For 25 years, Rituals has been spreading its ‘Art of Soulful Living’ to wellbeing lovers all over the world. Central to that mission is Creative Director Dagmar Brusse, who has helped grow Rituals from a small Dutch boutique to one of the world’s leading wellness brands with a network of over 1,000 stores.
The pinnacle of Rituals’ 25-year journey is the House of Rituals, a sprawling 2,000sq m flagship boutique in the heart of Amsterdam which serves as a testbed for different collections as well as its mind and body services. The Mind Oasis occupies an entire floor of the flagship and offers tech-driven treatments from hydromassages to breathwork workshops. For Brusse, the opening of the House of Rituals is one of the biggest milestones of her career.
“We opened the House of Rituals during COVID-19 and it really represents the next step of the brand,” Brusse says. “We were supposed to go big. We had four floors in this incredible historical building in the heart of Amsterdam but we couldn’t open the way we wanted because all the shops were closed at the time. It was a very difficult period, and we didn’t even know if we would survive. We decided to open the first two floors, just to officially open the flagship, and that was really a stroke of genius looking back.
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“The House of Rituals is the embodiment of our brand,” she adds. “It’s not just about promoting mindful or soulful shopping. Our goal at any Rituals boutique is to give our customers a relaxing, slow shopping experience but the House of Rituals goes beyond that with the Mind Spa and the Mind Oasis. It’s an extension of our wellbeing proposition, which is not just about products.
“There are so many brands out there that can create beautiful products, but what makes Rituals strong is that it’s about a little more. Through the House of Rituals, we can expand to this current lifestyle offer where we encourage people to embrace wellbeing as a lifestyle choice and show them that it’s not that difficult. Wellbeing could be a moment in the morning, a little selfcare ritual while you’re in the shower, of nourishing your body with products that are a bit more special.”
At its heart, the House of Rituals is designed to elevate the shopping experience move beyond simply driving conversion and instead making shopping a more holistic and mindful journey. Translating this holistic experience to other Rituals stores, particularly in travel retail where space is limited, is a challenge that Brusse is more than capable of taking on.
“It is a challenge, but this is where the brand identity plays a very important role,” she explains. “You need to create a signature look and feel that people recognise. No matter if we launch a Sakura visual or Karma visual, people should instantly recognise that it is a Rituals campaign or product. With so many competing beauty brands, travel retail is indeed a very competitive business, which is why our brand voice and universe really need to be distinctive.
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“I think having wellbeing spaces in the airport environment would be hugely beneficial for travellers and that Rituals can be a catalyst of that. Imagine if we could offer the hydromassage service in the airport, it could really be something memorable but also gives travellers a positive experience at the airport. I can imagine this to be game changing.”
Rituals, which achieved B Corp certification in 2021, has always walked the walk when it comes to corporate, social and environmental responsibility. Brusse comments: “When you start a business you must work super hard for that business to become a success. But once the business is successful, you have an obligation to give back.
“In addition to our extensive sustainability and refillability programme and our increasingly natural formulations, we also have a lot of charitable projects. For example, our partnership with Tiny Miracles in India helps support impoverished families, while our Superchill app helps the younger generations develop mindfulness practices to support their emotional wellbeing. These are just some of the ways that we are giving back and there is more to come.”
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Part of Brusse’s role is constantly finding new ways to reinvent Rituals’ vast array of franchises. One of the most successful franchises, the Ritual of Sakura, was the subject of a glamorous VIP event in Amsterdam, attended by The Moodie Davitt Report. The occasion not only debuted a refreshed and expanded Ritual of Sakura line, but also introduced the limited-edition Ritual of Yozakura collection.
“We sell 13 million Ritual of Sakura shower foams annually,” Brusse explains. “We decided to extend the Ritual of Sakura line partly because it was so successful but also because we wanted to create a baby sister for this hero range. We want to create something new, that is complementary to Sakura, to surprise and delight our customers. For example, the Body Boosters can be used with both the Sakura line and Yozakura line and the fragrances go beautifully together.
“While Sakura was inspired by Hanami Matsuri, the act of watching cherry blossoms in the day, Yozakura was inspired by watching the cherry blossoms at night,” Brusse adds. “The Yozakura line was designed not just to engage with our existing fans but to attract a younger generation of Sakura fans. The collection has a premium look and feel and we worked on delivering new ingredients like sake and fermented black rice and formats also.
“Yozakura is all about cherishing the night, celebrating the moment and being passionate about everything.”
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All Rituals products are designed for one purpose, to help customers embrace the power of joy by celebrating the small rituals of their day-to-day life. Commenting on this mission, Brusse says: “I hope that we are inspiring our customers to take a moment for themselves. To realise that there is more to life than just ambitions, goals, money and big houses.
“Joy is knowing that whatever challenges come your way, you can cope with it. So many people fall into the trap of negativity and I think the opposite of that is to embrace joy and to see painful moments merely as bumps on the road. You only have one life so why not make it joyful?”
To spread this message, travel retail plays an important role, Brusse says. “Travel retail is a very important recruitment channel for us. For people who don’t know Rituals, this channel is their opportunity to discover our brand and try our products and to fall in love with them. For our current fans, who know Rituals, travel retail offers an element of convenience, whether that’s for gifting or a self-treat.”
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Commenting on her biggest priorities for the year ahead, Brusse says: “We’re having a big expansion in Asia, which is a very new market. We opened a counter in the Global Beauty Plaza at the cdf Sanya International Duty Free Shopping Complex in Hainan. We’re making big steps, but we also need to understand the market there. For the next year, that is going to be a big focus. In ten years, we hope to be an even more global brand and bring moments of happiness to everyone in the world.
“If you look at the numbers, 13 million shower foams sold annually, means approximately around 150 million shower foams since Rituals began. That’s 150 million moments of happiness and joy and 150 million special moments that we helped create.” ✈