Rituals: No. 07 White Patchouli + Cedar Wood Eau de Parfum

I'll admit that I didn't immediately fall for this perfume. I had sampled it a couple of times at the Rituals stores but I had always found the scent too spicy for my liking.

I ended up owning this Rituals No. 07 White Patchouli + Cedar Wood Eau de Parfum anyway when I bought that Perfume Collection for Women boxset which contained three mini (10ml) bottles of Rituals perfumes. The other two in the box were No. 04 Violet + White Lily and No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange.

Well, I've been using No. 07 now and then in the past few months and I gotta say, it has grown on me.

No. 07 opens sharp and strong - spicy and sandalwoody (both of which I don't quite fancy) - but somewhere in there, there is a sweet floral accent that I had previously missed. I guess I was too distracted by the spiciness to have noticed this elegant element and, consequently, had written No. 07 off prematurely.

After a while, No. 07 settles into something less sandalwoody, still floral sweet but very peppery. It's like falling onto a cushy bed of flowers but passing through a cloud of pepper on the way.

I like this perfume best after many hours on my skin. Much of the pepperiness is gone and what is left is a sweet, warm, musky scent with just a ghost of the spiciness left. Cosy!

That's how I would describe No. 07.

The creator of this perfume is Geneva-based perfumer, Catherine Selig. She describes No. 07 this way:

My inspiration is to blend the soul of the woman with the soul of the woods. Imagine the innocent purity of white patchouli and the mysterious warm notes of cedar.

The Rituals Eau de Parfums come in 50ml bottles and they retail for €39.90 each. The Perfume Collection for Women boxset (with three mini 10ml bottles) retails for €24.90. You can view the clean-cut regular-size bottle (also with the rustic wooden cap) in my feature on my first Rituals perfume: the very lovely No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea EDP.

Rituals says that its perfumes are made based on natural ingredients and using only organic alcohol. Since my first post on its perfumes, Rituals has updated the range. There are now four perfumes in each of the ranges for men and for women.


To view the other Rituals perfumes:
Rituals websites
- Dutch
- English (UK)

Rituals: No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange Eau de Parfum

This little bottle of perfume came in a set of three, all cute and mini. Rituals Cosmetics released two perfume giftsets last month - a Perfume Collection for Women and a Perfume Collection for Men - each consisting of a selection of three 10ml bottles of Rituals' perfumes.

The Perfume Collection For Women contains

• No. 4 Violet + White Lily
• No. 7 White Patchouli + Cedar Wood
• No. 9 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange

The Perfume Collection For Men contains

• No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli
• No. 14 Fresh Cypress + Tangerine
• No. 21 Sandalwood + Patchouli

Each box retails for €24.90.

I'll be doing little features on each of the perfumes in the women's boxset which I bought last month. I'll start off with No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange (bottle on the right in the box).

When Rituals launched its range of perfumes last year, they said in its press release that this perfume No. 09 was inspired by soul songstress, Joss Stone. It seems that the founder of Rituals, Raymond Cloosterman, met the singer backstage after her concert and she mentioned that she loves mixing orange essential oil with vanilla to create her own unique perfume. So, there! I like Joss Stone's style but I don't care much for name-dropping and celebrity-related/-inspired/-created scents. I just thought you should know how the idea of this perfume came about.

This is what the creator of No. 09, Jean-Michel Zenhausern, a Geneva-based perfumer, says:

Imagine a warm, starry night in magnificent Marrakech...where sparkling facets of the Orange tree contrast with the sensuality of precious Vanilla Drops.

An oriental, fruity, sensual fragrance.

No. 09 starts off with a citrus explosion: orange, fresh, loud but not tart. The vanilla creeps in a couple of minutes later to tone down the perkiness of the orange. The citrus accent recedes further and further into the background as the roundness and heaviness of the vanilla takes full control. Somewhere in there, there is also a hint of what I think is cardamom. No. 09 dries down to an extremely powdery vanilla.

I like the opening - the scent is happy and pretty, like a gleeful fresh-faced girl - but unfortunately, it goes downhill from there. That happy girl becomes a squat middle-aged lady with too much rouge on her cheeks.

She's smiling though.

No. 09 is not quite my cup of tea.

The Rituals No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange EDP is also available in full-size 50ml bottles (Price: €39.90 - the full-size bottles have the same rustic wooden caps) and in travel-size 20ml sprays (Price: €14.90).


Further reading:
Rituals No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea Eau de Parfum
Rituals No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli Eau de Parfum
Details on their Luxury Holder and Eau de Parfum Travel Spray

Rituals: No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli Eau de Parfum

There are two things that I should first mention about this Rituals Eau de Parfum:

• No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli is a perfume for men.
• It is a new release by Rituals, making this the fourth perfume in the men's range.

Despite it being a men's perfume, I bought it for myself early this month. As mentioned in my post on the new Rituals Eau de Parfum Travel range - Luxury Holder and Refill Eau de Parfum Spray - I fell in love with this perfume right from the first spritz. I didn't even realise at first that it was a men's perfume (the display information wasn't up yet at the store).

As I was quite captivated by the new Luxury Holders, I decided to buy this perfume in this travel format, priced at €14.90 for 20ml (the Luxury Holder costs €12.90 but there is currently a special price of €24.90 if you buy the two in a set). Pictured here is my Luxury Holder - Elegant Wood.

This perfume is now also available in the full-size bottle - €39.90 for 50ml. Just like in the women's range, these full-size bottles for the men's perfumes also come with a rustic wooden cap.

Perfume
Vincent Schaller, a Paris-based perfumer and the creator of No. 10 says:

This creation is real shot of oxygen. The fragrance is built around the extreme freshness of Lemongrass and the radiance of Neroli, with a citrus aromatic character and woody undertones.

I can't quite put my finger on what it was that got me when I smelled No. 10 for the first time.

I grew up with a robust lemongrass plant in the garden - it was very handy for when my mother wanted to cook a dish which required lemongrass. So, to me, it is a smell from my childhood and a smell that I always associate with southeast Asian cooking.

However, I've never thought of lemongrass as a pretty scent. It is, well, just exotic, aromatic and only very slightly citrussy.

In this No. 10 perfume, I think the lemongrass scent has been 'prettified' by the neroli. Let me put it this way: it brings back no memories of Asian cuisine. It starts off citrus swwwweet, heavy and, in my opinion, feminine. On my skin, it is powdery with a hint of cinnamon some hours later. What's left at the end of the day is a pleasant, bittersweet scent. This perfume lasts many hours on me.

No. 10 may be meant for men but I find the fragrance as a whole to be too pretty to be a men's perfume. But that's just my nose.

Further reading:
Rituals Eau de Parfum No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea
Details on the Luxury Holder and Refill Eau de Parfum Spray

Rituals: Eau de Parfum Travel - Luxury Holder + Refill

I saw these in a Rituals store last weekend. They were new arrivals. They were so new that even the information and price labels hadn't been put on the display shelf yet. At the time of publication of this post, there isn't any information on these items on the Rituals website (it'll probably be up on the site one of these days).

Fortunately, the items were already in their computer/cashier system and I was therefore able to purchase them.

As mentioned before, Dutch brand Rituals Cosmetics launched a range of Eau de Parfum end of last year - five for women and three for men to celebrate its 10th anniversary. I wrote about one of them - No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea back in June.

Now, Rituals has come up with a range of travel-size versions of these perfumes. They are actually refills and naturally, to go with that, Rituals has also come up with three holders for these refills.

I'll just give a quick rundown of what is available under this new range (based on what I saw in the store). I've noticed that not all that are available in the current full-size perfume range is available in the travel range, and vice versa.

Eau de Parfum Travel - Refill

Price: €14.90 for 20ml

Women

• No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea
• No. 04 Violet + White Lily
• No. 07 White Patchouli + Cedar Wood
• No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange

Observation:
No. 18 Sandalwood + Wild Rose was not available in this travel format.

Men

• No. 06 Green Vetiver + Bergamot
• No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli
• No. 14 Fresh Cypress + Tangerine
• No. 21 Sandalwood + Patchouli

Observation:
Rituals has added a new perfume, No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli, to the men's range. This is now available in the full-size 50ml version.

I'm not nit-picking but this is just an observation and I am, well, confused. That fourth men's EDP - Sandalwood + Patchouli - has No. 21 on the packaging of these new refills. The full-size perfume version of Sandalwood + Patchouli, the one that has been around for almost a year, is called No. 19. I don't know if, with the difference in numbers, there is any difference in the fragrance.


Eau de Parfum Travel - Luxury Holder

Price: €12.90

There are three choices. Two are rustic and wooden (just like the bottle caps of the full-size perfumes), and the third is sleek and (I think) made of aluminium and/or lucite. All have the name Rituals embossed on the side.

• Elegant Wood - wooden, black-brown
• Pure Wood - wooden, medium brown
• White - aluminium/lucite (possibly), glossy off-white

Elegant Wood Luxury Holder and Refill

My husband and I bought two sets of these, one for each of us. We must have old souls as we both chose the wooden holders (we just love the wood grains). So, here, I have the two wooden ones to show you. I haven't got any photo of the off-white aluminium/lucite one. I think younger people would go for that sleek one.

Assembly
To put them together, it's just a matter of carefully sliding the refill all the way into the holder.

Handling The Holder
To use the perfume, just twist the bottom half of the holder (just as you would with your lipstick casing) and up comes the atomiser. Press on the chrome top section to spritz. Twist the bottom half of the holder to conceal the atomiser again. With the atomiser up, you can also pull the whole refill out, if you wish. There is resistance, so it's not like the refill would fall out easily.

Dimensions
The wooden Luxury Holder is about 4" / 11cm tall and has a diameter of approx. 1.5" / 3.5cm. The aluminium/lucite version is a tad slimmer. I weighed the items, just out of curiosity. The wooden holder itself weighs about 42g, the wooden holder plus full refill, 80g.

The holder is obviously bigger and bulkier than your handy Travalo (which holds 4ml) but the 20ml will last quite a while and, of course, it's within the 100ml per container liquid restriction for air travel hand baggage.

Pricing
Compared to the normal full-size versions of the Rituals perfumes (€39.90 for 50ml), it works out to be a lot more expensive per ml if you took into consideration the total price of €27.80 for the Luxury Holder + Refill. However, if you see the cost of the Luxury Holder as an investment, the perfume itself does work out to be slightly cheaper per ml than the full-size version. Analyse it how you want, I think it's not too bad.


Anyway, my husband got the No. 6 Green Vertivert + Bergamot. For myself, I got the new men's perfume, No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli. I loved it from the first spritz! The fact that it's marketed as a men's perfume is irrelevant, really, but to be honest, I thought this one didn't smell that masculine and two Rituals sales assistants also shared the same opinion.

Together with this range of Eau de Parfum Travel Luxury Holder and Refills, Rituals now also sells boxsets containing three mini bottles of perfume. There are two sets to choose from.

Perfume Collection For Women

consisting of
• No. 4 Violet + White Lily
• No. 7 White Patchouli + Cedar Wood
• No. 9 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange

Perfume Collection For Men

consisting of
• No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli
• No. 14 Fresh Cypress + Tangerine
• No. 21 Sandalwood + Patchouli

Each box retails for €24.90 for 3x10ml.

Since I was "on a roll" that day (ka-ching, ka-ching, good for Rituals, bad for my wallet), I bought the women's boxset too. These are precisely the Rituals perfumes that I haven't got, so "Why not?" I thought.

I will be writing more about these perfumes in due course.

As for the Luxury Holders, I can't say at this point how durable the wooden holders would be. I'll be taking mine with me when travelling but I'll definitely be handling it with care.


My reviews:
Rituals Eau de Parfum No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea
Rituals Eau de Parfum No. 10 Lemongrass + Neroli
Rituals Eau de Parfum No. 09 Vanilla Drops + Sweet Orange (from the mini boxset)


More about Rituals Cosmetics:
Dutch - Rituals Netherlands
English - Rituals UK

Rituals is also available in Germany, Spain and Portugal. On any of the abovementioned two websites, you can choose your country website in the top righthand corner.

Rituals: No. 01 Ginger Essence + White Tea Eau de Parfum

For months, I was torn between No. 01 and No. 04.

No. 01, which has ginger essence and white tea, is a powdery floral. No. 04, with violets and white lily, was more fruity sweet. I have lost count now how many times I had walked into a Rituals store to spritz, sniff and sometimes fan myself with the perfumes (in some Rituals stores, you can spritz a foldable paper fan with the perfume and fan yourself to take in a whiff of the scent).

Crunch time came last month. I couldn't put it off anymore as I was to receive it for my birthday. Well, it's obvious now which one made its way to the cashier.

For those who don't yet know, Rituals is a Dutch brand offering a range of mid-priced home and personal care products. This was how I described Rituals when I first wrote about the brand two years ago:

The premise of this brand is to transform everyday routines into little self-pampering rituals. It has looked mostly to the East to learn about ancient traditional rituals such as bathing, washing, massage, grooming and tea drinking, and it then developed products revolving around these rituals.

Rituals takes great pride in the fragrances that it infuses in its products and it does say that it has worked with the world's best perfumers. I suppose it's a natural progression for Rituals to launch its own line of perfumes, which it did end of 2010. The launching of the perfume line was timed to coincide with its 10th anniversary. Raymond Cloosterman actually started the Rituals brand in 1998 but it was in the year 2000 that the first ever Rituals store was opened (in Amsterdam).

The perfume collection consists of five perfumes for women and three for men. They were created by seven different world renowned perfumers (one of them created two - one each for the women's and the men's range). These perfumes are made with natural ingredients and are based on 100% organic alcohol.

Rituals No. 01 Ginger Essence and White Tea Eau de Parfum

Packaging
The box is clean-cut looking in black and white. It isn't immediately obvious but there is embossing on all facets of the box (except the bottom) that outlines the bottle inside. Even the grains of the wooden cap are reflected in the embossing. Clever.

The bottle also has a clean silhouette. It does remind one of Dolce & Gabbana's The One. The wooden cap gives it a rustic feel and different perfumes have different wood colours. The addition of a mirrored plate on the side with an engraving of the perfume name adds a nice, sleek touch.

Perfume
This is how the creator of No. 01, Jean-Pierre Béthouart, describes the perfume:

Imagine the soft shades of light in the morning, the skin is wrapped into a fresh, transparent and slightly aphrodisiac scented mist. A pure delight of White Tea combined with the powerful character of Ginger.

No. 01 opens boldly with an almost spicy kick of ginger, toned down only by the freshness of the white tea.

As it evaporates, the ginger turns pleasantly aromatic and gets enveloped in a cloud of floral sweetness. As a whole, it's citrusy. It's like men's after-shave, but feminised. The scent is fresh (thanks to the delicate white tea) but not to the point of being crisp (thanks to the full-bodied ginger).

On me, No. 01 dries down to a delicate powdery floral. The sweet ginger undertones never go away.

The perfume is moderately lasting. It's probably still there but it's not the kind that I can catch a whiff of at the end of the day. Its sweet freshness makes it something that I would wear in the daytime.

So, what made me choose No. 01 over No. 04?

Up till the last minute, I was quite sure that I would go for No. 04 as I do tend to fall for sweet, sensual scents. However, I felt that I should try something different this time and to be honest, I love the scent of ginger anyway (and I absolutely love cooking with ginger!). So, No. 01 was my little departure from the norm. I might go for No. 04 the next time.

The Rituals Eau de Parfums come in 50ml bottles and they retail for €39.90 each.

To view the other Rituals perfumes, including the men's range:
Rituals websites
- Dutch
- English (UK)

Rituals: Another Eye Look With Double Jade

I wasn't planning on showing a second eye look using the two mono eyeshadows that I have from Rituals - Jade Delight and Jade Jewel. However, I wore this look this past New Year's weekend, shot some pictures and thought, "Why not?".

You might think this look resembles the previous one that I showed when I first wrote about the Rituals Eyeshadows. In that first look, it was light-coloured on the inner corner of the eye, gradually darkening towards the outer corner. With this second look, the gradation flows vertically instead of horizontally: dark close to the lashline and slowly fading out towards the eyebrow. The end result is a darker, smokey look.

Rituals Mono Eye Shadows L: Jade Delight; R: Jade Jewel

I like to keep things simple, where possible. This second look was done using the exact same five products that I had used in the first look:

1. Applied Too Faced Shadow Insurance as eyeshadow base.
2. Applied the khaki brown shade of Jade Jewel all across the lid, from lash line to just above the eyelid fold. Stretched the colour to way beyond the outer corner. Added this colour too to the lower lid.
3. Applied the chartreuse colour of Jade Delight above Jade Jewel, blending slightly the two colours where they meet.

4. Thickly lined the eyes with GOSH Velvet Touch Eye Liner in Metallic Brass. Lined also the lower lid.
5. Curled lashes and applied three coats of GOSH Wonder Volume Mascara.

That's it! By the way, the eyeliners from GOSH are amazing, so they definitely deserve a separate feature that will be coming up soon.

More information: Rituals Cosmetics website.


One last reminder to enter the Rituals Cosmetics Makeup Giveaway, if you haven't already. The two mono eyeshadows used above are available as a duo eyeshadow called Double Jade, which is one of the featured prizes. Ends Thursday 6th January.

Rituals: Ruby Lips Lipstick

I've had this Ruby Lips lipstick for a long time now. It was in fact one of the first products that I ever bought from Rituals and that was way back in 2009.

As the name implies, this lipstick literally contains ruby powder, which Rituals suggests, helps to improve blood circulation to give the lips a healthy glow.

That is if you wish to believe in the powers of gemstone.

Here's what else Rituals says:
• Comfortable creamy formula gives intense, long-lasting colour.
• Contains caring and moisturising ingredients for silky soft, healthy lips.
• Mild formula: natural gemstones - pure minerals - no preservatives - no perfume
• Contains organic sun filters (SPF 15) which protect the lips from UV radiation

Ingredients:
Octyldodecanol. Triisostearin, Diisostearyl Malate, Dipentaerythrityl Hexahydroxystearate, Cera Microcristallina (Microcrystalline Wax), Polyethylene, Polybutene, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate (Octinoxate), Paraffin, VP/Hexadecene Copolymer, Ethylhexyl Salicylate (Octisalate), Mica, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, HDI/Trimethylol Hexyllactone Crosspolymer, Dicalcium Phosphate, Ozokerite, Stearalkonuim Bentonite, Propylene Carbonate, Pentaerythrityl Tetra-Di-t-Butyl Hydroxyhydrocinnamate, Ethyl Vanillin, Ruby Powder, Tourmaline, Silica, Tocopherol, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Tin Oxide.
May Contain (+/-): CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 15850 (Red 6, Red 7, Red 7 Lake), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake).

I can't comment on whether the blood flow in my lips improved with application of this lipstick. How can I, really? However, I can say that it provides moderate coverage, has a nice creamy texture, is not too drying on the lips (but I err on the side of caution and use a lipbalm as a base, as usual) and lasts fairly long. I do like that it has SPF.

It comes in a signature Rituals black casing, quite standard but not offensive-looking. Ruby Lips is available in 11 shades and retails for €14,90 (4gr / 0.14oz). The one that I bought is a lovely downright coral shade called Sheer.

L: Ruby Lips in Sheer; R: Ruby Lips in Sheer with Rituals Eve's Kiss Silkening Lip Treatment layered on top

I was at a Rituals store the other day and decided to do a swatch of Sheer right next to that of Sunset, a bright fruity red. The lipstick in the shade Sunset is one of the prizes offered in the giveaway currently being held. For hygiene reasons, I didn't want to open the packaging of that lipstick in the prize. So, for those who would like to see what Sunset is like, here are the swatches that I made at the store:

L: Sunset; R: Sheer

Ending on 6th January: Rituals Cosmetics Makeup Giveaway
More information: Rituals Cosmetics website

Rituals: Eyeshadows

Meet Jade Delight and Jade Jewel. A pale chartreuse and a khaki green.

I acquired these Rituals Cosmetics single eye shadows at different times, which on hindsight, was not very smart of me. If I had known earlier that I was going to get both these colours, I would have gotten better value for money by purchasing the Duo Eye Shadow called Double Jade instead. Double Jade has the same two shades!

The Product
Colours: Single – 16 shades; Duo – 8 combinations
Net weight and Price: Single – 2.4g at €12.90; Duo – 4g at €16.90

According to Rituals (excerpts)
• Natural gemstone powders allow the skin to breathe while leaving the skin feeling sensationally soft
• The ancient gemstone Sapphire strengthens the “third eye”, thereby deepening intuition and insight, while having a beautiful brightening effect
• Mild formula: natural gemstones – pure minerals – perfume-free – paraben-free – dermatologically tested

Ingredients
Please click to enlarge.

The eyeshadows are housed in sturdy square black compacts. Each comes complete with a decent sponge-tip applicator and a mirror. The compact shuts with a magnet, a pretty strong magnet, in fact.

These are powder eyeshadows with bits of shimmer. They crumble only slightly. They apply well and I’ve experienced minimal fallout. As usual, an eyeshadow primer helps a great deal to intensify the colours. In this eye look, I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance.

Left: Jade Delight; Right: Jade Jewel

Top row swatches: Without eyeshadow primer

Bottom row swatches: With Too Faced Shadow Insurance

I really, really love this colour combination. Jade Delight, the pale chartreuse, looks goldish on the skin. Jade Jewel is something between khaki green and khaki brown. On the skin, the shade reminds me of antique brass. I had the perfect eyeliner shade to complement these two colours and that was Velvet Touch Eye Liner from GOSH in the shade Metallic Brass. I completed this look with GOSH Wonder Volume Mascara.

Rituals calls this gemstone makeup as these eyeshadows contain sapphire powder, amongst others (have a good look at the ingredients list above). Again, I refrain from saying anything further about that. Let's just enjoy the eyeshadows as they are.

Further reading: The Usual Unusual Ingredients - Gemstones
More information: Rituals Cosmetics website

Win it! These two colours can be found in Double Jade, the duo eyeshadow featured in the Rituals Cosmetics Makeup Giveaway. It's on till 6th January 2011.

Rituals: Super Shine Lipgloss

Super Shine? Well, it is glossy shiny, but I wouldn't say it is super shiny.

That's okay. I like these lipglosses nevertheless. For some reason, the little specks of shimmers fascinate me. The lipglosses have a fruity flavour and are only slightly sticky - within my tolerance limit. A good application can last 3-4 hours, which is not too bad in my books. Plus, it doesn't leave an awful, whitish layer on the lips after several hours.
Left: Rituals Super Shine Lipgloss in Ruby Night

This is what Rituals says of these lipglosses:


• Long-lasting shine without feeling sticky
• Pure gemstones give alluring gloss and colour
• The ancient gemstone Ruby stands for willpower, meanwhile stimulating blood circulation for healthy fuller lips
• Mild formula: natural gemstones - pure minerals - perfume-free - paraben-free - dermatologically tested

The ingredients:

Polybutene, Isocetyl Stearate, Trimethylolpropane, Triisostearate, Diisostearyl Malate, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Calcium Aluminum Borosilicate, Silica, Mica, Aroma/Flavor, Propylene Glycol Dicaprylate/Dicaprate, Tin Oxide, Nelumbium Speciosum Flower Extract, Quartz, Ruby Powder, Amber Powder, Citrine, Amethyst Powder, Gold, Nephrite Powder, Benzyl Alcohol, Linalool.
May Contain (+/-): CI 77891 (Titanium Dioxide), CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499 (Iron Oxides), CI 75470 (Carmine), CI 15850 (Red 7 Lake), CI 45410 (Red 28 Lake), CI 45380 (Red 22 Lake), CI 73360 (Red 30 Lake), CI 19140 (Yellow 5 Lake), CI 15985 (Yellow 6 Lake), CI 42090 (Blue 1 Lake).

These lipglosses retail for €12.90, 6ml / 0.20 fl oz. I have here a light pink and a dark brown. I saw this as a challenge, really, a deliberate choice to buy two shades in opposite ends of the spectrum. It was way too easy to go for a dark pink, red or fuchsia, of which I already have many.

The dark brown, called Ruby Night (right), worked out better than I expected. It didn't end up looking too dark on the lips. Quite flattering, I thought.

The light pink, called Icy Amethyst, was just what I expected. It's a blue-toned pink, which was a bit more difficult to work with, given my skin tone.

It's not so flattering on me when used alone.......

......but layer it on top of any (too) vibrant red lipstick and see how the red is transformed. Layering, nothing original on my part, but it works!

Left: A moderate layer of Catrice Absolut Moisture Lipstick 070 Luxury Red
Right: The same Catrice lipstick with Rituals Super Shine Lipgloss Icy Amethyst layered on top

These lipglosses are part of Rituals' collection of gemstone makeup. If you've scrutinised the list of ingredients, you would have noticed items like ruby powder, amber powder......Well, I will withhold comment on that. You might want to read an old post of mine called The Usual Unusual Ingredients: Gemstones to understand why.

More information: Rituals Cosmetics website.

Try your luck at winning one of these lipglosses in the Rituals Cosmetics Makeup Giveaway.

Rituals: Eve's Kiss Silkening Lip Treatment Review

Eve’s Kiss. What an evocative name! Rituals Cosmetics explains (excerpts):

Tempting, tasting, feeling and kissing: your lips play a wealth of sensual roles. And, provided you take care of them, they will remain irresistible. Just as irresistible as the forbidden apple that Eve tasted in Paradise. Rituals took inspiration from this first woman on earth and developed a silky-smooth lip cream.

This ‘lip cream’ is essentially an apple-flavoured (says Rituals) lip gloss with shea butter. I’ve had Eve’s Kiss for many months now, having used it only occasionally. I mean, it has had to jostle for my attention given the ease with which I’ve been hoarding lipglosses of all kinds. Beauty addicts would be familiar with this predicament, no?

I’ve been on the go a lot lately. I’ve deliberately taken with me only two lipglosses, one of which is Eve’s Kiss and by doing so, I could finally do justice to this little white-and-green tube.

Let’s see what else Rituals says about Eve’s Kiss:

• Moisturises and protects
• Adds a sensual, shiny touch
• Contains SPF
• Subtle, mouth-watering Apple flavour
• Long lasting softening effect
• Ultra rich creamy texture soothes and protects lips

This is the list of ingredients:

Polybutene, Hydrogenated Polydecene, Glycerin, Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate, Cetearyl Octanoate, C18-36 Acid Triglyceride, Cera Alba/Beeswax, Silica Dimethyl Silylate, Butyrospermum Parkii/Shea Butter, Butyl Methoxydibenzoylmethane, Parfum/Fragrance, Tocopheryl Acetate, Isopropyl Myristate, Ricinus Communis/Castor Oil, Bisabolol, Sodium Saccharin, Farnesol, BHT, CI77891/Titanium Dioxide.

It does say on the tube that it has SPF8. Low protection factor, but I shan’t complain.

The gloss is a thick pearlescent liquid. I give it a thumbs-up for the glossy shine. It’s super glossy!

Because of its thick consistency, I would be careful not to pile on too much as you would tend to notice the unpleasant heaviness on the lips.

It’s pretty longlasting, in my opinion. The gloss does stay intact for at least three hours. There is some fading after a meal, but that’s to be expected.

Okay, this part, I do not like. It’s Stickyville! I unwittingly gave it the Hair In The Wind Test one day (well, it does get pretty windy in the Netherlands). Strands of hair stuck like mad to my lips! Totally annoying!

But, let’s get back to Pleasantville. Eve’s Kiss smells delicious! It’s fruity sweet. Rituals says it’s got apple flavour. I must admit that they’ve lost me there. To me, it’s a lovely fruity scent but it just ain’t apple. I’ve been cracking my head for the longest time (no, really, it’s been months!). I couldn’t put my finger on this familiar yet unfamiliar scent until just a couple of weeks ago. It finally struck me. It smells rather like custard apple. It’s an ‘apple’ nevertheless, but the custard apple looks so far removed from the apple.

Some of you may know what a custard apple is, but if you don’t know, then this is what it looks like. I bought this fruit a few days ago. It's about the size of a tennis ball.


And this is what the yummy flesh inside looks like. White, soft and sweet with black seeds inside.


I’ve digressed, haven’t I?

Eve’s Kiss. Although there’s nothing wrong with using Eve’s Kiss alone on the lips, I tend to use Eve’s Kiss over my lipsticks, especially those darned drying ones. It works really well to keep my lips moist or if I want more shine on my lipsticked lips.

I use Eve’s Kiss only when I go out. When I stay in, I’d rather just use a simple lipbalm like Rituals Lip Treat. I find Eve’s Kiss too shiny, heavy and sticky for home use.

It’s priced at €6.90 for a 15ml tube. Do I recommend Eve’s Kiss? I do. I can live with the stickiness. What has won me over are the lovely custard apple scent, the SPF and the fact that it keeps my lips from drying. For the latter, I can’t say how much of that is due to the presence of shea butter in the formula or simply that the gloss merely formed a protective layer on my lips to keep them from drying out.

I'll be showing you Eve’s Kiss used over some lipsticks in future posts.

Enough said!