Ancient royal traditions from Java (Indonesia) inspired Rituals to create this year’s limited edition summer ritual called Mandi Lulur. Mandi means bath in Indonesian and Lulur refers to flowers. It was a purifying ritual for Javanese princesses to soften, sweeten and lighten their skin to prepare them for their wedding day.
Although I’m not getting married anytime soon, my home is filled currently with a cloud of Mandi Lulur’s frangipani and rice milk fragrance. The exotic fragrance of the frangipani flower makes a delicate perfume while in the meantime the nourishing ingredients soften the skin. The packaging is also not to be overlooked, since the white colour, orange accents plus wood caps look luxurious and vanity-proof.
Mandi Lulur Bath Foam
On days I feel like I want to relax and pamper myself like a princess I love soaking in the tub for a full hour. And what better way to do that than with some bubbles? The exotic fragrance of the bath foam has a soothing effect and softens the skin slightly, like a cream bath would.
Mandi Lulur Shower Foam
The Rituals shower foams have been a StyleLab favourite for a long time and with this fragrance it just gets better. You don’t need a lot as the amount will double when it comes in contact with water. Again, the skin feels silky soft after rinsing and smells incredibly good.
Mandi Lulur Shimmer Body Cream
If you’re in for some extra nourishment, either cause your skin is rather dry or simply because that’s what pamper princesses do, you can choose for the shimmer body cream. The texture is really rich, so it should be even suitable for the driest of skin types. Don’t you worry about the shimmers though, these are so fine you’ll barely notice they’re there. Only in the sunlight the skin looks shimmery, but the kind you’ll like for summer. Because of the shimmer I do think this body cream is less suitable for other seasons (where you’ll wear clothes on top) in comparison to the body creams of the standard ranges.
The only thing I’m missing is a mini travel set with all of the body products to bring on vacation. That would’ve been superb.
Mandi Lulur Scented Candle
After a week of trying them out I hurried to the store to get the candle as well. I just can’t seem to get enough of the scent. Yes, it is THAT GOOD. You can get them in a standard or XL (3 wick) size.
Conclusion: This collection gets a big thumbs up from me! Go have a whiff next time you pass by a Rituals stockist.
Caution: By using these products your shower/bath time might take longer than usual. You have been warned.
Rituals Mandi Lulur Shower Foam* 200 ml – € 8 / £ 8.50
Rituals Mandi Lulur Bath Foam* 500 ml – € 13,50 / £ 13.50
Rituals Mandi Lulur Shimmer Body Cream* 250 ml – € 18 / £ 18
Rituals Mandi Lulur Scented Candle 290 g – € 17,50 / £ 19.50
The collection also includes fragrance sticks (230 ml – € 23,50 / £ 24.50), a body scrub (375 g – € 19,50 / £ 19.50) and an XL Scented Candle (1 kg – € 39,50 / £ 39.50). Not shown above, but can’t promise that won’t happen though. Summer has yet to begin!
Rituals Mandi Lulur is available at the Rituals stores, counters, Rituals.com and Ici Paris XL (BE/NL).
Have you tried anything from the Rituals Mandi Lulur collection?
Disclaimer: Some products in this post were offered by a PR for consideration.*
— NL:
Rituals haalde zijn inspiratie voor de nieuwe limited edition zomercollectie bij de prinsessen van Java (Indonesië) en meer bepaald bij de zuiverende schoonheidsbehandeling die zie kregen ter voorbereiding van hun huwelijksdag. Mandi Lulur staat voor ‘bad van bloemen’ en zorgt ervoor dat de natuurlijke schoonheid naar boven gehaald wordt en de huid een stralende gloed krijgt. Een huwelijk staat nu niet meteen op de planning, maar ik hul me al enkele weken met veel plezier in de verfijnde geur van de exotische Frangipani bloem en rijstmelk van de Rituals Mandi Lulur collectie, wat wel eens de beste Rituals LE collectie ooit zou kunnen zijn.
De producten werken verzachtend zoals we gewend zijn van Rituals, maar het is vooral de relaxerende geur die ervoor zal zorgen dat je douche/badritueel extra lang zal duren. Om niet té lang in het sop te moeten blijven zitten, schafte ik dan ook meteen de geurkaars aan, waardoor het hele huis nu gevuld is met de heerlijke geur van Aziatische bloemen. Voor mij is dit een echte topper die je beslist even moet gaan ruiken als je Rituals bezoekt.
In reality unfortunately this meant getting girls as young as twelve years old ready to marry a man sometimes three times their age. Not such a romantic backstory as rituals tries to make us believe, really.
Author
I’ll admit I know very little about the practice of Mandi Lulur itself or Indonesian culture, yet I’m familiar with the issues when it comes to the role of women in different cultures. Let’s just say I don’t always agree with how the world works but chose not to let my (political/spiritual/..) opinions influence this blog.
Of course, I totally respect that! Was not trying to criticise your post or offend you or anything. It just makes me uncomfortable in general when brands try to spin things their way. Like when clothing brands do a “China themed” collection celebrating Chinese culture and whatnot, but then exploit the women making the clothes in a sweatshop…in China. Anyway, shouldn’t make this a rant (lol). Love your blog!
Author
I know and of course you’re free to speak your mind. It’s just that I always try to reply when people make an effort to comment, especially an interesting one 🙂
I totally get your frustration when it comes to the stories some brands will tell to sell, but even as a blogger it’s not always easy to get to the bottom of it. I tried to find more info on the subject, but so far Google let me down. As far as I know, Rituals hasn’t been involved in any scandals and they’re philosophy has always been revolving around Asian beauty rituals, so I don’t think they had the intent to promote marriage between children and adults.
One collection I remember though being totally unacceptable was the MAC x Rodarte collection from a couple of years ago, which was based on the Mexican factory city of Juarez, notorious for it’s high rape and murder stats. Thank god it got pulled. Just saying that, if the link with any kind of injustice is that clear or glorified in any way by commercializing it, I’d never choose to post about it.
I love the simplicity and the elegance of the packaging they chose for this range. And the SMELLS, ehmahgerd! <3
Author
Me too. I already was a fan of the wood lids, but the elegant milky white bottles in combination with the neon orange letters is actually quite clever in the way they refer to the ingredients and the story behind it. Well done, Rituals!