried dandelion. As much as I wasn't into yogi tea (I'll never be into a mix of sweet and spicy), our regular tea consumption didn't just yellow our teeth: it also instilled a life long love of the regular version of the drink in my sister and I. The mix of the delicate rose and the kick of the ginger is a great, warming combination.
This salt scrub though. There are few things that are as good at relaxing my stressed out bod as a soak in the tub and a good scrub (rhymin' like my name be 'Ye), and I know my sis is just as stress prone as I am, so I think she'll luuuuv this one. The salt scrub is nice and rough, for some heavy duty dead skin cell removal, but it's also PACKED with oils (almond oil, olive oil, peach kernel oil, macadamia oil etc), so it leaves your skin nice and hydrated. And that combination of the smooth, gourmand almond and the heady, seductive rose is pretty divine. A very nicely rounded smell, not sharp and one note like some other similar brands tend to produce.
Two other gorgeous products: the foaming shower gel (which also has that soothing almond-indian rose scent), and the Ayurveda bed and body mist, which combines the indian rose base with a honey scent. No words for this one, my sis and I are both obsessed with anything honey (we always drink our tea with honey, too), and you really have to drop by your local Rituals shop to check out that fragrance!
SCENTED CANDLE! Indian rose and almond oil again, which is a good thing because the almond makes the indian rose scent a bit more calming, softer, aka perfect for a scented candle. Again, both my sis and I are obsessed with scented candles (I have been known to ask her to bring me as much Ikea vanilla candles as she can carry home with her when she's visiting Ikea), so I have an inkling that this one is her fav from the gift box.
Not pictured: the Honey Touch body cream. I kept that one for myself because I'm a big sis and I always get first pick, haha. There's some other gorgeous stuff in the Ayurveda line (body oil, shampoo, conditioner, hand lotion, hand soap, scented oil sticks and a clay based scrub), so if you're as into rose scented product as my sis is, the line is WELL worth checking out. The gift box you can buy at Rituals is a little less stuffed with goodies than this one, but you can obviously add more products to the box if you are so inclined. the Ayurveda gift box goes for €38,50, which gets you €59,50 worth of products. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me!
Pics by my sister Naomi.
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