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"From the hills of Provence to the Litchfield Hills," Rain is making its debut in Washington this week with the grand opening of its first retail store.
Nestled in the heart of Marbledale village, in the former Potter & Slack Gallery building, the high-end, French-milled soap shop evokes the feeling of an old French farmhouse. Under exposed post-and-beam ceilings, rows of hand-wrapped Rain soaps line the walls, the subtle fragrances of the signature soaps line mingling in the air.
The creator of the Rain soap line, Rick Distel, developed the brand three years ago and had near-immediate success. Only a few months after its creation, Rain soaps were featured in the New York magazine's holiday issue.
"I originally only intended to sell wholesale," said Mr. Distel, whose line appears in department stores, luxury boutiques and select Ritz-Carlton gift shops across the country. But after falling in love with Litchfield County, he decided to make the area not only his home, but also the site of Rain's first retail shop, where the hand-crafted soaps sell for $10 each.
"Years and years ago, I was a retailer in the health and beauty industry," Mr. Distel, who has an MBA from New York University, explained of his decision to create Rain. "And soap was always a consistent seller. Also, personally, I love soap, and I wanted to be the creator as well."
His quote "from the hills of Provence to the Litchfield Hills" is more than just a tag line. All of Rain's soaps are made by a small, family-run company in France specially for Mr. Distel. "The French sort of invented the triple milling process," Mr. Distel said of the rich French tradition of soap-making. The soap base, he explained, is passed through a mill three times, which removes air and blends fragrance. The end result is a very dense, long-lasting and high-quality bar with substantial weight and feel.
"A lot of companies just spray the fragrance on the bar afterwards. The bar smells great at first, but 12 showers later, all the fragrance is gone," he said. By comparison, Rain's fragrances are blended in during the milling process to create a soap that holds fragrance evenly and consistently. "If you cut this bar in half, the inside would smell just as good as the outside," he said.
Mr. Distel is as particular about the quality of ingredients that go into his line as he is about the quality of the process. A pure vegetable-based soap, Rain is made of all natural ingredients. "It's a very simple, pure process from start to finish," he noted. Each of Rain's signature blends include shea butter. "Shea butter goes back centuries and is known for its moisturizing properties. It has very creamy, sudsy, easy-to-rinse properties," Mr. Distel explained. "That's another reason why I liked the French [soap-makers], they've been using shea butter in their soaps for years and years."
The fragrance blends are derived from all natural, plant-based sources as well, which Mr. Distel hand-selects from European farmers. "It's akin to Connecticut farming. You want to deal with farmers and products that are homegrown," he said. To find his sources, and solidify his relationships with European farmers, Mr. Distel travels to the continent several times a year. "That's the fun part of the job," he joked, "and a wonderful excuse for travel."
Mr. Distel started the Rain line with five signature fragrance blends, though he added three new scents to the line this year. "My goal is not to have hundreds of fragrances. If I find a new fragrance or think I can improve upon an already-popular scent, that's when I'll introduce a new soap," he said, noting he'll probably add three to four new blends each year.
The Black Forest blend is a rich mix of intensely-scented spices such as sandalwood, cinnamon and musk. "I created it with men in mind, but I actually sell more of it to women," he said.
Bombay Vanilla is a very pure, strong vanilla aroma. Exotic, rich, and warm, the vanilla fragrance in Bombay Vanilla is nothing like the overly-sweet scent of those "vanilla candles" we are all familiar with.
French lavender is a classic lavender fragrance, which, Mr. Distel said, "I really think is unmatched."
Georgia Cotton is one of the best selling Rain blends. A very fresh, clean, crisp scent, "it's almost like a just-washed linen fragrance."
Midnight Flowers was created by Mr. Distel with the hot, dewy Southern nights in mind. The scent, he explained, is meant to evoke the aroma of a Southern garden on a hot night, the warm blend of jasmine and magnolia in the air.
Olive Tree is Rain's first unscented bar. This soap is made with more than 20 percent pure olive oil and is very beneficial for dry or sensitive skin types.
Tuscan Cypress, made with cypress oil from Italy, is one of Rain's mildest fragrances.
Rain's Verbena blend is a zesty, lemony, vibrantly scented soap. "A lot of the verbena soaps on the market just don't hit it, they don't have that really zesty scent," Mr. Distel noted. So when he decided to improve upon this already popular favorite, he set out to create a truly intensive, lively fragrance.
Mr. Distel carefully hand-wraps and ties each bar individually. The beautifully decorative paper, which wraps each "RAIN" inscribed bar, is chosen by Mr. Distel to match the mood and tone of each of the fragrances. "I search and search different art papers to try and find artwork that tells the story of the soap," he said.
The same level of careful attention to detail Mr. Distel takes in hand-wrapping each soap translates into the level of care he takes with the simply, but elegantly, designed shop. "I bought the building this summer. I had my eye on it a long time and I'm very happy to have it," he said. Formerly of New York, Mr. Distel began coming to Litchfield County as a day-tripper, but soon fell in love with the area. "It's a magical place, Litchfield County. I never tire of exploring."
During the holiday season, Rain will be open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Monday. "But people can always call me to come unlock the door for them, I only live 15 minutes away," he said. "I want to be that kind of retailer for the community. If someone is having a dinner party at 6 p.m. and says, 'Oh my, I need soap for the guest bath,' they can call me and I'll open up the shop for them. ... I'm excited to be here, be part of the community and I want people to stop by and say hi."
The grand opening of the store will take place today, Dec. 8, from noon to 8 p.m. during the Holiday in New Preston event.
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