Oxygen Bar invites you to feel good alcohol-free

The Oxygen Bar customers will be able to inhale filtered oxygen in one of 24 different aromas. Cost is $15. Jon Mozo

It’s actually more kiosk than bar, and you inhale oxygen rather than drink alcohol, but you can relax and let your troubles slip away just as you would at your neighborhood drinking hole.

The Oxygen Bar is scheduled to open today near Centerstage at Ala Moana Center. "We opted to open a kiosk to get the concept out there," said owner Jon Guarco, who also owns a sign company and eventually hopes to build an indoor bar. He was inspired to start The Oxygen Bar after researching the popularity of Woody Harrelson’s oxygen bar in Los Angeles, as well as oxygen bars in Japan, which, said Guarco, have been successful for decades.

However, it’s a novelty in the Islands. According to Guarco, his oxygen bar will be the first here.

So the question remains for locals: What exactly does it offer?

"Basically, oxygen-enriched aromatherapy," explained Guarco, who said the "generators extract oxygen from the air, concentrate it up to 95 percent purity and deliver the oxygen to the customer."

For about $15, the "customer will sit down at one of four stations at our kiosk," choose one of 24 aromas to add to the filtered oxygen inhaled through a plastic tube at the base of the nose, and enjoy a light and sound show. The experience lasts 10 minutes.

The combination of light and sound is channeled through wrap-around-style glasses with pulsating lights "that become all these psychedelic, wild colors," Guarco said. The customer will be listening to a selected CD on headphones. The aromas include "everything from basil to rosemary to tangerine."

Guarco likened the practice to taking herbal supplements. "We can’t make any medical claims, but I know what it does for me," he said.

"Between the music, the light and the oxygen, it puts you into an unbelievable, relaxed, feel-good type of state."

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