little white truths

I unboxed the above Rituals set ages ago (see post here) and I keep forgetting to review the last product, this Hammam Olive Secret Shower Paste, so best I do that today - then I can finally do my round-up post of the set as a whole.

You may have heard me mention that I've tried this shower paste before. When we lived in Berlin, it came as a GWP with a Rituals order and I was glad it did because I completely fell in love with it. I might never have tried it otherwise - that's the beauty of GWPs.

Indeed, I loved it so much that I basically bought this entire kit for just this product because it wasn't available separately at the time. Sure, I knew I would use the other things in the set, but this paste was the draw card for me so I went ahead and grabbed it.

Do I love it as much this time around? I do. More on that below.

Rituals claims/product details:

• Hydrating shower paste that cleanses the skin and prepares it for exfoliation
• Pure olive oil nourishes your skin, leaving it feeling soft as silk
• Eucalyptus is deep-cleansing and refreshing
• Ultra-nourishing for dry skin
• RRP $18 AUD for 150ml

Verdict

It's funny, when I first started using this again I thought 'mmm it's ok, can't remember why I loved it so much' - but the more I used it, the more I wanted to use it and I now recall that's exactly what happened last time. 

It's an unassuming little product that doesn't announce itself with fanfare - unlike eg the Rituals Shower Foams, which foam so beautifully and with such luxuriousness that you can't help but notice them. This one's more subtle than those but it gets you in the end. 

It's a thick, gel-like product and I can see why they've called it a paste. It's clear and I suppose it looks a little like toothpaste when you squeeze it out because it holds its shape, but it's soft, smooth and rich to the touch. I like the texture. You can really control how much you dispense because it's not too thin, and it also sits in a shower puff nicely because it's not too runny. I would like to see more body washes done this way.

What constantly surprises me about this product is just how little you need to get the job done. A small squirt onto a shower puff (probably enough to cover a ten cent piece if you flattened the paste) creates more than enough lather for my whole body, twice over. I'd forgotten about that side of things when I started using this again and went in with far too much product - probably enough for three washes. Ooops. Don't want to waste something this nice.

The other thing that surprises me about the product is just how hydrating it is. I've used shower oils that don't feel anywhere near as nourishing as this does (even a shower oil from Rituals itself), so something about the formula absolutely meets the claim that the product is 'ultra-nourishing' and good for dry skin.

On the other claims: yes it's hydrating and yes it cleans beautifully; yes it leaves the skin feeling soft as silk; and yes the eucalyptus scent is super refreshing.

All in all, I'm obsessed with this product and I can't fault it. While $18 AUD is more than I would normally pay for a body wash, in this case I'm prepared to overlook that because it's so lovely to use, so good for dry winter skin, and so economical in terms of how much you use per application that it's lasting twice as long as my other body washes.

A fantastic product.