Rain Africa

What a great concept — happy I found this place in the Unilocal search when typing essential oils. When it comes to buying essentials oils, I don’t know where to go and am not comfortable with the idea of buying something that I cannot smell or get a sense of before online.
This store has a nice selection of essential oils from Africa. They also had soaps and body scrubs and other body products. There was even a DIY scrub kit to buy as a gift.
The body scrubs looked appealing. They were made of a mixture that was gentle to the touch. I wanted to put my hand in there and leave it there forever. Ingredient that I could identify were coffee and brown sugar. There were also essential oils mixtures to add for an extra kick.
The décor of the store is simple and earthy with an undertone of elements from mother Africa. If for nothing else — would recommend stoping by for some essential oils.

Purchased two bath balls from this very cute boutique, but unfortunately this review is about their products and not their décor.
The first of the two, the terra cotta, was amazing and left my skin smooth and fragrant. The lime on the other hand held no scent and aggravated my skin. I don’t expect that kind of reaction from a product I was told was organic when purchasing.

Came here looking for spikenard essential oil for a personal project, and this was the only place in midtown I could find that carried essential oils. Upon entering through the door, i was greeted with fragrant aromas, a much welcome relief from the air outside. No, they didn’t carry spikenard, but they did have lavender which is also considered a ‘nard’. It was a bit pricey for my budget, but the scent is growing on me and I can’t wait to try it in a bath. The staff was great, friendly and genuinely interested in helping me find what I was looking for. Oh, and did I mention the place smells wonderful?

Great soap spot. They always keep me and my girl smelling fresh and it helps a good cause.

My absolute favorite place on Earth for all things heavenly scented. This is not to be compared with your typical run of the mill soapy/​lotion shops. For what they carry, for what it does for home body mind, you won’t (IMHO) find better anywhere else. I am FAR from the «everything must be organic» type of person and it is purely for my personal use unrelated to anything spa-​ish or meditation-​ish, but as I am a big scent oriented person I’ve bought my fair share of lotions oils and soaps as well as diffusers, candles and oils for the home (what girl hasn’t?) but I have learned over the years that it really takes the perfect balance to get the oils smelling just so or exactly the way you want it to feel on your skin. I came home and pretty much tossed out all the crap I’ve collected over the years to replace with RAIN products. When ya know ya love something you stick with it because it works and let me tell you — it truly does.

Great place if you’re looking for a gift for your girlfriend or a close friend. They have incredible products, all organic and from African businesses that do not exploit people. Prices are reasonable.

I was recommended to this store by a friend of mine who is originally from South Africa, and the first thing I noticed when I walked in was the calm-​inducing aroma, which immediately put me at ease after a very hectic morning. I was looking for a particular product that I could incorporate into my combination Reiki/​Acupressure treatment session for a client who suffered from chronic insomnia. After my conversation with a very patient, and extremely helpful store representative (I believe her name is Kersten) I was shown a new product called «Sleep Balm.» It is infused with sleep-​inducing herbs that you apply to specific acupressure points, and it smells divine! Needless to say, using «Sleep Balm» as part of my client’s treatment session was so successful that my client signed up for six more treatment sessions! I intend to return to Rain Africa’s NYC location to pick up some scrubbing bath salts for myself. I love the idea that you can choose the type of oil, type of salts, aroma, etc. that you want, and feel like you have some creative control over exactly the type of bath/​face salts that you wish to use for yourself, rather than be stuck with a factory-​made product that may or may not be exactly what you wanted. All in all, I really wanted to take half the store home with me as I was really impressed with the purity and quality of the products.

I will now go broke, because I discovered this store. I am obsessed with oils, this store has soooo many options for skincare. The lady did a great sugar scrub on my hands, and then finished them off with Avocado oil (super thick and amazing) I bougth a bunch, flew home and proceeded to act like an ancient Roman, and rub myself, and my hubby down in oils. Feels amazing. I will be buying more things online all the time!!! I would like one of everything please.

great store for gifts. the staff know their stuff and very helpful. i bought an assortment of 7 oils and a little purse to hold them in for a 16yr’s old bday gift. she loved it. i would say it was around $ 85ish total — not cheap but quality products.
oh and i treated myself to the peppermint oil :)

Great bath and body shop. Reminded me of a more refined version of Lush. Very friendly service. Everything made in South Africa. Left with some bath salts, bath bombs, and cocoa butter eggs. Cocoa butter eggs are just ok but the salts are fantastic. Convenient location right near Rockefeller center.

Amazing! The bath salts were so nice and service was awesome :)

If you like Bath & Body shops — you will GO CRAZY in Rain! This place is a «pamper yourself silly» place for bath and beauty junkies like me. All of their products are made in South Africa and boast an original and unique look, smell and feel. There are raw ingredients, salts and exotic oils for the skin and hair that are pure in content and astonishingly reasonable in price. They even have ground mustard seed which is great as a cellulite scrub and detox soak.
The owner and her staff are refreshingly helpful and kind. We had a blast shopping, smelling, scrubbing and trying all the lotions and potions in this store — and left with shopping bags of treasures!
Don’t leave without smelling their essential oils. Their Vanilla blows the roof of other vanillas I have tried — even ones for HUNDREDS of dollars. Rain’s vanilla is under $ 20 bucks!

I am going to sell my business in California and do whatever it takes to make a million dollars so I can move to New York exclusively for the purpose of spending all day in this store buying everything. Just go. Seriously.
Check out the back room for lower priced damaged goods. They’re still beautiful and delightful, just marked down a bit.

Stumbled upon this bath and body store when I went to see this year’s Christmas tree at the Rock. The lights and clean atmosphere lured me into the store, so I went in to see what was there.
Right when you walk into the store, it smells clean and refreshing just as you would want a bathroom to smell like. From lotions, room sprays, fragrance oils, bath robes, baby items, glycerin soaps, and bath salts. If you are trying to revamp your bathroom necessities, this is a good place to go to.
They pride themselves on everything being handmade and with the use of African ingredients. Great unique store for your bath and body needs.

Living in Midtown for years and this shopping center under Rock Plaza was just introduced to me. Rain is the best store there. Awesome products — can’t wait to try the steam balls. Friendly, helpful staff. Gorgeous accessories too. Definitely worth a trip to Rock Center to see what they have here.
Only thing is I wish their prices were lower. But since their products provide work to the locals of South Africa, higher prices are worth it!

Beautiful products, exceptional service.
In January I was walking past this store in Rockefeller Center and saw the most beautiful bathrobe in the window. My mom loves a long zippered bathrobe and most of them are so matronly and inelegant. I took cell phone pic and squirreled the idea away for Mother’s Day.
Here’s a picture of it that I put on facebook.
When the day was getting close I called the store. I asked if they could ship from the store (housebound that week with a very sick husband) and they said they’d be happy to. I didn’t see this service offered on their company website so I was pleasantly surprised. Then Simon, who was helping me, told me they only had large robes available. Their only medium had a little dirt on the back hem. I asked if he’d give me a discount and he gave me 20% off.
Now you have to realize he could have just stuck the Medium in a box and mailed it knowing I would never see it and gambling that the mom in Oklahoma wasn’t the grumbling type but he was totally honest as well as totally helpful.
I have to add that this integrity seems to be a part of their business model which includes fair trade, fair wages, community involvement and natural ingredients.
But honestly, it was just how beautiful the robe was (and probably how nice the store smelled) that got me through the door.
My mom called me when she got the robe. She just loves it.

Lovely shop in Rockefeller Plaza with good-​smelling, handmade skincare products from South Africa. The co. works to create jobs there.

By far one of the coolest stores I’ve been to in NY, or even California. There are tubs of scented bath salts, fizzy bath balls, oils, air fresheners, CUSTOMIZABLE shower scrubs, and… STEAM BALLS! These things are so cool… you just place one of these lil guys in a basin of hot water, drape a towel over your head, and let the scented steam drag all that nasty stuff out of your pores. There’s one for every skin type or condition.
I absolutely fell in love with their products, but I also fell in love with their company culture. It started in South Africa and originated from humble means… one of its goals was to provide much-​needed work to the locals. I am 100% a fan of this honest, beautiful, wonderful-​smelling little store.

Stumbled across this place and soo glad I did! This store reminds me of the body shop or bath and body works but SOOOOO much better. All products are 100% natural. you can customize your own body scrubs by selecting the type of oils, and scrub (range from course to extra fine) and you take home and mix yourself– love this concept. Buy bath salts and liquid body soap by weight, best home fragances, and much more! The staff were extremely helpful and so down to earth. My friend and I were in there for an hour and the staff never grew tired of our many questions. The best part is all the baskets, rugs, etc are hand made from South Africa.
I got a discount for using my own bag for upon check-​out ! Will definitely visit again soon!

Nice location in Rockefeller plaza. Bright, clean store with lots of great products. Check it out if you are in the area.