“Kamat wimings!” said Allora, tapping Artemis on the shoulder with the Wand of Skunkrillis. Instantly — POOF! — there was a burst of twinkling golden magical ✨ energy, and a pair of raven’s wings sprouted from the black cat’s back.
“Mrow,” said the cat, unfurling his new appendages to stretch them out.
“Good kitty,” said Allora, scritching him under his chin, and the cat-raven purred in delight.
Makeup is a kind of magic. Our eyeshadows and lipsticks and blushes are modern day potions, and our makeup brushes are like magic wands. And when we sit down to put on our face, in a way, there’s a bit of actual mysticism involved, because there is that aspect of transforming oneself. I think the coven of cosmetic lovers at Rituel de Fille probably also see it that way.
Rituel de Fille (pronounced “ritoo-el-day-fee”) is a fairly new indie makeup brand. They’ve been around since 2015, but in that time, they’ve done some really cool things.
Their approach to makeup? — minimize ingredients (99% natural and no fillers) and maximize the pigment, so there are plenty of punchy colors and products with short ingredient lists. Their makeup is made without synthetic dyes, fragrances or parabens, and it’s all cruelty-free. They aren’t a vegan line, though, because some of their products do have beeswax and lanolin in them.
They list all of their ingredients on their website, which is cool because a lot of brands, especially bigger brands, aren’t always transparent about that kind of thing.
The brand is available all over the U.S. now, as well as online at ritueldefille.com and credobeauty.com.
I get a witchy, astrological vibe from them, and I think that’s what they’re aiming for. The founders are three sisters (they call themselves “The Ramos Sisters”).
Here’s a picture of them from their website pouring what looks like magic fairy dust…
They look like three super cool gals who listen to Stevie Nicks and have probably seen The Craft a hundred times. Perhaps they have a secret room in their house where they keep all of their love potions (because in the story I just made up in my mind, they all live together in a ramshackle Victorian, obviously).
I’ve tested a few pieces from the line, and the Ash and Ember Eye Soots ($38 each) really stand out. They’re pigments held together with a touch of oil, so they have a consistency somewhere between a cream and a powder.
They come in jars with an opening that’s about the width of a fingertip, which is great, because they’re designed to be applied with a fingertip (or a flat eyeshadow brush or angled liner brush). You just press down to pick up some of the product, but because the opening of the jar is narrow, you’re forced to apply downward pressure, as opposed to swiping your finger back and forth.
They say that it’s the best way to get the product out of the packaging and onto your lids.
The shadows, which are easy to blend and VERY pigmented, come in a bunch of different colors, and even the darker colors don’t have any fallout. Just for fun, the other night before I washed my face, I took dark red Viscera and dark purple Night Shade and did this intense smoky eye. I didn’t notice any fallout whatsoever.
I wouldn’t call them waterproof, but they’re extremely long-wearing. To take them off, I gotta bust out the big guns — either oil-based makeup removers or eye makeup removers that are made for waterproof.
And the finish is perfection. The astronomically fine pigment particles make them look almost glossy, and now I want every single shade! LOVE.
I also like the Inner Glow Cream Blushes ($24 each). Like the Eye Soots, they’re versatile. You can use ’em as blushes, eyeshadow and/or lipstick.
The shade I’ve tried, Frenzy, is a dark burgundy, which I’ve mostly worn as a blush, and it’s CRAZY pigmented.
As for the Lip Sheers ($21 each), they’re…interesting. The thing is, they’re drier than I expected.
I have to work them back and forth across my lips to warm and soften them up because they feel stiff at first and don’t have a lot of slip to them. I do like how evenly they apply once you get them on and that they don’t look super heavy.
They taste and smell faintly of beeswax and lavender, and they don’t dry out my lips (although I wouldn’t go so far as to call them moisturizing).
I can’t wait to see what else they come up with in the future. Whatever it is, I suspect it might be magical…
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Lupe says
Such pretty colors. I really like the packaging as well. I want some fairy dust lol.
Karen says
Me too. I would like for it to follow me around everywhere, LOL!
Chelsea says
Wow, that is some pigment!
Karen says
Yeah, it’s serious! The jar packaging on the pigments takes a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it, it’s easy.
How are things out your way? I’m so tired today! I got no sleep last night and the rainy weather makes me lazy.
Chelsea says
We had a bit of a scary incident tonight, we came home and the front door was wide open! I was worried about Mina, because she sneaked onto the front porch the other day, and I didn’t want her to run off, especially since it’s 8 degrees out. We called the police, and they didn’t find anyone or anything taken, but thank goodness all the animals are okay. The house is freezing though!
Karen says
Oh man. That’s SO scary! Glad that the babies are OK. We had something similar happen to us a few years back at our old place. El Hub and I were in Hawaii visiting his parents and when we got back our apartment door was ajar. Nothing was missing (the door to our place wasn’t visible from the street) but the weird thing was our neighbor, who’s door was adjacent to ours, didn’t even bother to shut our door. It had been open for nearly two weeks. I mean, really? I’m the type of person who’ll shut car doors and trunks if they seem left open accidentally, and if our neighbor had been gone for two weeks and left his door open, I would’ve definitely done something. Sigh. Anyway, glad everything is OK.
Chelsea says
Weird! I was instantly worried that Mina would be gone. Stuff can be replaced, Mina is special.
Christine says
Wow, Karen, this line is gorgeous, as is your application!
Karen says
Hi Christine,
Thank you! You know I love me a smoky eye. 🙂 I hope you check this line out in person soon!
Happy holidays. 🙂
Fran says
Wow! I’m really liking the look of the eyeshadow (I want to try Seven Sisters, Sigil and Half Light) and the blush (I want to try Desire and Rapture). The dry feeling of the lippie could be caused by a high beeswax content — it’s weird, but beeswax can do that, at least on some people’s lips — my lips like other ingredients, like candelilla wax, better for some reason. They love lanolin, though. That’s one of the main ingredients in Bite Beauty’s Agave Lip mask.
Karen says
Yeah, I think it might be the beeswax. It’s very, very stiff, but it feels purposefully stiff, ya know?
Fran says
Yes, I get what you mean! Some of the Burts Bees lip balms feel like that. I bet it is the beeswax.
Jules says
I’ve been WAITING for this spotlight! 😀
I have “Viscera” as well – I’m actually wearing it as an eyeliner today! I’ve had to do a bit of trial and error with it, but I find that putting it over a base helps a bit (I have fairly oily eyelids).
I also have their “Forbidden” lipsticks in “Written In Blood” (a gorgeous blood red) and “Fortune Teller” (a deep berry shade), and the only complaint I have with them is that they tend to settle in the cracks of my lips a bit after a while.
Can’t wait to snag “Night Wanderer” (dark purple), “Chrysalis” (blackened green) and “Shadow Self” (blue-black)!
Karen says
Hi Jules,
Yay! It’s great to hear from a fan of the line. Their stuff is SO good. Becky here in the comments raves about the highlighter. I think I want to try that next!
Happy Saturday to you.
Becky says
Have you tried their cream highlighters, Karen? They are absolutely beautiful! I love the eye soots, too-Serpent de Mer is my go-to smoky eye at the moment!
Karen says
Hi Becky,
I haven’t yet, but I’m betting I’ll probably love them. What other Eye Soots have you tried? I think I want to try a neutral shade next.
Kiss & Make-up says
Suuuuuuuuuch good colors! <3
Karen says
Yes, they’re gorgeous!
Tisha says
OMG, you look gorgeous! I hope these come to a retail store near me soon… 🙂
Karen says
Hi Tisha,
Their website as a list of in-store retailers:
https://ritueldefille.com/retailers/
HTH!
Adia says
Oooh these colors are so pretty (Viscera is def speaking to me). I really want to try smaller brands in 2017, and I might start with this one 🙂
Jennifer Emmett says
I just heard about this brand today, immediately googled for swatches and of course I find you here! Years back I might add. Pretty interested in these eye shadows and blushy pigments.
Karen says
They do some cool things, Jennifer. Glad you found the brand!