Beauty ponders

A few months ago I popped into Rituals & decided it was time for me to cave in the whole fragrance sticks madness that has been wondering around and spreading like some kind of *deliciously scented* disease... After sniffing one after anotherI decided for Vanilla Orchid, because I love me some vanilla! It comes in this cute & big packaging, makes for a nice present too - if you are still searching for something to give these days!
The scent contains Vanilla and also Myrrh which is a herb. The scent is unmistakenly vanilla but the herb gives it a little touch. I chose this over the other scents because some of the other scents reminded me too much of a sauna. They say these things last a couple of months, which I can only confirm. I bought mine at the end of August and I still have between 1/3 and 1/2 left.
However, they do advise to change the sticks for optimal results. I haven't done this yet, but I might do it soon because I noticed it is not giving off much scent anymore - even though there is still plenty in it. The instruction manual also says to rearrange the sticks from time to time & afterwards wash your hands - which is no joke because your fingers smell exactly like it if you touch the sticks!
Overall I'm pleased that I gave in & purchased these fragrance sticks, they cost around 22euros but they do last you a long time and I like the subtle effect it delivers to a room - it's not an overwhelming scent but it's definitely there. in the future I would want to put one in the living room & one in the bedroom. They have different scents available (some change from time to time), so be sure to check your favourite one out of the bunch...!

A couple of weeks ago during the sale period, Rituals was also having a sale and part of it were their hand washes. I normally use cheap handwashes and don't pay much attention to them, but lately they have been working really drying on my hands and when I heard a few good things about these hand washes -  I didn't hesitate and bought two of them. Today I'm going to talk about the first one, which I've been using for the last couple of weeks.

The packaging is really sleek, simple and yet elegant. It's seethrough and has a little flower on it, the wash itself is green leaving the whole package with a calming feeling - almost like "one with nature". "Imagine" contains "Rice milk & cherry blossom", I do notice a sweet scent when I use it but nothing overwhelming - only pleasant. I use one pump to wash both my hands and this is already a point of negative: the pump. When using it, make sure your hand covers it totally, don't just put it underneath the pump because the wash "flies" out of it. When I first used it I ended up with liquid wash at the other side of the bathroom! It cleanses my hands easily and doesn't leave them too dry afterwards.

To sum it up: a decent nice handwash with a lovely scent. If other washes work too drying on you, give this one a shot. It's a bit more expensive at 5-9euros -depending on sale- but it does contain 300ml.

Hand creams and me go well together... I buy plenty of them and I use plenty of them! I always have one in my bag and one beside my bed. During the day I love using a hand cream that sinks in fast and doesn't leave my hands greasy. But before I go to bed I enjoy using a richer hand cream so my hands can bathe in moisture while I'm of to dreamland. I bought this cream from Rituals for the last purpose, as it states being an "extra rich repairing cream".

• This luxurious, rich hand balm is specially created to soothe and repair rough, dry hands
• Enriched with Ginseng (the symbol for immortality) and Ginkgo Biloba which is known to strengthen the blood vessels

The cream comes in a tube of 75ml with a pricetag of 10euros - which is a good midrange pricing. For hand creams I prefer tubes or good sealed pumps as they are easy for application and hygienic. The light green colour is refreshing. Ingredientwise this cream is based on glycerin as so many but it also contains shea butter and silicones too smooth out fine lines. As far as negatives go: it does contain perfume -if you're very sensitive- and parabens.


The scent of this hand balm is divine: refreshing and herballike as far as my describing skills go, it's very relaxing. The scent consist of ginseng and ginkgo, which is obviously of no help to any of you. Who on earth knows how these things smell? Just snif it next time you pop into a Rituals store, it's a really lovely scent that a lot of people will like.

As you can see underneath the cream is really thick and this becomes even more noticeable when spreading it. It's a very thick cream that at first doesn't seem to spread easily but once it has been warmed up a bit the spreading goes smooth. It's very moisturizing and leaves your skin feeling soft. I mainly used this before going to bed as it can be a bit too greasy or oily when applied. The perfume in it didn't irritate my skin whatsoever.

The goods: nice scent, thick cream, very moisturizing, tube-packaging

The bads: can be too greasy/oily, contains perfume

To sum it up, I totally love this hand cream and will definitely repurchase it - my tube is almost empty at the moment of writing - I need a new one! This is one of the thickest creamiest creams I've tried so far and my hands really enjoy the boost it gives my skin. I would recommend this to anyone who regularly suffers from dry hands. If you have more oily skin, this one probably won't be your best buddy.

When I purchased this product I was initially searching for a massage oil with a nice scent. I popped into the store and fell in love with the scent of this oil... It's called organic white lotus & yi yi ren (some kind of seeds that nurtures your skin), it's light and refreshing. I mostly smell white flowers such as roses and the lotus, afterwards there's a hint of sandelwood. I simply adore this smell, I wish they would made a perfume smelling exactly like this one - I would be all over it! Now onto the working part... This is a really rich oil, very nourishing for dry skin. I love getting a massage with this one but I also use it after taking a bath and it works really well on my skin. If you don't have dry skin this may be a bit too greasy for this purpose. It's an oil so it warms up nicely when massaging and the scent spreads very well making it easy to relax.