Alora aromatherapy sticks fill rooms with fragrance

It’s nothing much: a glass jar full of scent with a wooden stopper and a few finely milled sticks that look rather like the stems to which they used to tie balloons at county fairs.

Alora aromatherapy sticks come in three fragrances, Uno, Due and Tre. They can be found exclusively at Zeku in the Waikiki Landmark Building. Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

But Alora aromatherapy sticks are a hot new accessory for the home. Sisters Annie and Therese Gibbons created Alora based on Annie Gibbons’ 15 years in Italy, where she saw similar, homemade systems.

Remove the stopper, drop in the sticks and fragrant solution in the jar wicks up into the porous sticks and then wafts its way into the air, sending out a pervasive and lasting fragrance.

The amount of fragrance is controlled by turning the sticks: Turn daily for a big dose of fragrance, weekly for a more subtle one.

Subtle, that is, if you are speaking of a large, airy room. In checking out the Alora line, The Advertiser found that the scent can become overwhelming in a small, unventilated space (such as our photo studio). In a large, breezy living room, however, Alora has the effect of a bouquet of sweet-scented flowers.

Alora has just been discovered in Hollywood. The aromatherapy system will be featured in the May issue of In Style magazine as an "Object of Desire" mentioned by actress Anjelica Huston. Huston found Alora at a hip Los Angeles shop, Zipper.

Alora comes in three fragrances: Uno, a soft floral; Due, fresh and crisp; and Tre, a warm, inviting mix of fruits and flowers.

Alora, in a 16-ounce bottle, is available on O‘ahu exclusively at Zeku, 979-4999, an Asian-inspired interiors shop in the Waikiki Landmark Building on the corner of Kalakaua Avenue and Ala Wai Boulevard. Cost: $70.

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