Hi'iaka

[reynardine]

Sister to Pele, Patroness of Hula Dancers, she is a Lady of Hawa'ii, and is caretaker, mother, and beloved of the land itself. The heart of the forest beats along with Her dance, and the air is suffused with Her scent: mai'a, hibiscus, white ginger, akala, na'u, Hawaiian moon flower, yellow ilima, pink lokelani, jewel orchid, and fringed orchid.

In imp: fresh ginger

Wet: Oh, I love me some tropical florals! This is gorgeous. Mainly getting hibiscus and orchid.

Drydown: some fruitiness, but mainly tropical floral and LOTS OF IT.

I love this one and it is going on my bottle list!!!

EDIT: added description since this is top of page. Edited April 18, 2010 by Shollin

[Myrrha]

Wet it smells like a very mixed floral. There is orchid in here but it doesn’t stand out and let me experience it in detail like it does in Regan. There is gardenia or tiare,but it is delicate. This is a higher, thinner scent than Shadow Witch Orchid. It is very warm which can make a scent seem overly-assertive to me. I love the banana or pineapple note here making a creamy backdrop for the florals.

 

As it dries: A green note and the moonflower come out and it is no longer a warm scent but balanced. The floral notes calm down a bit a bit. I can't smell any ginger or rose.

 

Dry: The moonflower is even stronger now and balances with the other florals. It doesn‘t seem as explicitly tropical at this stage, just a feminine summer evening floral with creamy fruit background keeping it from being too dry. I like it very much but will see how often I end up wearing this in the summer as it seems like a more dressy scent.

 

After an hour moonflower is the dominant note still sweetened with the fruit. After 1 1/2 hours it was pretty faded and I applied a tiny dab over what was left. The result is perfect.

Edited February 20, 2010 by Myrrha

[antihero]

A lovely tropical scent. When I first put it on the orchid was very loud, but over time it changed to smelling like a perfect, earthy hot-house. I've got some trouble with lasting quality in BPAL, but this one did pretty well with only one application this morning before I was off. I like it!

[KesHiro]

Sample ordered from the lab.

 

After putting a sample of Pele in my shopping cart, it seemed wrong not to include her sister. I don't normally go for such floral laden blends but the notes seemed very promising and intriguing. Plus, after using my Google-fu skills, I learned that mai'a are bananas, and any time an oil educates me is a good thing.

 

In the imp, I get bananas, flowers, and tropical greenery. You know the kind: those huge green leaves you see in the stereotypical tiki pictures. Wet, I get the banana plus a creamy gardenia. During the drydown, it's banana, gardenia, various berry-like blooms, and green tropical shrubs. Dry, the banana fades away and I'm left with all kinds of tropical flowers -- creamy, sweet, bright, and tangy -- with a background of greenery. It's like all the blooms a hula dancer might adorn him or herself in before a sacred performance.

 

Man, this brings back a lot of memories. It's like being in Hawaii! This is very pretty and feminine, perfect for summer. If Pele is a sophisticated and dignified floral, this is definitely her fun loving younger sister. I'm glad the banana fades away, as I'm not overly fond of the note and it makes the scent a little too tutti fruity for my tastes, but once dry it's a tolerable sweet floral.

 

The only reason I debate not doing the upgrade to bottle is that I'm not sure I'd wear this as often as Pele. Otherwise, it's lovely and fun.

[moon_lemming]

I can't really pick out florals, so this won't be the best review ever. The florals in Hi'iaka are reminiscent of the inside of a flower petal to me, like the actual petal itself, planty and not overwhelmingly soapy -- which surprises me since I was expecting pure soap.

 

On my skin, the ginger picks up, then fades back again as it dries. Tropical florals ahoy. That's all I've got. Well, I do sort of get a banana note, but it's like this body cream I've got from B&BW where the banana note is soft and almost floral itself. It's not all soap or anything but it's not really something I'd wear. Velvet Tiki is about as close as I get to the tropical blends.

[Venneh]

This is a gentle tropical floral in the imp, and on my skin, it's the same, but with a slightly sharper note, we'll see what it does. Ends up being a gingery tropical floral on me, not quite my thing.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Venneh

[SophieCedar]

This is really floral. I mean REALLY floral. Warm tropical blooms.

 

I don't know enough about Hawaiian flowers to tell the difference except for the obvious ones: orchid and hibiscus.

 

Anyways, I looked it up!

mai'a = banana, which I can pick up in drydown.

akala = form of raspberry. same. faint until drydown

Na'u = Hawaiian gardenia. This is strong at first with the moonflower and orchid/hibiscus

yellow ilima = hibiscus family

pink lokelani = aka Rose of Heaven. very sweet rose. I can smell this throughout!

Hawaiian moon flower = morningglory I think? This I can smell throughout.

[Invidiana]

This is flowery--very, very flowery. Not just floral, but downright flowery like sticking your head in a greenhouse. I do get a bit fo the banana, especially in the beginning, and a tiny bit of ginger on the drydown, but this scent is dominated by flowers for the most part. I don't really get much raspberry; I would have never known there was any in this until I read the description. I do lke tropical florals, but I think I personally would like this better if it had something like coconut/vanilla/amber/sandalwood to ground it.

Edited August 23, 2010 by Invidiana

[Gold Dust Kitten]

I was excited about this because I adore tropical scents. This would be absolutely gorgeous on me if it didn't smell like banana. They are yummy to eat, but the smell makes me ill. This is an intense tropical floral, with orchid and white ginger standing out. I also smell pineapple. If the banana smell was replaced with say...coconut, we'd have a winner.

[grrrlennyl]

Hi'iaka

 

On: A wonderfully fresh. lush, damp floral.

2 hours in: A slightly soapy, tropical floral.

5.5 hours in: Still slightly soapy and tropical, but sweeter.

Overall: I wasn't 100% sure the notes on this would work on me, but they pretty much did. It isn't mind-blowing on me, though.

[frecklestars]

In the bottle: hibiscus and white ginger and something a little like candy (maybe the orchids?). it's very sweet, so much so that I'm a little afraid of this on my skin. it's rich though, and there's just enough coconut (though that's not listed as an ingredient) to make me yearn for Hawaii again. this puts me in the mood for summer and warm oceans and rainforests.

 

On my skin: it's so much more complex on my skin than it is in the bottle! moon flowers, and something that reminds me of gardenia, and still getting a whiff of coconut. not in a bad way though. this is tropical and wild, lushness on my skin. it's rich dense flowers, without being SCREAMING FLORALS. I love the thick sweetness. it's like some sort of dessert without being a foodie scent.

 

Last thoughts: absolutely kicking myself for not even trying this one before it was discontinued! I guess I was too afraid of smelling like I'd bathed in cheapo tanning lotions or bad tropical perfumes, but this blend is anything but that. so lush and sweet and dense. absolutely adore the complexities in this one.

[Saffrin]

Imp: I don't know how to identify most of the notes in this scent. Nonetheless, it smells lush and wet. Not like a tropical cocktail, but a deep, wet, damp rainforesty sort. It honestly smells a bit evil to me.

 

 

Wet: The deep, dirty, damp evil smell has moved back a step, and there's something almost fruity moving forward. Smells like an orange fruit.

This scent is definitely split into two distinctive halves. The first is still lush and wet, slightly green and earthy, and then it suddenly cuts to the almost fruity part.

 

Dry: The last dampy evil smell has left. It's now mainly pretty tropical fruits and flowers. It does, however, seem to be disappearing pretty quickly, which is a pity, because I'm pretty sure I like it now.

 

 

 

It's an intriguing scent. I'm not sure if I'm a huge fan, but I can't stop sniffing it to try and figure it out.

[ringmaster-red]

In the vial: Tropical florals

Wet: Tropical flowers and fruit. I almost want to say it’s a fragrant juicy apple or pear with a background of florals.

Dry: Cloying tropical florals. It’s very clean, almost soapy. I don’t think it’s for me.

[freyasfae]

Another tropical floral meets ginger like Pele, but with more floral. I like it, but Pele is better - I like the more ginger forwardness of Pele.