our story
maoli
1. vs. Native, indigenous, aborigine, genuine, true, real, actual; very, really, truly.
2. n. A perfume house dedicated to honoring the art of natural perfumery by making real perfumes.
Maoli is the story of two hapa brothers whose homesickness and sensitive noses made them close their lemonade stand to open a perfume house instead.The dreaded day arrived, when the boys and their family had to trade turquoise beaches and juicy mangoes for evergreens and sweet plums. It is a beautiful land but the sun never shines as they once knew. Afraid to forget all their sweet and warm island memories, they asked their mom if they could make “their own cologne that smells like sunshine.”
Since mom loves to transform the kids’ requests into learning experiences, she prepared a unit study on natural perfumery in which making an eau de cologne was the final project. Little did she know what the kids were about to create would fill the gap between baby products and pheromone sprays, not to mention a breath of fresh air for those allergic to synthetic scents found everywhere today.
Requests from moms wanting their tweens to smell just as delicious started coming in and, with mom and dad’s guidance, Kai and Kalani decided to embrace self employment at a higher level of responsibility. (Good thing, since they don’t get an allowance and are highly addicted to Lego!)
Maoli is now a family affair, dedicated to honoring and respecting the art of natural perfumery while providing fragrant sweetness to kids and kids at heart.
Maikaʻi maoli!
From the blog
Interview with a Parfumeur
Apr. 14, 2009 No Comments
When Elena Knezevich from Fragrantica.com approached us for an editorial interview, it felt like Christmas morning all over again.
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What’s in a name
Apr. 6, 2009 1 Comment
There has been a bit of wondering about how our name came to be. It’s not about maoli, but “Colonia Dulce”.
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Meet the Noses
Mar. 28, 2009 3 Comments
Kai and Kalani were born and raised in Hawaii during their first six and seven years of life. They are eighteen months apart. Having them so close together was one of the smartest things I’ve ever done in my life, even with family living six thousand miles away.
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