Rain

I smell Rain and I'm thirteen again, browsing the fragrance oils at the original Body Shop in Berkeley and planning to save up my babysitting money so that I can smell this fresh and lovely every day. It was the polar opposite of most perfumes I knew, which were big and loud and full of screechy white flowers and civet and oakmoss. Although my tastes have broadened in the intervening decades, when a bottle of this oil came into my possession lately I found I am just as smitten. Rain actually smells quite sharp on first application, but once the initial burst of lily of the valley calms down, it mellows into a soft, clean-green musky floral that lingers on skin for hours. I use it when I'm going to be in close proximity with others and don't want to offend anyone with more polarizing scents, yet also don't want to have to reapply every couple of hours, as I do with most of my other soft/fresh scents. The longevity on this is really phenomenal! Since there seems to be a bit of confusion about how Terranova, the Body Shop, and Body Time fit together, here's the scoop: The original Body Shop in Berkeley, CA (so named because it occupied the premises of a former auto body shop), was opened by Jane Saunders and her sister Peggy in 1970. In 1987, they sold the rights to its name to Anita Roddick, who had founded the UK-based Body Shop and was willing to pay handsomely to be able to use this name in the US market too (this is the Body Shop brand we're all familiar with today). The Berkeley natural bodycare shop was renamed Body Time, and its burgeoning wholesale arm was called Terranova. Jane Saunders' daughters eventually took over both halves of the business until they themselves retired and shuttered everything in 2020. As other people here have mentioned, there are a few places that have acquired the Body Shop/Body Time/Terranova original formulas and continue to produce the company's signature scents. Perfectly Scentsable out of Ashland, OR, is one - I've tried both their Rain and China Rain and they seem spot-on to me. Scents By The Bay, also located in Berkeley, is another one I recently ran across but haven't tried yet - they also claim to be working with the Saunders' original formulas and have a whole section on their website dedicated to Body Time scents. Oh, and some on this site have mentioned that they switched to Kuumba Made's Zen Rain after they couldn't find this version of Rain anymore, and I have to agree that it's not a bad alternative. It's also more easily available in Europe and the UK than either of the above companies. That said, I find it slightly spicier and more floral-forward (my nose insists it picks up a soapy rose...), but the drydown is indeed very similar.

Note update 1/5/2024: I wear Rain oil from Beyond Scents and Perfectly Scentsable. I recommend shopping for Terra Nova and Body time oils from those vendors. Terra Nova is no longer in existence. Some people say this is unisex. I feel This is ultra feminine. This is a Lily of the Valley masterpiece! I have the oil. A little goes a long way and I bought a roller ball a few years ago and thought to myself I would splurge and get the full line. To my disappointment, the Terra Nova shop no longer exists! A few year back, I had a Body Time China Rain oil. I liked the Terra Nova Rain better as it is cleaner and greener. I wore “Forest Lily” by Avon in high school and also occasionally Haiku. This is in the same family but much more grounded and relaxing. People go on about how J Lo Glow is based on this. I have Glow, but this Rain oil is nicer. I wear it with a Suave Cucumber Guava Green Tea Lotion and some Dove Cucumber Green Tea Deodorant. Imagine a holy saint crying in the forest and Lily of the Valley spring up from the tears. It is that kind of green, springy, innocent but not immature complex scent. Lily of the Valley scents conjure up religious scenes in my mind though it is not incense. I have grown to not prefer incense scents and this is way to the the green bright “angelic” side of the spectrum.

Looking for a "soapy" fragrance? You've found it. Rain, which is made by the parent company of both TerraNova and Body Time (the Saunders Co.), is very similar to China Rain. The only difference I can sense is that China Rain is a bit stronger and more floral, with a more prominent lily of the valley note. Rain is a stunning, just-out-of-the-shower type of clean fragrance. Fresh florals and sweet green notes layered over a watery musk. It's not too far from J Lo Glow, but it's much softer and easier to wear. It's the kind of fragrance where people will come up to you and say, "You smell good," instead of "What perfume are you wearing?" The good part is, it's not a soft, fleeting scent -- it has good staying power, especially if you use the oil and layer it over the body products -- shower gel, lotion, etc. It's not expensive, either. Great value for the money, if you want a clean fragrance that will be appealing to almost everyone.

My aunt gave me a bottle of this many years ago (before JLo ripped this and/or China Rain off to make JLo Glow, which smells almost the same except more synthetic as others have said) and I was instantly obsessed with it. I've been wearing it ever since, and would consider it to be my signature scent. I've ordered it both from TerraNova and from Body Time (splits from the same company) and it smells the same to me from both places. I actually prefer Rain over China Rain because it has a less powdery-smelling dry down on me. It smells fresher and cleaner than China Rain, even though I really like China Rain as well. This is what I put on when I want to smell fresh and clean, but not heavily perfumed. I also like to layer other perfumes over it...some of my other favourite scents (such as D&G Light Blue and Tom Ford Blanc Soliel) smell amazing layered over Rain. Would highly recommend this to anyone, and you can't beat the price!

Oh my god! Finally! lol This is my absolute favorite perfume that has ever been made! It is amazing! I have used the oil in the past, and it has tremendous lasting power but light sillage. However, the cologne spray smells exactly like the oil and the sillage is heavier so I have started using it instead. Rain is what heaven probably smells like. When I was younger, I lived near a field full of those big purple clover flowers. Every year, monarch butterflies would stop there by the thousands during their migration. It was magical! And the scent of those flowers has always brought back that memory for me, making this perfume very special to me. If you remember JLo's Glow when it first came out, before Coty bought it and reformulated it, then you know exactly how Rain smells.