I’ve never been a huge proponent of supplements and multivitamins, thinking they were unnecessary and peddled by corporations making huge promises. I also used to think that eating Chick-Fil-A after a 90-minute workout was “healthy balance”. But six months ago, it was my dentist who made me take a hard look at my habits, suggesting that “maybe you should consider taking a multivitamin.” Oh.
I scoured the internet, looking for a magic pill that made sense to me. Do I need magnesium? What about folic acid? I heard vitamin B is good, but do I need 41,667% of the recommended amount? It’s enough to make you go a little crazy when you don’t know what you need and why you need it. Then someone suggested Ritual. And after researching, I immediately felt like this was a brand built for me.
In this article, I’m going to take you on my journey with the Ritual Multivitamin 18+, what I’ve discovered about Ritual as a company, and whether or not it’s worth implementing into my daily routine in the long term.
Ratings Breakdown On Ritual Women’s Essential Multivitamin 18+
Overall Rating: 4.4/5
Quality: 4.5/5
Easy To Take: 4.5/5
Value: 3/5
Brand: 5/5
Customer Experience: 5/5
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My Experience Using Ritual Women’s Multivitamin 18+
Immediately, before receiving the package, I love the subscription model. Even more, I love a subscription model that is easy to cancel and doesn’t lock you in to buying a product you end up hating. I am busy. I have a soccer kid who also does dance and dabbles in theatre. I have a music kid who also does theatre and dabbles in sports. I have a busy husband with a full time job, a side coaching job, and a volunteer job. If I have to remember just ONE more appointment, game, rehearsal, etc., my planner is going to vomit on me and I will explode. Supplements that just arrive at my door every month takes a ton of the heat off remembering to order, and I appreciate the extra helping hand!
Grabbing the beautiful yellow package out of the mail was like getting unexpected flowers from my spouse. The sun was (in a rare event) shining, the birds were singing, and I was on such a dopamine high (your results may vary). I had seen pictures and heard about the pretty little jewel-like capsules, but taking them out and experiencing them for myself was super fun.
Ritual included easy-to-digest informational material along with the 30-day supply of vitamins, which I promptly put on the window sill behind the kitchen sink without shame.
I have to admit, I was a bit nervous switching from my hamster pill, unpleasant as it was. But the design of the capsule made me excited to try it. You can see the tiny little beadlets of goodness suspended in their tiny little oil bath. You know that spot that gets hit when you take your new phone out of its box? That’s the same spot taking the multivitamin for the first time hits.
Opening the bottle was another experience layer altogether. I hadn’t read about the mint tab before ordering, so when I was hit with the pleasant scent that almost smelled lemony, I audibly “ooh’d”. I wondered if they had flavored the vitamin capsules, and had the initial thought that maybe there was something artificial I hadn’t caught in my research. But no, it’s just a cute little food-grade plastic insert that has been essenced with peppermint oil.
The vitamin was super easy to incorporate into my morning routine. I place it on the kitchen window sill where I can see it while grabbing my morning coffee.
It can be taken with or without food, and I love that amount of flexibility. There must be a placebo effect from putting good quality ingredients in your body, because I definitely felt a little peppier in the days following. Or maybe it was the B-12 doing its job. Who’s to say? I physically hadn’t noticed a difference since beginning my Ritual, but I think unless you’re suffering from a serious deficiency, a multivitamin should just work quietly behind the scenes.
Ritual, The Brand
I first turned to the Ritual website for more information. Seemed like the logical first step, anyway. I was immediately hit with a clean, uncluttered, well-presented site that matched their message. As first impressions go, it felt like they didn’t want to mess around with flashy graphics or attention-stealing design fads. And after doing more digging, this simplicity aligns perfectly with their product and their “why”. My main take-aways about Ritual as a company can be broken down into three interesting facts:
#1: An Idea of Trustworthy, Traceable Ingredients
This all began as a project by the creator to fill a gap in the prenatal vitamin segment, trying to find a product with ingredients she could trust with her health and that of her children.
#2: Ritual's Team of Experts
They employ actual doctors with actual backgrounds in relevant fields such as physiology and nutritional sciences.
#3: The Ritual Brand Cares
They work to incorporate nutrients that are in a form most easily absorbed by the body – nutrients that can be traced to their original source. That’s dedication, and I love the peace of mind that comes with it!
About Ritual Women’s Multivitamin
Not only is their website and message clean, but that sense of no-fluff consistency flows right down to their packaging! And as a millennial, I’m a sucker for good packaging. Here are my initial thoughts upon receiving my multivitamin:
#1: RESPONSIBLE
In doing my research, I found that their beautiful clear bottle is made from post-consumer recycled plastic, thereby reducing the company’s carbon footprint.
#2: ENJOYABLE
My experience with Omega-3’s has not been what I would call pleasant, and Ritual does not add any flavor to their capsules to hide the taste. What they add, instead, is a small plastic capsule to each bottle that is scented with mint. I didn’t even taste the fishiness from the Omega-3.
#3: PRACTICAL
The multivitamin is made accessible to a wide variety of people by being vegan, gluten-free, and (major) allergen-free. Those with specific allergies will still want to check the active and inactive ingredients list before consuming.
What Makes Ritual So Special?
The Ritual Multivitamin is intentional in its ingredients, only containing the nutrients that are actually absorbable by the body in amounts that make sense. I don’t need to take a supplement that includes vitamins I already get from my Standard American Diet, and Ritual felt they didn’t need to include them.
The Traceability™ of their ingredients means transparency in sourcing, and that transparency and commitment to a high-quality product means you can just jump on the website and find out exactly where the K2 was processed, or who manufactures the B-12, or why you really need Magnesium and how to find it in the wild.
This isn’t something I’ve experienced with other supplement providers, and I truly appreciate the evidence-backed research that went into making a tiny pill.
Pros And Cons
Before you go out and hit “Add To Cart”, review this list of good and not-so-good I’ve put together from my own experience and opinions.
Pros
- Includes plenty of B-12, something I knew I was lacking in my diet (thanks, Dr. Dentist)
- Sufficient amount of Vitamin D for my needs (I do not drink Vitamin D milk and live in an area where sunshine is, sadly, not plentiful)
- Has Vitamin E as an antioxidant (did I mention I’m a millennial? Girl, I need my antioxidants)
- Uses Folate, the active form of Folic Acid, which is easier for the body to use
- Includes a modest amount of Magnesium, which is critical to bone health and many other functional processes
- Omega-3’s that are derived from environmentally friendly microalgae, not fish oil (thus not contributing to over-harvesting of aquatic species)
Cons
- Not enough Magnesium. I am glad to see it was included, but at 7% (and with the mineral being so vital to many of my own health concerns), I’ll either need to supplement with a Magnesium pill or work to include it more thoroughly in my diet.
- B2 (Riboflavin) is another vitamin I would have liked to see. As I don’t consume a lot of dairy, there are very few natural sources I can obtain Riboflavin from.
Pricing
The monthly subscription for 60 capsules (30 day supply) is $33 + applicable sales tax. Ritual frequently runs a first-time buyer promotion, where you can get up to 20% off your first shipment. Shipping is always free – one less fee to worry about! Subscriptions are then kicked off every 30 days to help keep you on track, and they will send you a notification before you are charged for your next bottle. If you need to modify your subscription in any way (rush, delay, cancel), Ritual makes the process really easy through your user account.
Is Ritual Women’s Multivitamin 18+ Worth The Price Tag?
I think for the average person, this supplement contains everything you need for a daily multivitamin. Their commitment to honesty, transparency, and simplicity are worth their weight in gold in an industry that is plagued by pseudoscience and ingredient stuffing.
While I do need to find a source for one or two nutrients that isn’t included in the multivitamin, I would not ask Ritual to jeopardize what they stand for and pack the “more” in for the sake of making the price more appealing. If ever there were an option to customize a Ritual multivitamin, I would be all over it. It’s up to you to decide what you value, and if traceable ingredients from scientifically backed sources are important to you, then yes. It is worth the price tag.
Closing Thoughts
Do supplement companies still give me the ick? Yes, actually. I know that there are plenty of products out there made by corporations with no intent on making me a healthier version of myself. But I do know, now, that there are companies with every notion of doing the opposite – providing what my diet can’t provide, in a method that isn’t harmful to the environment, motivated by science and the responsibility to do better.
I applaud Ritual as a brand – so much so that I’ve ordered another little yellow package. As for the multivitamin, it is a good solid product that you can feel completely guilt-free about if it satisfies your nutrient needs.
