In the 12 months to January 2026, 54% of UK adults purchased a beauty or grooming gift, up from 45% the previous year, as noted in Mintel’s UK Gifting in BPC 2025 report. Beauty has recently become the go-to gift option, taking the place of traditional standbys like wine, chocolate and candles.
In accordance with that growth, Rituals has grown its Irish footprint. Dublin alone boasts stores on Grafton Street, at Jervis Shopping Centre, at Dundrum Town Centre (the brand’s largest store in the whole of Ireland and its only premium boutique in the country) and Liffey Valley. The geographical distribution of the units gives shoppers in Dublin city multiple points of access across the various shopping districts.
The variety is also intentional, but that presents a challenge for anyone purchasing without insider knowledge of the recipient’s true day-to-day.
What makes beauty gifting fail?
The beauty drawer is a graveyard of all those little yet totally superfluous curses created out of good intentions that never made it to the top of your rotation.
This pattern hits hardest for gifts from male partners and adult children, where the quotidian knowledge gap is likely to be widest. Ten years of sharing a bathroom, and the husband can still choose the wrong body wash. A daughter buying for her mother might not have any idea whether she likes to take a shower in the morning or bathe at night.
Half of the story is in the category growth numbers. The other half occurs after the gift is unwrapped. Whatever the premium branding, however thoughtful the gift, a product that does not integrate into an existing routine ends up being thrown in one of those drawers.
Where the gift card fits
Here is where a Rituals gift card makes its entry into that category. The giver promises the brand, and the receiver praises her own scent and texture. The choice is neat, it goes one way or the other between two people.
A card, which translates into a real option, as the Dublin recipient has four Rituals stores in town. Grafton Street on a quiet weekday, the Jervis store at lunchtime, a larger Dundrum boutique with its new Hair Temple and Water Island stations or Liffey Valley come Saturday. Both locations have the same full line but with a completely different experience.
The card additionally contains the online variety of Rituals. Special releases not on the local floor and limited editions available for purchase during these events are only possible via e-commerce websites. Online is usually the first place seasonal releases and private collection items pop up. If the recipients would rather shop at home than go to a counter, then digital redemption is important.
What Dublin givers should keep in mind
Viable volumes arrive at defined product cuts. A €25 card goes to one full-size body comestible or candle refill. A gift set featuring a body wash, scrub and lotion costs €50. A €100 card gives you a fair dose of Sakura or Mehr ritual covering both body and home fragrance
That little delivery works for the friend you have living abroad, that close family member in the UK, and your partner, who left it until the morning of. The card is delivered via email within minutes of purchase. Avoid panicking on Grafton Street at the end of the night
Join the voucher with a personalised letter indicating which day it is for. The May Bank Holiday weekend (or after the Communion) would get warmer than a blank code in an inbox. The note does the emotional work, while the card does the practical job.
Consumer contracts regulations stipulate a 14-day cooling-off period for gift cards purchased online if the voucher has not yet been redeemed. This protection is available for both digital and physical cards. You can cancel the purchase if your plans change.
Why this matters in May-June 2026
Swipe right through the Dublin churches and other venues where you’ve spotted. First Holy Communion season is upon us and lasts through most weekends in May. Historically, average gifting per child has tended to fall within a range of €500-€588. Families prefer vouchers and gift cards to cash envelopes increasingly. It is both a practical matter and an indication of shifting social norms around letting kids have large piles of cash.
Then, in late May and early June, confirmation for older children and larger sums. Confirmations are typically between €200 and €600 a head. This gives a brief lift to teen-targeted retailers but also helps beauty retailers, as mothers, aunts, and godmothers get thank-you gifts in return.
Father’s Day on 21st June, Gaming, electronics and dining, but grooming products surfaced as a category. Ranges targeted towards men, in particular Rituals Samurai and Hammam, are positioned for this window. A gift card avoids the embarrassment of a son making an informed guess about whether his father has any need for bergamot or sandalwood.
Smarter way to gift beauty in Dublin
The beauty gift category remains the indomitable force. Mintel’s overall participation increase from 45% to 54% year-on-year indicates that this pattern is structural rather than cyclical.
But the logic beneath it is eternal. A card keeps with how a particular recipient uses Rituals, however, black and white or bright pink and gold, as in their product packaging, this is likely to be.
