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.

girl's day

 

since girl's day is less than a week away i thought it was the perfect time to share a few hawaiian style beauty products that have been hidden in my bookmarks.

mama coco's hawaiian lip balm is not only made in hawaii but uses organic & free trade ingredients (an eco-conscious girl's dream) like virgin coconut oil, hawaiian honey and tahitian vanilla to help moisturize your lips. i'm a sucker for the vintage looking labels too.

in addition to flavors like hawaiian vanilla and coconut cream, mama coco's also has a balm in red hibiscus rouge for those times when you prefer a little color on your lips. this is definitely on my shopping list for the next time i'm home.

hawaiian girl botanicals was started by massage therapists from kauai so they've focused on ingredients that are good for your skin and left out the dyes, chemical additives, mineral oil and alcohol. their sea salt soaks sound fabulous (if you're lucky enough to have a tub large enough for soaking) and is made of 'alaea sea salt harvested from hawaii.

they have five essential oil blends available for most of their products and the maka pua formula (a blend of jasmine and lime essential oils) would be perfect for relaxing in the tub. the hawaiian girl line also includes hand crafted body lotion, massage oil (of course), body mist and an all-natural insect repellent.

c is for cookie

honolulu cookie company + good kine cookie co.

if you have been craving chocolate dipped shortbread cookies from the honolulu cookie company you will be happy to know that online ordering is now available! these were included in the goodie bags that we gave to friends who flew in from the mainland for our wedding and everybody loved them.

with ono flavors like chocolate macadamia, white chocolate kona coffee & lilikoi mango . . . who can resist? even better, if you stop by their shop at ward warehouse you can sample all the different flavors (this is either a blessing or a curse since the more cookies you try, the more you end up buying).

and, in other cookie news, the good kine cookie co. recently opened to rave reviews of their handmade iced cookies in shapes reminiscent of the islands like aloha shirts, pineapples, leis, etc. they can even personalize the cookie to celebrate a special occasion.

one of their founders is pastry chef abigail langlas who made the very yummy & very beautiful cakes for our wedding so i'm pretty sure the cookies will be just as onolicious. good kine cookie co. has a shop at restaurant row, a kiosk at ala moana, and online ordering (yay!).

now if somebody would just open up a cupcake bakery so i could savor cupcake sized portions of dobash & guava chiffon cake the next time i'm home!

{update | dec 2009: please note good kine cookie co. officially became hokulani bake shop after this was posted}

blame it on the bossa nova

lisa's ono bossa hula nova has helped keep my sanity in check as i fiddle (and fiddle then fiddle some more) with the website. the music is very cool & mellow which is perfect when illustrator is determined to make you go mad.

her music seems to have flown under the rader here in the states but she's quite popular in her native brazil and, of course, in japan where they always seem to be one step ahead. lisa ono gives many hawaiian standards like aloha oe & blue hawaii a bossa nova makeover so if you're looking for something different give it a spin.

local boy jack johnson created the music for the recently released curious george soundtrack so if you love jack's songs be sure to pick up a copy of sing-a-longs & lullabies. our cd conveniently stayed in the car after it was purchased and is surely being savored by my other half during his commute. i'll probably have to plan a covert mission à la jack bauer to break it out and sneak the cd back into the house.