alba hawaiian

occasionally, i'll come across a product that, while not created by someone with direct ties to the islands, there is no doubt that it has been inspired by hawaii. the alba hawaiian line by alba botanica fits the bill. alba's products incorporate 100% vegetarian ingredients (organic when possible) like coconut, kukui & macadamia nut oils, hibiscus/papaya/passion fruit/pineapple extracts & essential oils and they are cruelty-free.

one whiff of the yummy coconut, mango or papaya scents and i guarantee that you will be instantly reminded of the islands. it will be a little easier to find alba products in hawaii once whole foods arrives in honolulu next year. until then, thank the gods for online ordering.

beauty calls

 

girl's day may have come & gone but i still have a few more beauty lines to share. malie kaua'i brings something a little different to the beauty scene with their emphasis on using hydrosols (basically the water vapor left behind from distilling flowers when producing essential oils) instead of synthetic fragrances.

i usually get the sniffies & headaches when wearing traditional fragrance so malie's floral water perfume made from flowers grown on kauai sounds like a nice alternative. malie has generated a lot of buzz since they launched and has been raved about in lucky & o.

one of the best named product lines has got to be pure hapa. of course, as a hapa girl i'm not biased or anything, lol. pure hapa's creator nadyne kim-orona may have grown up on the mainland but her product line was inspired by the beauty secrets of her multi-ethnic family in hawaii.

the ingredient list ranges from asian to hawaiian and sounds like it came straight from the pantry. everything from azuki bean powder, papaya enzyme, noni fruit & green tea extracts are included in pure hapa's body soufflés, body scrub and facial products. definitely an indulgent treat for your skin.

island beauty

island herbal not only has one of the most extensive beauty/spa product lines but some of the prettiest packaging to boot. the big island company has so many goodies to choose from it would be easy to plan your very own hawaiian spa day even if you're 3000 miles away from home.

another one of my favorites is east coast tropics which was created by island girl lovena harwood who now lives back east. i'll be clicking over to her website the next time i need to stock up on soap since island scents like hawaiian sandalwood & awapuhi always remind us of home.

lovely lavender

it's been years since i last visited upcountry maui but the next time i'm there a visit to ali'i kula lavender is on my list of things to do. it's the only lavender farm in the islands that i know of and they offer tours of their garden where they grow 45 different lavender varieties. until that day arrives, their website with offerings of everything from honey scrub to hawaiian beeswax travel candles will have to do.