little white truths

I received this sample shower oil from a recent subscription box, and I was thrilled to see it because I fell in love with Rituals as a brand when we were living in Berlin and was so sad that it wasn't easy to come by in Australia, to the point where my pack was weighed down with Rituals products when we returned home.

Fortunately I've just seen that Rituals now has an online shop in Oz and an outlet in Sydney, so fingers crossed that the brand is here to stay and we'll see more Rituals boutiques open in future (Melbourne please!) because I can't wait to load up on body care from these guys once more.

Anyhoo. I tried so much stuff from Rituals when we lived in Europe - I love the foaming shower gels, body creams and shower pastes in particular - that it got to the point where I wondered if the brand could produce a bad product.

Unfortunately I think this shower oil might be the first Rituals product that hasn't grabbed me: while I definitely wouldn't call it a bad product, I think my expectations were so high that, sooner or later, one Rituals product wouldn't quite meet them, and this looks like it. More on that below.

• The shower oil becomes a silky soft foam, leaving your skin beautifully soft
• The ingredients sweet orange and cedar produce a wonderfully warm fragrance
• The shower oil helps you stay tanned for longer: the oil hydrates your skin in the shower, so that you lose less pigment
• To use: apply the oil on dampened skin and massage with a rotating movement until it transforms into a silky soft foam; rinse off with lukewarm water
• RRP $18 AUD for 200ml

Verdict

As mentioned above, I don't think this is a bad product, it's just that I've been so bowled over by Rituals products in the past that I was bound to eventually find something that didn't quite float my boat, and this shower oil is it. It's not that I dislike it, but Rituals has so many other products I prefer that I wouldn't buy it because I know what else is out there.

It's a light, thin oil with a citrus-coloured tint and I'm indeed smelling orange and cedar, although I think the cedar is stronger than the orange because it smells more spicy than sweet to me.

I enjoy the smell and texture of the product - you know me, as a dry-skinned lass I'm all about the oil - so it's not the experience of using this that doesn't grab me, but rather how it performs.

The description says the oil will transform to a silky soft foam when you use it, and while it does do this, it doesn't foam in a big way so don't expect it to or you'll be disappointed.

While the oil/foam mixture does spread reasonably well, I find that I need to use a lot more of this than I do other products, so even though it's not super expensive, I don't think it's good value on a per-use basis because I've never needed to use so much of a body cleanser to get the job done.

I'll pour out enough to cover at least a twenty-cent piece (so the size of a large strawberry) and this amount will only be enough to use on the top third of my body, maybe less, but I've been limiting myself to this amount because I didn't want to get through the sample too quickly and wanted a good number of uses before writing this review.

I do love how the product feels on the skin and it does soften and hydrate, but I'm not sure how well it cleans. It may just be that I'm used to different kinds of products, but I prefer to clean my skin first with something else and then use a bit of this afterwards, otherwise I don't feel that I've washed myself properly.

While the product does leave the skin feeling nourished, with dry skin I still need to use a moisturiser afterwards - but you may be able to skip this step if your skin is oily. Good news is, this oil doesn't leave your skin feeling greasy or sticky after use, a plus because I've found that some oils can do this and really need to be removed with something else. I don't find that with this product.

All in all, this is a nice product and I'm enjoying using it, but it's not one I would buy and I'd recommend trying other products from Rituals over this one.

Have you used anything from Rituals? Let me know what you think if so : )