This spring I had the opportunity to take part in a luxury vacation getaway to Hawaii. It was a once in a lifetime event and of course I had to go. Now, I am the person who plans out what perfume I am going to wear each day up to 3 months ahead of time. It's true, I am a giant nerd and I make a perfume calendar. So after I said yes to my friend's invitation, I started thinking about what I would wear on my trip. I knew I would be book-ending Hawaii with two weekends in Seattle, that I would be flying carry-on bag only and that I wanted to purchase some Hawaiian perfumes while there. I made all of these things happen. Here is my travel story as told through the lens of a perfumista.
Kate Spade Walk On Air
Walk On Air just so happened to be my Scentbird subscription flask for the month of March. It turned out to be the perfect pick! First of all, the name. This was my airport perfume... light, fresh, calming. That last aspect, calming, turned out to be necessary as I went through some of the worst turbulence I'd ever experienced and spent a lot of flight time praying. Walk On Air was also perfectly suited to the rainy early spring weather of Washington. It's a lily of the valley perfume first and foremost but it sidesteps the normal pairings of other high pitched floral notes and instead is balanced by a lot of greenery... fiddle ferns, linden blossom, violet leaves... and some surprise accords when I finally looked up the official notes. A plant called Solomon's seal was in there, which made me smile because I named my child Solomon. Another note listed was crinum lily, which I had never seen in a notes pyramid before, didn't even know what it was, but lo and behold the pool area in Hawaii was decorated with a low hedge of crinum lilies. Walk On Air ended up being a very happy random buy, and the Scentbird flask fits TSA liquid rule requirements.
Profumi del Forte Vittoria Apuana
I brought 3 samples along in my liquids bag, each one milliliter of perfume. We arrived in Kona quite late at night and found our way to the air b&b where we were camping for the night. It was a cute tent setup in the backyard of a quiet pretty neighborhood. My traveling companions and I passed out pretty quickly on the comfortable mattresses inside the tent. I woke up early the next morning to the sound of strange bird calls and plumeria blossoms falling softly onto the ground outside the tent. After using the charming rustic outdoor shower, I selected Vittoria Apuana for the first day's adventures. Upon applying, this smells like a smoothie from Orange Julius. That dies off after about twenty minutes and by the time we had said goodbye to Kona and were zipping north along the Highway 19 coast, the scent had changed. The banana note came forward in a very creamy, pudding like way. Underneath was a coconut and vanilla smell, almost like I was wearing sunscreen. I had not put on sunscreen yet, as the day was overcast with scattered rainshowers. Even with no sunshine, the island was a beautiful dream come true. We skipped along hardened lava flows at a state park, bought local fruit, flowers and coffee at a roadside farmers market and finally we reveled in the billionaire worthy condo just outside Puako where we were making ourselves at home for the week. The bright, fruity, summery scent of Vittoria Apuana went perfectly with the blissful feeling of aloha that was quickly infusing my soul.
James Heeley Coccobello
Day two on the island and it was still rainy and overcast. No worries because I woke up in the nicest bed possible and was able to take my morning coffee by a roaring fireplace, with a view of the waves crashing against the rocks just past our backyard. We took a walk along the water and I dipped my feet into the Pacific Ocean for the first time in my life. Coccobello was my scent choice for the day, a very woody fragrance, unripened coconut still green and attached to the palm tree. We saw crazy looking neon fish swimming along in the shallow water and plumeria blossoms were scattered everywhere. Coconut was a theme for that day, we drank pina coladas and ate dried coconut chips. James Heeley Coccobello was woodier than I expected it to be, but that actually went rather well with all the getting caught in the rain. I became a palm tree and leaned into the weather, leaned into the woody green lifestyle.
Montale Intense Tiare
Growing on bushes along the lanai outside my room were hundreds of white tiare flowers. Tiare is a type of gardenia plant that grows in the Pacific islands, native to Polynesia. Every day I would tiptoe out along the stone path and stick my face into these bushes and in those moments I truly knew heaven. Montale Intense Tiare was my selection for the third day I spent in Hawaii. My friend balked at how strong and sweet the smell was after I had just put it on, almost like grape juice. "You're going to get chased by insects all day!" she warned. Luckily that never happened even though we spent a large part of the day in a tropical botanical garden. I'm not sure how much was the perfume and how much was my surrounding environment but all day I was surrounded by the sweet almost honey like scent of tiare, coconut, ylang ylang and jasmine. It was gorgeous, made me think if Thierry Mugler's Alien went on vacation and traded her edgy city slicker garb for a sarong and sunglasses. This was my favorite of the three sample vials I had packed for the trip. Quite lush and elegant.
Forever Florals Hawaii Plumeria
Day four in Hawaii and we were finally blessed with sunny skies. I had made my Hawaiian perfume purchases.. Forever Florals, a Honolulu based company, had inexpensive island scents available in every corner grocery, and I had scooped up the Plumeria and the Pikake, two flowers I had been smelling in the air everywhere since I stepped off the plane. I sprayed myself down with Plumeria and hit the beach. It's such a light and feminine petal scent. The scent of the $5 lei I bought from a woman on the side of the highway, stringing the blossoms with her young daughter helping. Whenever I have worn this perfume since the trip, I immediately feel blissed out and taken right back to the beach, sipping fancy cocktails and napping on the sand. Incredibly unique smell, reminder of the humid air filled with these blooms. And even though it's inexpensive, it does not smell cheap. It felt perfectly suited in a 5 star sushi restaurant for our final dinner of vacation.
Forever Florals Hawaii Pikake
The last morning in Hawaii and I did not want to leave. But alas, all good things must come to an end and there would be flights to catch that day. I sprayed myself thoroughly with Forever Florals Pikake and took my final morning coffee on the lanai, watching a spectacular sunrise over the ocean. As I sipped my Kona brew and reflected on the beauty I had seen over the week, I wondered if I was smelling my own perfume or if it was the star jasmine bushes surrounding the doors to the living room. On the plane ride back to the mainland, I kept getting wafts of the most beautiful musky laundry floral and I was ready to ask the woman seated next to me what she was wearing. Then I realized it was me! This fragrance changes as it wears, going from a highly indolic realistic jasmine to a soft musky, slightly vanillic warm skin scent. And it last and lasts, through several time zones, all day long. Not bad at all for a $10 perfume! I went to reorder online and realized how steep the shipping costs are from Hawaii, so I might have to find something comparable that's locally available. That is, until I can get back to the big island and stock up in person. What a gorgeous reminder of being in paradise.
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