Scent of wellness is a new island export

By Paula Rath
Advertiser Staff Writer

When Ha'a Aikau of Waimanalo was an infant and toddler, he had a plethora of health problems, including asthma. His mother, Eleni Aikau, tried everything to relieve his breathing. His physician prescribed medications, but his mother said they made him hyperactive and impaired his concentration.

Aikau, an aesthetician who uses aromatherapy during her facials, spent years trying to figure out how to administer aromatherapy to a child.

"I wanted it to work only through the olfactory system," so there would be no side effects, she said. She tried sprinkling it on his crib sheets. She diffused it into the air. She dabbed it onto a cotton ball placed in the crib. "But we needed a full ounce of the essential oil to be effective, and these methods wouldn't allow for that amount," Aikau said.

While visiting Australia, Aikau saw a car freshener that gave her the idea of using tins. But how to get the fragrance to "stick"? She experimented with various fabrics, saturating them with essential oils, discovering flannel was most effective. She cut little screens to place over the herbs, oils and cloth to hold them in while dispersing the scents, and she placed them all in a tin.

The next step was to get the fragrance just right. She called on aromatherapy expert Ajith de Silva of Manoa to be her "nose."

Hanu, a scent created to perk up the weary, contains peppermint, spearmint, marjoram, eucalyptus and sage.

Hiamoe, a bedtime breathing herb, contains lavender, marjoram and geranium.

Aikau struggled for months with the question of what to call her new product. In desperation she visited kumu and Hawaiian healer Frank Hewett at the Waimanalo Health Center, who is often asked to name children. He took one breath of the herbs and suggested Aikau should name one fragrance Hanu, which means "breath," and the other Hiamoe, which means "to sleep."

Hewett also blessed the herbs. "From then on everything fell together after all those years of work," Aikau said.

Hawaiian Breathing Herbs is strictly a cottage industry. A group of friends get together and form an assembly line. "We all talk as we work and, since each tin needs good intentions and good thoughts, we make sure our conversations are positive and uplifting."

Richard Nelson of Hawaii Biz Link, an organization that helps small wellness-related companies with market development, invited Aikau to be one of 19 companies in the Hawaii Pavilion at the Natural Products Expo West trade show in Anaheim.

Aikau sold 300 tins and took orders from Hong Kong, California, Oregon and New York. In what could be her big break, Whole Foods, the Mainland mega-chain of natural foods and products, expressed interest in Hawaiian Breathing Herbs.

Hanu and Hiamoe retail for $20 per tin. They also sell a recharging oil ($30) to use when the fragrance diminishes.

Hawaiian Breathing Herbs are sold locally at For Your Hair Only salon in Kaimuki, New Beginnings in Waimanalo, Riches Kahala and through Michele Lee at the Honolulu Laser Center in Liliha. Its also available online at www.hawaiianbreathingherbs.com, with a $2 shipping fee.