Tiani Body Care is offering a unique line of products that are made with a local touch and understanding.
Violet Tiani Raterman, owner and founder, describes Tiani Body Care as a locally made, natural body care line with the primary goal of creating safe and quality household products that can be enjoyed by families and those with sensitive skin.
The Sun Times News reached out to Tiani to learn more.
“We are very excited to be a part of Dexter,” said Raterman. “We had our Grand Opening on November 20th and had a wonderful holiday season in the store. We were quite blown away by the number of new and repeat customers that came through the door. We knew it would be a busy holiday season with opening a storefront, but had no idea the store would be that busy during our first month. Thank you to all who stopped this holiday season; we truly appreciate your support!”
They make a large variety of bar soaps, foaming hand soaps, body lotions, shampoo bars, hand salves, lip balms, candles, castile soaps, dish bars, felted bar soaps, cedar soap dishes and custom gift boxes.
“We are excited to now have our own storefront filled with our products and a home base in Dexter for our business,” Raterman said.
The new store is filled with stacks of soap, everyday household products and lots of usable, gift options. Raterman said the custom gift boxes have become a large part of their storefront and kept them busy this holiday season. They offer custom holiday, birthday, thank you and Michigan made gift boxes.
“You can select a pre-made box in the store or create your own variety with a custom soap stamp and gift tag to match,” said Raterman.
They source many fresh ingredients from farms/small businesses, and as Raterman says, they avoid the use of all synthetic fragrances, artificial colorings and harsh ingredients.
The motivation to create this business has its origins on a local farm.
“I grew up at the Whitney Farmstead on the Dexter, Ann Arbor border and learned at an early age to appreciate the value of working with and supporting my local community,” Raterman said. “Starting my own natural body care line has been a dream since a young age and it is amazing to see it come to life. I have many sensitivities to synthetic household products and creating a brand of products that is safe for sensitive skin, kids, and available in a variety of options is very important to our business.”
Raterman launched Tiani Body Care after obtaining a degree in Biochemistry/Molecular Biology. She is the formulator of all Tiani Body Care products.
“It has been an exciting journey and is the perfect combination of sharing my love for science, supporting our local community and living a healthy life,” she said.
The name of the business also pays tribute to her upbringing and family.
“Tiani is a very special family name and originated from Italy,” Raterman explains. “The Tiani side of my family has taught me about living a healthy and honest life, the value of hard work, and many of my core values in life. Honoring this side of my family through my small business has been a great joy. My Tiani grandfather is currently 101 and lives just 10 minutes away from our new store. He enjoys hearing the adventures of Tiani Body Care and gets a kick out of seeing his name on a downtown sign!”
The shop in Dexter is new, but the business has been around for almost five years. Raterman said each year they have grown their product line, number of stores, their small team and their following.
“We now are in several Michigan stores, have our own storefront, ship orders to small shops all around the country and our online business has grown quite a bit in the last two years,” she said. “We do a good amount of shipping through our website and Etsy, so finding a location right next to the Post Office has been beyond convenient!”
She said they have been selling at many Farmers Markets and local shows in the area, which has allowed them to grow their local customer base.
“We have put in many hours at outdoor markets and have been keeping our eye out for a space that would fit our needs for a storefront,” Raterman said. “We were thrilled to find this location on Baker Road in Dexter, it checked many boxes and has been a wonderful fit.”
The new store has a large retail area for customers to shop or pickup orders and a back room that serves as their shipping/packaging area.
“We are excited to have a larger space and grow as a business in our home community of Dexter,” she said.
To learn more go to:
Website: www.tianibodycare.com
Etsy: TianiBodyCareCo
Instagram and Facebook: @tianibodycare
The new shop is open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday to Saturday and is located at 3170 Baker Road, in downtown Dexter.
