In midtown Manhattan, things are often chaotic and loud. You have to wade through the throngs of people to get anywhere, there's an Elmo taking pictures on seemingly every street corner, somebody's always trying to offer you a trip to the top of the Empire State Building or tickets to a free comedy show, and horns blare constantly and noisily. RAIN Africa is your tranquil retreat from the chaos and noisy of the city.
Located at Rockefeller Center (59 West 49th Street between 5th and 6th Ave), RAIN Africa has a calming effect the moment you walk in the door. With its large windows, excellent lighting, and white tables and shelves, the small store looks bright, large and airy even on a cloudy day. The staff is incredibly pleasant and knowledgeable, happy to answer your questions about what the various products do and what they're made of, and about the history and concept of RAIN Africa.
When I visited RAIN Africa for the first time, Hendrien, who is incredibly knowledgeable about the various products and their natural ingredients, took me on a little tour of the entire store. She educated me on the vast number of truly unique products that are sold there. RAIN Africa sells bath salts, like many companies do, but theirs are different and better than what you're probably used to--the scents are unique (Lemon Eucalyptus and Rock Mint, among others), and they include actual herbs in their bath salts (there are pieces of mint leaves in the Rock Mint bath salts, which are also scented with peppermint essential oil). In the spirit of being eco-conscious, you can bring your own jar and fill it with bath salts from their Bath and Scrub Deli--or you can purchase a pre-filled jar there. They sell bath fizzie types of products, like many other companies do, but RAIN Africa incorporates so many natural ingredients in theirs. Their Earth Eggs contain essential oils and moisturizers like cocoa butter on the inside, and on the outside they're covered in something fragrant and natural--dried rose petals, dried lavender, or rooibos tea, just to name a few.
Speaking of tea, that's an ingredient RAIN Africa incorporates into many of their products. They have an entire line of Vanilla Rooibos products. This isn't your ordinary vanilla, folks! The scent of this vanilla is jazzed up with a little bit of amber; it's a very warm fragrance. The Vanilla Rooibos body cream is lovely--the scent is sweet and warm and lingers on your skin for hours, and the body cream itself is quite hydrating.
RAIN Africa has a large collection of soaps, from the super-fun (like this Khoi Large Soap, which I bought and cannot bear to use--it's too darn cute!) to the super-scrumptious (like the Marula and Rooibos roulade soap--you can cut this little log of soap with a butter knife to make many smaller pieces of soap) to the heavenly (the Moon Under Water sliced soap smells peaceful and ocean-like).
While RAIN Africa's products are lovely in all aspects, from their scent to their appearance, the best thing about this store isn't their products--it's their philosophy and the story behind the products. All of RAIN Africa's products are handmade using natural ingredients found in Africa. This provides the African people with work opportunities and therefore a better quality of life. Even the packaging of the products is handmade--some of the soaps are sold in beautiful beaded boxes, and the beading is all done by hand. In fact, the packaging is deliberately made so that it can be reused; all the boxes and containers that RAIN Africa's products come in can be reused for other purposes, like holding notecards or serving as gift boxes or gift card holders. (On RAIN Africa's website, their "An African Tale" is a fantastic read that will give you more insights into their philosophy and inspiration.)
If you're seeking a few moments of calm from the busy atmosphere of the city and want to indulge in an exceptional collection of bath, body and home products, RAIN Africa is a must-visit next time you're in New York City.
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