Say ALOHA to Healing, Organic Skincare!

Now that winter's officially here, I appreciate products that remind me of sun, sand and warmer weather. Which is why I find myself reaching for the Honua Hawaiian Skincare products on my bathroom shelf. They smell like the Hawaiian islands and make me feel transported. Plus, they combine a streamlined, no-fuss routine with powerfully effective local botanicals.

A chance encounter with Honua's founder, Kapua Browning, led me to discover this gem of a skincare line. Kapua and I happened to be staying in the same hotel during the Indie Beauty Expo in NYC in August. We ran into each other on our last day in NYC, and, as we started chatting, I was struck by Kapua’s authenticity: she embodies everything Honua stands for. I immediately had to try her products.

The Story Behind Honua
Kapua Browning was born and raised on Oahu as an avid surfer and beach bum. After noticing sun damage and pigmentation in her early 20’s, she became passionate about studying skin care and became an esthetician. Drawing on her background, she began to blend traditional Hawaiian healing practices and modern technology to formulate her hand-crafted skincare line in 2015. The story and message of Aloha - “love and compassion” - is on the inside of each box as a reminder to practice your daily skincare and self love ritual.    

Hawaiian Beauty Water 

When Kapua used to work as a makeup artist, one of her biggest challenges was how to exfoliate the models on set or location without water and without making a mess. So she developed Hawaiian Beauty Water. It’s an exfoliating toner that you can spritz onto a cotton pad and wipe over the skin to remove dead skin cells and leave skin smooth and prepped for makeup.

I use Hawaiian Beauty Water every other day after cleansing and before the Aloha Youth Serum (reviewed below). If your skin is dry, Honua recommends using it 1-3 times a week. If your skin tends to be oily and/or acne prone, you can use it 3-5 times a week. Spritz it on a cotton pad until saturated and wipe over your entire face and neck. It gently exfoliates and leaves my skin looking brighter and feeling softer and tightens my pores. Oh and it smells like roses, thanks to organic rose water.

2 fl oz (US $24.00)

What Does It Do?

• Hydrates and soothes thanks to omega fatty acids in the organic coconut water and organic rose water.
• Acts as an astringent to tighten skin and reduce the appearance of pores, thanks to Hawaiian Aloalo (Hibiscus Flower).
• Treats and prevents breakouts with the help of coconut water’s anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties.
• Gently exfoliates and speeds up cell turnover (like an AHA but without the irritation) due to the Hawaiian Aloalo, Hawaiian sugar cane, willow bark and papaya enzyme.
• The Hawaiian Aloalo and rose water also give skin a powerful antioxidant boost to fight free radical damage.

1 fl oz (US $58.00)

Aloha Youth Serum
The next step in the Honua skincare ritual is the Aloha Youth Serum. It’s a lightweight serum that hydrates, smoothes, brightens and tightens the skin. I use it after the Hawaiian Beauty Water, but before any moisturizers, oils or sunscreen. It leaves my skin calm, moisturized and dewy.

Just like the Hawaiian Beauty Water, it’s packed with ingredients that are local to Hawaii and rarely found in other skincare.

What Does It Do?

• Calms the skin and softens the look of wrinkles with the help of organic ‘Awa - Kava Kava CO2.
• Brightens with healing, anti-inflammatory ‘Ōlena - turmeric CO2.
• Infuses the skin with vitamin C and selenium to protect against aging free radical damage, thanks to organic noni.
• Hydrates and promotes the production of collagen and elastin due to the high content of Hawaiian “super oils” - Kukui Nut and Kamani oils.
• Aloha Youth Serum was named “Best Brightening Product” by Sophie Uliano’s 2016 Gorgeously Green Beauty Awards.

Supercritical CO2: A Better Way to Extract Plant Oils

I asked Kapua why so many of the ingredients in the Honua products have “CO2” after their names. Her answer was fascinating: supercritical CO2 extraction. This is a more sophisticated and purer method of extracting oils from plants. Most extraction methods use petrochemical solvents such as hexane. Supercritical CO2 extraction uses - you guessed it - carbon dioxide gas.

Carbon dioxide is nontoxic, odorless, and easily removed from the extracted oil at the end of the process. It results in products that are more stable and have a longer shelf life. It also gives a super potent version of the ingredient and a smaller molecule allowing for better penetration and better results. Kapua credits this process to reversing sun damage in her clients who consistently use the Aloha Youth Serum and other Honua products.

It may be snowing outside, but my skincare routine feels like a trip to Hawaii. Mahalo, Honua!

Honua Hawaiian Skincare products are available at honuaskincare.com, mindfulluxe.com, evine.com, and alohaapothecary.com

The other products that round out the Honua skincare ritual are the Pa'akai Cleansing Cream and the 'Ōlena Oil. Stay tuned for my reviews of each of these coming soon!