Caring Rituals
Mcely Bouquet

March 1, 2019
Author: Inéz Cusumano

In 2010, the Mcely Bouquet cosmetic line was born, the brainchild of Inéz Cusumano, owner of Chateau Mcely. “It took years of work and study, and I had to bring in many experts to help me, but in the end, the original collection was born - precisely the way I wanted it and without compromise, from the purest and highest-quality ingredients.

We produce each product in our chateau laboratory, always freshly hand-blended in small batches. For a more profound experience and mental relaxation, I recommend creating your own little private rituals when using Mcely Bouquet products. I’ve added a few of my own for inspiration. I hope they serve you, rejuvenate your skin, and lift your spirits.”

Rose is a Rose

Rose Facial Serum, Royal Herbal Spritz, Rose Conditioning Mist

The culmination of the Mcely Bouquet-style treatment is the application of a few drops of Rose Facial Serum to a face cleansed and toned with Royal Herbal Spritz or pure Rose Conditioning Mist. Take a moment to observe how you feel on a psychological and emotional level when you apply it. The rose - the queen of flowers - with its heavenly aroma is the perfect scent of female beauty and harmony, poetry, and myths. The rose enters your heart, expanding to strengthen your inner faith in the power of love. It gently but effectively fights depression, sadness, and feelings of insecurity. Our Bulgarian supplier uses 4000 kilograms of fresh rose petals to produce one kilogram of rare essential oil. Dozens of kilograms of daisies, lemon balm, calendula, yarrow, and chamomile flowers from the Czech meadows have lent their healing power to our extracts. They’re combined with the other ingredients to create a potent nourishing elixir that works intensively for hours after application to keep your skin looking younger and healthier and your heart happier.

Mcely Glow

Sea Buckthorn Eye Balm, Rosemary Butter Cleanser, Royal Herbal Spritz, Rose Conditioning Mist, Divine Herbal Cream, Rose Facial Serum, Calendula Face Mask, Saint John's Wort Hair Elixir

Even after the busiest of days, take a few minutes to cleanse your face for a little mental refreshment. Remove your eye makeup with Sea Buckthorn Eye Balm, which moisturizes and rejuvenates the area around your eyes while helping to prevent wrinkles. Then massage your face and décolleté with fragrant Rosemary Butter Cleanser. Soak a washcloth in hot water and apply it to your face, thoroughly removing all impurities and simulating an express steam bath for your face while indulging in gentle exfoliation. The skin will be better prepared to take advantage of the regenerating effects of the products. After drying, continue toning with Royal Herbal Spritz or natural Rose Conditioning Mist. Finally, apply Divine Herbal Cream or a few drops of Rose Facial Serum on your still-damp face. Once a week, or before an event when you need to look especially radiant, add a miraculous Calendula Face Mask to your cleansing ritual between the cleansing and toning steps. Enjoy the incredibly broad spectrum of the mask’s effects. Take advantage of the time you spend cleansing your face to clear and stop your flow of thoughts. Focus on the aromas of the essential oils to help you do this. We recommend adding a regenerating hair wrap using Saint John’s Wort Hair Elixir to the ritual once a week.

Awakening the Goddess of Love Ritual

Daisy Body Oil, Rose Facial Serum, Rose Conditioning Mist

Treat yourself to a relaxing bath and step out of the “sea” like Aphrodite, ready to receive and share love. Dry yourself gently and massage your whole body lovingly with Daisy Body Oil. Start at the feet and slowly work your way up. Indulge in the sensual scent of all nine flowers - exotic jasmine, rose, neroli, geranium, local daisies, lemon balm, chamomile, calendula, and yarrow, whose essence heads straight for your heart. Become aware of your natural feminine beauty and attractiveness, your compelling irresistibility, and growing desire. Your heart is open, and love flows in all directions. You’re ready to share it generously. Finally, treat your face with Rose Facial Serum.

Our tip: After a too-hot bath, refresh your skin with a spritz of natural Rose Conditioning Mist.

Cleansing Sage Ritual

Sage Body Scrub, Daisy Body Oil, Melissa Body Balm
(Tangerine Candy Scrub, White Chocolate Balm)

What the complete Mcely Glow does for the face, the Cleansing Sage Ritual achieves for the whole body. The purifying sage scrub contains Himalayan salt, which has powerful detoxifying effects, drawing out impurities from the body. Indulge in this ritual once a week to instantly make you feel younger and fresher. Thoroughly massage the sage scrub into dry skin all over your body. If you have time, immerse yourself completely in a warm bath and enjoy the regenerating effects of the peel for a while. Finally, shower, dry yourself, and massage your entire body with sensual Daisy Body Oil or nourishing Melissa Body Balm.

Our tip: If you have sensitive skin, we recommend replacing the Sage Body Scrub with Tangerine Candy Scrub and using White Chocolate Balm, which is suitable for problematic skin or those suffering from eczema as it does not contain essential oils.

“Strengthening Courage” Ritual

Yarrow Bath Oil, Mint Foot Relief, Wild Thyme Hand Balm, Nine Flowers Balm

Carry on the ancient tradition of anointing kings with precious oils before an important event, and treat yourself to an exceptional experience with Yarrow Bath Oil any time of day. Apply the oil to your whole body while in the shower. It contains both essential oil and extract of yarrow, which warriors have used for centuries to heal wounds of the body and soul. They also put it in an amulet as protection against all evil. Finally, rinse with clear water under the shower, without using shower gel or soap, then dry yourself with a towel or just slip into a terry bathrobe. Continue the care by applying Mint Foot Relief to help relieve foot fatigue, boost blood circulation, and reduce swelling. Shea butter together with jojoba oil thoroughly regenerate and soften the skin of your feet. Finally, treat your hands to a wrap with our Wild Thyme Hand Balm. For problem areas, you can replace the hand balm with the miraculous Nine Flowers Balm for faster healing.

Tender Caress Ritual

Sage Body Scrub, Tangerine Candy Scrub, Royal Herbal Spritz, Wild Thyme Hand Balm

Treat your hands once a week to deep cleansing, regeneration, and protection. Apply Sage or Tangerine Scrub to dry hands and massage them as long and as thoroughly as you feel comfortable. Rinse them with clean water and dry them. Spray Royal Herbal Spritz on your hands and rub a bit of Wild Thyme Hand Balm lightly in your still-damp palms. Bring your hands to your face and take several deep breaths in and out. Imagine you are slowly walking through the summer forest of your childhood, surrounded by the beautiful scents of trees and herbs, the intense fragrance of blossoming wild thyme. Massage the balm gently into your hands, even up to your elbows. Become aware of new feelings of calm, harmony, comfort, and solace. For an exceptionally soft touch, do this ritual just before bedtime. Apply a thicker layer of hand balm, put on white cotton gloves, and keep them on until you wake up. Don’t forget to lavish tender caresses afterwards.

Ritual for Beautiful Feet

Sage Body Scrub, Mint Foot Relief, Nine Flowers Balm

Prepare a sufficiently large basin of warm water. Start your foot care with a dynamic but gentle massage using Sage Body Scrub to remove callused skin on the heels and stimulate blood circulation, regeneration, and healing. Jojoba oil, extracts of five local herbs, and nine essential oils provide intense moisture for the skin on your feet. Then rinse the scrub off. Enjoy a warm foot bath and take a moment to think about what you are or can be grateful for today.

After a short relaxation, dry your feet and gently massage in Mint Foot Balm for intense hydration, improving the lymphatic system in swollen feet, and stimulating blood circulation in feet tired from walking in heels or standing all day. For deeper rejuvenation, apply a thicker layer of balm and pull on a pair of cotton socks. Ideally, leave it on overnight.

For abrasions, blisters, and corns, and painful big toes, use the miraculous Nine Flowers Balm.

Mcely Bouquet Ten-Step Ritual
for a Radiant and Soulful Face

1. Skin Cleansing – Oil-Based and Rosemary Butter Cleanser

If you want to improve your skin as much as possible as quickly as possible, you need to start with cleansing. Only clean skin is ready to absorb the active ingredients of your other products. If you don't cleanse your skin thoroughly in the evening, it won't have the time it needs to regenerate. Deposits on the skin contain things like free radicals that destroy skin cells and result in premature skin aging. On the other hand, we can't cleanse the skin too thoroughly either, as this would disrupt its protective film. Cleansing, therefore, should be carried out in two steps. In the first stage, use our Rosemary Butter Cleanser. Sometimes people say they're afraid of using greasier, oilier products. People don't understand how a balm can thoroughly cleanse the skin. Logically, it must clog the pores. In fact, the opposite is true, based on the rule that oil and water don't mix, but oil likes oil. Excess sebum, make-up, and SPF creams, which are oil-based, are broken down by our Rosemary Butter Cleanser. And it doesn't strip the skin of its protective film, which would excessively dry and irritate it. The texture of the Rosemary Butter allows your fingers to glide smoothly over the skin, making it an ideal massage medium. Rosemary essential oil and a few minutes of massage will get the blood flowing and awaken the skin to greater regenerative activity, stimulating collagen production. Most of us don't realize how effective regular self-massage can be. During my evening skin massage, I'll often take advantage of Rosemary Butter's other function - as a mask - and soak in the tub with it applied to my face before continuing with the second step of my skincare routine. For those of you who have more sensitive skin around the eyes, I recommend removing make-up with a special eye make-up remover and avoiding the eye area during the massage.

2. Towel skin cleansing - water-based mechanical cleansing with a hot wet towel

I always have a dozen clean hand towels ready in my bathroom basket. After thoroughly massaging my skin or soaking in the bath, I wet one in hot water and apply it to my face, checking beforehand to ensure it's not too hot. I let the radiant moist heat work for a while, and then, using gentle strokes, I remove all the impurities. After dissolving impurities with the balm, your skin needs to be thoroughly, albeit gently, cleansed mechanically and with water. This is a continuation of the massage. You're probably aware of the feeling a classic soap leaves on your skin. This is precisely the feeling you should avoid. It means that you have disturbed your skin's mildly acidic mantle with a strong alkaline product, drying and irritating it, and if you have oily skin, your sebaceous glands now have to respond with increased oil production. After cleansing with Rosemary Butter and finishing with a moistened towel and water, your skin will be clean, the protective layer uncompromised, activated, and ready to receive the next round of good things you have prepared for it.

3. Exfoliate with Rosehip Honey Scrub

For daily exfoliation, all I need is the second cleansing step with a towel. Once a week, however, I do a more thorough cleansing to eliminate the accumulated dead skin cells. The skin sloughs off large amounts of them every day, and many cultures have established regular weekly rituals to remove them. You may have had the opportunity to experience whole-body skin exfoliation in a hammam in Turkey or Morocco. Accumulated skin cells clog our pores and prevent products from being absorbed into the skin, thus retaining moisture better. Exfoliation also stimulates blood circulation, aids collagen production, and reduces the visibility of fine lines. My favorite way to exfoliate my face is with my Rosehip Honey Scrub. I first mix a small amount of the scrub with rose water (Rose Conditioning Mist) in my hands and massage my whole face with light, gentle circular movements, except for the eye area. Sometimes I intuitively feel I need to keep the Rosehip Honey on my skin longer, so I leave it on for a few minutes like a mask. Rosehip infuses your skin with vitamin C and a healthy color, while honey soothes and regenerates it beautifully.

4. Toning - with Royal Herbal Spritz

You probably already know that the main task of a facial toner is to balance the skin's pH and moisturize it. Even though our double cleansing was very gentle (the butter is not water-based, so it has no pH), water is slightly more alkaline than the slightly acidic environment of the skin's surface, so a slightly more acidic toner would be very beneficial to balance it out. The toner prepares the pores for all the other products, slowing them to be more easily absorbed into the skin. Our Royal Herbal Spritz contains witch hazel (a traditional Native American toning herb), aloe vera, rose water, and a blend of revitalizing essential oils that help hydrate, brighten, smooth, and firm the skin. Simply spritz it a couple of times on your face and gently pat it into your skin. However, avoid the areas around the eyes.

5. Detox - with Calendula Face Mask

I reach for a mask when I need to give my skin a little something extra over and beyond my usual skincare routine, either before an event I particularly care about, after a vacation or holiday with an excess of food and drink, or after exposure to extreme cold, dry air, or sun. Some time ago, we started making our calendula clay mask in powder form to make it last longer at home. Simply mix it with either water or, better yet, rose water and apply it to your cleansed face. If you don't want to sacrifice too much time to the mask, use a thinner layer - it will dry faster, and you can then rub it off your face like an eraser on paper (gommage) along with all the impurities it has picked up. Our Calendula Face Mask also gives you an extra great opportunity to entertain your loved ones with a green zombie face.

6. Essence – with Rose Conditioning Mist

Now that the skin has undergone so many cleansing steps, it's time to pamper it with loving hydration and nourishment layers. We'll also adjust our skin's pH after washing the mask off with water. Rose water smells wonderful and has a pH close to our skin's, so I use it often as the first moisturizing step. As an alternative, I sometimes incorporate highly concentrated vitamin C essence or hyaluronic acid or fruit or lactic acids into my skincare when necessary.

7. Serum - with Rose Facial Serum

Massage a few drops of fragrant rose oil into perfectly moistened skin with gentle strokes. For combination and oily skin, a little is all you need. Rose water and rose oil combine to form a fine, light emulsion, and all the precious serum components are better absorbed into the skin. All oils, creams, and balms work better when worked into well-moisturized skin. Even plain water is better than nothing, but we've already talked about pH, so you know why rose water or other tonics are better.

8. Hydration - with Divine Herbal Cream, Melissa Face Balm, or Nine Flowers Balm

Finish your skincare ritual by applying a rich herbal cream or balm. It's as if you've wrapped your skin in a veil that protects it from drying out but allows it to breathe. The skin drinks it in, becoming nourished, smoothed, and brightened. Depending on your skin's needs, apply either our nourishing Divine Herbal Cream or an even richer balm of Melissa Face Balm, or in case of extreme stress and dehydration of the skin, our Nine Flowers Balm

9. Nourishing the eye area and lips - with Sea Buckthorn Eye Balm and Honey Lip Balm

The delicate and sensitive skin around the eyes and lips requires different care than the rest of the face, so give it the care it deserves. Apply Sea Buckthorn Eye Balm lightly to the rose water-moistened eye area with your fingertips and apply the sweet honey balm to the lips. These were prepared in step 3 by exfoliating with Rosehip peel and then rose water.

10. Sun protection

We don't offer SPF products in the Mcely Bouquet line, but I felt the need to mention this often-neglected step. I've changed my view on its use in recent years under the weight of evidence. I used to think that I only needed to use sunscreen if I was going to spend a few hours in the sun. But the reality is that even short periods spent outside in cloudy weather put a lot of stress on the skin. Unfortunately, it all adds up to prematurely aging skin. Not to mention the much worse consequences of overexposing your skin to the sun. For those who want to learn more about this and the science around the skin in general, I recommend the excellent book by Dr. Monty Lyman, The Remarkable Life of the Skin, published last year and the first book of its kind. Surprisingly, medical science has not historically paid as much attention to the skin as other organs. Although the skin is our largest and heaviest organ. Did you know it weighs 9 kg on average and has a surface area of 2 m²? And if you don't want to read a technical book on the subject, at least look at this link. The photo and its short caption perhaps say it all.

Yours truly, Inéz Cusumano

Aroma Rituals for More Beautiful, Effective, and Relaxing days

Try our rituals to help you manage your day better. Treat yourself to much-needed spa care for your soul every day!

Morning Ritual with Yarrow
Add 5 to 10 drops of  Y-Yarrow, the elixir of good mood and concentration of the senses, to the diffuser. Set up your diffuser the evening before so that in the morning you’re not discouraged by the lack of time and you can savor your favorite cup of coffee or tea in your scent-infused kitchen and start your new day with a smile.

Evening Ritual with Moonlight
Add 5 to 10 drops of M-Moonlight to your diffuser to create a deep, restful atmosphere after a hard day and to calm the mind as your drift off to sleep. Summer Bonus: The dominant note in our “M” essential oil is lavender, which is also a great mosquito deterrent. If mosquitos love you, you’ll love our M!

Afternoon Energy Ritual
Add 5 to 10 drops of E-Energy to your diffuser - the equivalent of a double espresso - to help improve concentration and provide intense energy support. Allow the scent to waft through your office, study room, or kitchen, where you care for your children and prepare dinner, even when you're getting tired.