AROMAS OF HAWAII
 

Missing the scents of Hawaii? I've tried many lotions, sprays and soaps, hoping to capture the aromas of Hawaii between trips there. There are numerous mango/coconut/otehr floral concoctions that don't qute do it. AT LAST, I found a few, so wanted to share. with my felow Fodorite Hawaii addicts. One is "Ginger Milk" spray cologne from a company called The Thymes; the other is "Fig" ( (you're thinking "Figs in Hawaii?" but bear with me) soap and shower cream from l'Occitane en Provence. The "Fig" is mixed with shea botter. It has the scent of some plant --I don't know which--in Hawaii and is like the aroma of the soil there, especially after rain. The Thymes ginger is a pure spicy scent that seems more real than other companies' ginger fragrances. BTW...NO, I don't work for either company (-:
Anyone care to share names of other products with he scent of the islands?

Kukui moisturizing lotion (scented or unscented) by Oils of Aloha

Maui Babe after-sunning lotion

Plumeria "Pua Melia HydroLotion by "The Hawaiian Spa" - to die for ... smells exactly like Plumeria. They do other scents as well but I have only tried Plumeria.

www.islandherbal.com

Malie Kaua'i Pikake Body Cream (got it at Kaua'i Hyatt Anari Spa (or order at maliekauai.com).

Wonderful!

Mahalo for new ideas and recommendations! It's a neverending quest for more memories via scents.
I had the Kauai Hyatt Anara Spa cocounut lotion(which they give you in the room) band it smelled great, but i haven't smelled any actual coconuts in Hawaii!
Another product i rembered is by Jo Malone...LIME something. It's hard to find, but is avail on internet and at Neiman Marcus (not a store I've enough $$ to frequent). Will try to sniff it soon and report back on exactly which eau de toilette it is. It smells JUST like Hawaii after the rain.

This thread is just in time!! I'm running low on my pikake lotion. Great to have some new resources. Thanks!

MY

Aloha! I really like the A'ala Dreams lotions. They are on the BI and have a website. I use all of their products.

I am looking for a body mist/spray that smells like Hawaii and doesn't die in two minutes. Any suggestions for this? I prefer to use a spray rather than perfume.

I was pleasantly surprised to find how many things from Hawaii are easily available online. Not a scent, but I like Island Girl products that I first discoverd having a facial at Serenity Spa in Waikiki.

For a great gift idea the Oils of Aloha website also has 4 kinds of macadamia nut oil in various gift packs.

Pinnacle,

The Island Herbal products I mentioned in my thread have a non-alcohol based spray scent line. I have the Plumeria and though it does seem to die off (to the wearer) others can smell it, as I have had comments that I smell like flowers ... I spray it all over ... arms, etc. Very light and very true to Plumeria lei scent.

Pinnacle--try The Thymes "Ginger Milk" spray cologne. It's light, not overpowering, but the scent lingers for hours. There's also a lotion which I have that's wonderful quality. Available via web sites--here's one:
http://www.scentedboutique.com/thymes-gingermilk.html
I receive many compliments and questions on it as it's unique--many positive comments within Hawaii!
Boxer--i forgot I have that plumeria lotion too! That company also make a great lavender lotion. Oddly enogh, i found their products at a great little art gallery at Manoa Marketplace in Honolulu--in case you're next there and need a refill from a beautiful part of Honolulu.

MAHALO all for recommendations. I'm gonna be on the interent ordering bookoo stuff after the next paycheck arrives!!!

Love this thread Cali... I ((H)) my Tuberose Tropical Body Lotion from Maui Tropical Soaps. I picked it up in Kauai a few months ago and love the long lasting fragrance. It is deeply moisturizing, non-greasy and has awapuhi, kukui nut oil and vitamins A, C, D, and B. I bought bar soap too... put it in my towel drawer till I'm done with my current one and now my washcloths & towels smell like heaven! www.mauitropicalsoaps.com

Whenever I wear this people are always saying how wonderful I smell. ((R))

Makai, I LOVE the scent of tuberose. Thanks for the idea!! I have that company's soaps (in my clothes drawers til use)--now will add web site to my on-line list for this weekend. There's nothing like the scent of a tuberose lei to put us back in Hawaii, figuratively if not (boo hoo) literally!
I am anxiously awaiting someone to make a trtipo to their nearest l"Occitane en Provence shop (at many malls in USA) to get opinion on the FIG scent they have. What is that amazing Hawaii aroma??? Apparently l"occitane products are in the Four Seasons hotel rooms in Hawaii--I wonder if they use this fragrance?

:-?

Cali, do post when you find out... inquiring minds want to know. ((R))

Used to get products called Essence of Maui but they are no longer I'm afaid. I have a half bottle of their Vanilla Papaya left..so sad. The also had a great Tubor Rose and Hawaiian Rain. So, I've been looking for another company and will try some of these sites. I have a couple of others marked. I have an oil by Hawaiian Classics and it's called Maui Rain. It's really expensive because of the gorgous bottle it comes in..I'm sure you guys have seen these..they're all over the place over there, but just reading this post made me go put some on. I found a web site where I can order refills for my bottles.

Finally made it to Neiman Marcus for name of the Jo Malone amazingly Hawaii fragrance: Wild Fig and Cassis. It has same damp tropical soil scent as l'Occitane en Provence line's Fig scent. Must be the root or leaves of a Hawaiian plant I can't identify.

Also, there's a chain of stores in Bay Area called Hydra. They carry round soaps called "pucks" and their plumeria soap smells like the real thing--for only $2!
L'Occitane also has line of products called "Immortelle" (the name of a flower in France) whose scents remind me of above mentioned (by Boxer) islandherbal plumeria.
Any further ideas? No trip to Hawaii for me for awhile, so gotta rely on the nose connection for vivid reminders.

I bought a coconut mango bath gel and lotion at the Halekulani hotel on Oahu..and have made it last 2 years by using it so sparingly!! I am down to my very last drops of it. I looked for a website or company on the bottle, but it only says "created expressly for Halekulani".

Does anyone know who makes the products the Halekulani uses? And if so, where I can get them?

Second, I will be in Maui next week...any recommendations of stores and product lines to look for while I am there?

Thanks.

Check the ABC store website, they may have something to your liking!

I'm also hanging on to an empty bottle of coconut lotion ...Maui something, can't remember right now...it costs as much to ship it as it does to purchase, so I've not gotten around to it. It was the miniatures in Maui Kai...They had better offerings than HHV in Oahu or Mana Kai in South Maui, IMHO.

Belle

An oil-based perfume last the longest -- and a good mainland source for scented oils is natural foods stores (aka, health food stores) which sell "essential oils". I used to buy vanilla oil and pikake oil in California all the time.

And if you can actually _remember_ the 1960's, you can also find patchouli oil there! :))

auntie,

For a patchouli fix, all one has to do is walk down Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley and breath deeply!

Aloha! ((R))

-Bill

I love the smell of Tuberose. Everytime I go over to Maui I look for anything with that scent but have never been able to find anything. Oh that smell when you are eating in a restaurant over there and the lady selling lei's walks by with the basket full of Tuberose lei's. Does anyone know where I might be able to get some lotion or a spray that smells of Tuberose?

Crefloors, do you possibly mean Island Essence, not Essence of Maui? They are a Maui company, based up in Kula and they have a vanilla-papaya scented lotion.

I found the bottle. It's Maui Island Formula....smells wonderful!

Belle

Belle, is that coconut lotion bottle you have for their Tropical Night Creme or their Hand & Body Lotion? I was going to surpirse you and stick a bottle in withyour postcards, but when I looked at their products today I wasn't sure which one you have since the hand & body lotion is a Mango Musk scent. Since I'm sending you a priority mail package anyway, I may as well throw in some of that lotion for you! Just tell me what is says exactly. I'll be going back to the Shops tomorrow and will get it for you . They are only a few dollars a bottle!

Here_: Aren't you sweet to think of doing that! But I'm the one trying to make up for the little date stand up!
It is the Hand and Body Lotion, but it is coconut, not mango. Looking on the internet now, I'm not finding the conconut in H&B lotion either! Don't bother with it! It was a nice thought!

Well now!...I pulled the bottle out and guess what, it's not coconut...I was SO sure it was that odor!
On the back it says:
With Papaya and Passion Fruit...Silk Protein & Glycerin...Macadamia & Jojoba Oils.
At any rate, it smells heavenly!...very like a pina coloda!
Tell ya what, I'll send a check to cover the cost!
Mahalo in the mostest way!:)

Belle

No you won't! If you do, I won't cash it.

My goodness it gets hard to do things for some people! ;-)

When we were in the Cook Islands in the South Pacific we came upon a perfume shop where one of their products ("Pearl of Paradise 50ml Spray with Black Pearl & Shell") has a black pearl inside the perfume bottle and a nice piece of Mother-of-Pearl in a small velvet pouch. When the perfume is gone, you can have the pearl mounted. Now keep in mind, that these are not flawless pearls, but even so you can usually find a way to mount them in a very attractive manner - either in a ring or necklace.

You can actually order this perfume online. Just do a web search for "Perfumes of Rarotonga", and you'll find the site. The particular perfume I'm referring to is called the "Pearl of Paradise" and is listed as a "Premium Perfume". We found it makes a great and unique gift and ended up bringing several bottles home with us when we left Rarotonga.

Ken

PS: They do of course also have many great tropical perfumes besides the "Pearl of Paradise" (Vanilla, Tiare Orovaru, Jasmine, Gardinia, Frangipani - all the those wonderful tropical fragrances)

here_today_: Well, thanks very much!((Y)) :) ((F))

Belle

LordBalfor - many thanks for the Rarotonga perfumes suggestion. I just ordered from them.

Not to hijack this post, but to me the Aromas of Hawaii have always been teriyaki sauce and coconut suntan lotion. My very first day in Hawaii, July 31, 1974, my friends took me to the International Marketplace, and those scents were so pervasive, that's how I remember Hawaii. And I could KILL for a good teri burger about now...:-d
((S))((*))

Kamahinaohoku:

You're very welcome. Actually, I can easily see how you equate those particular smells with Hawaii.

Have to say though that during our first trip to Hawaii (Oahu and Kauai in March of 2000) we were a bit disappointed in the amount of flowers we saw. Perhaps it was the time of year, perhaps it was particular islands we visited, perhaps it was over-inflated expectations - but we just didn't see all that many flowers. As part of that trip however we went to French Polynesia afterwards and there we saw tons of flowers (take note however that FP is in the southern hemisphere so it was early "fall" down there compared to early "spring" in Hawaii - if that makes a difference). In any event, even some Hawaiians we met on the ferry from Tahiti to Moorea remarked on just how many flowers there were in French Polynesia.

Have to add though that on our recent trip to Hawaii (Maui this time, this past May), flowers were everywhere, and their sweet fragrances were VERY obvious (more than anywhere I've ever been). Again, not sure if it was just Maui or just the particular time of year, but the air smelled soooooo wonderful, so very much of the time.

*sigh*

Ken

heretoday: unfortunately it IS Essence of Maui. You used to see it everywhere and then they left Maui and came to the mainland, Las Vegas actually and then went out of business. The Vanilla Papaya lotion was just yummy and the Tuberose also. I have tried the Island Essence and some of their scents are really pretty good and also a company I think it's Terra Nova? I think that's the name. It's available on the mainland but not in all the scents you find in Hawaii. I have found scents on line that I have bought in the islands, so I'll survive. It is so much more fun to buy them there how ever.

Just wanted to say that when I saw the plumeria scent from islandherbals, I immediately ordered it! I'll let you know what I think when I finally get it.

Living in Vancouver, there ain't no plumeria here ;0) but at a place that sells tropical plants and water plants, I noticed a tiny plumeria tree with only 1 blossom on it. I must have stopped there 5 or 6 times just to get that first whiff of fragrance and think I was back in heaven.

Thanks so much !!!

Island Soap and Candle carry some nice lotions and perfumes, I got Midnight Rain perfume and it smells just like the air after an evening rain in Kauai...ummmm

Direct ordering from Anara Spa at the Hyatt in Kauai. I love the coco -mango line. They make a great gift set of 4 products for $25. www.anaraspa.com

Trapp makes a very good smelling candle if you like Tuberose.

Kinch, Thanks for the info on tuberose candle. Next stop: google search.
Amazing scent, but so hard to find a product that does it justice.

Valerie99:

I have the "Plumeria" Pua Melia HydroLotion from Island Herbal at my desk at work and apply liberally several times a day just for the "lift" it gives me. Another girl here at the office caught a whiff and ordered on-line that afternoon.

I've run out of the scented spray ... time to reorder.

pikaki!!! I bought some soap at wallmart but the scent has faded.

Oh and Chocolate Mac Nut Coffee!!! found a close second though in NYC

Aloha, and hello,

I saw many posts where people are looking for Hawaiian bath and body products and they've got hard time to find them.

We did at www.natural-elements-online.com some updates on our prices. Why not to take the opportunity?

We will be please to serve you.

If you are looking for specific articles on Hawaii or Hawaiian skin care, don't hesitate to visit us.

Malaho and Thank you

Oh good, resurrected by a troll.

Apologize if this is a repeat, I didn't read all the posts. I really love Kopa Haiku products. They can be found at kopahaiku.com. I've ordered from them numerous times and really love the coconut mango soaps. Delicious!