These all natural, plant-based soaps, milled in France
and sold in Marbledale are a small luxury
When Rick Distel launched his retail soap shop eight years ago, he took a necessity and turned it into a small luxury, or as he puts it, his soaps are “a necessary indulgence.” Having worked in the health and beauty retail industry for years, he knew soap always sold well, but he personally always loved soaps. Rain Soaps can be found in department stores and luxury boutiques around the country, but they began right here in Litchfield County. Located in the village of Marbledale in Washington, the Rain Soaps retail shop is housed in an understated classic New England post-and-beam building with a vaulted ceiling and hand-hewn beams. It’s a beautiful space, artfully arranged with decorative packages of soap. When you walk in, all of your senses are affected, from the gorgeous packaging to the subtle fragrances of the natural, plant-based products.
All of Rain Soaps bars are 250 grams and are hand-made in a small town in France by a family-run business, using the triple milling process. This means that the soap base is passed through a mill three times, resulting in a very dense, high quality bar that lasts a long time. Rick does the research himself, working with European farmers to find the perfect blends from their plants, using only all-natural, pure vegetable-based ingredients. The process is pure and simple and begins with shea butter, which has great moisturizing properties. Traditional French soap makers have used shea butter for a long time. His tagline, is appropriately “From the hills of Provence to the Litchfield Hills.”
Rick started off with five soaps with different fragrance blends, later he added three more, and last year he launched two “Legacy” bars, one named for his mother, June Lilac, and another for his dog, Highbanks. Black Forest, which is made with sandalwood, cinnamon, and musk, is popular with both men and women. The exotic Bombay Vanilla, the classic French Lavendar, a garden bouquet called Midnight Flowers, and the crisp Georgia Cotton, all have distinctive aromatic fragrances. Olive Tree is unscented and made with more than 20% olive oil. If you have sensitive or dry skin, this is a good one for you. Tuscan Cypress is made with cypress oil from Italy and is very mildly scented. Verbena, a Rain Soaps best seller, has a really zesty scent. Apparently, the popular George Washington used a verbena scented soap.
Every bar of soap is lovingly hand-wrapped by Rick Distel, himself, who also happens to be a top realtor in the area. The decorative papers are chosen to match each of the soap bars’ quality and scent. The atelier in Marbledale is open from 11am to 5pm every day except Mondays, but Rick adds a personal touch to his business, which means if you call him because you need some last-minute guest soaps or a gift, he’ll open up the shop for you. You can’t get more personal than that!
RAIN SOAPS
2 Wheaton Road, at Rte 202
New Preston
www.rainsoaps.com
860.868.7161
