Embedded within the lush expanse of Kauai, Hawaii’s North Shore, Wai’iti Botanicals operates on a modest three-acre plot, functioning as an aroma farm while also offering an array of visitor experiences. The farm, taking its name “Wai’iti” – translated to “little water” in Hawaiian, symbolizes collective unity and action, where individual contributions, much like small droplets, collectively cause significant impact. Carmencita Durney, who initiated the project and has been involved with handmade soap production since the 1990s and luffa cultivation since 2010, oversees the operations.
Engaging in the art of handmade soap creation and luffa cultivation, Wai’iti Botanicals highlights the benefits of handmade soap for both the individual and the environment. It underscores a relationship between personal care and environmentally conscious products. As visitors delve into the offerings of the farm, they engage in hands-on activities, crafting botanical skin treats alongside the Wai’iti Botanicals team, allowing the farm to emerge as a tangible, immersive learning experience in the art of handmade soap creation and related products.
An episode of Down-to-Earth Kaua’i TV, hosted by Lyndsey Haraguchi-Nakayama, provided insights into Carmen’s realm where her passion for luffas and the varied uses she finds for them, became palpable. Carmen herself detailed her initial foray into working with loofahs: “I was really into loofahs…I got some seeds, I planted loofahs, and here I am now. These are edible varietals, the big loofahs, and they grow sometimes to eight feet.” Her innovative utilizations of loofahs extend from incorporating them into soaps to using them in footwear as a form of arch support.
Moreover, the farm isn’t only home to luffas. A tour through Wai’iti Botanicals reveals a spectrum of aromatic plants. Carmen expressed her fascination with “the palmarosa grass, which is a type of lemongrass…very strange, but it has a rosy scent.” She also elaborated on her distillation process, saying, “The perfume distillation is amazing because it makes hydrosols, distilled water, or anything that we boil and it comes to steam. This cools it down, and then out comes the essence of the plant.” A diversity, including ginger, turmeric, and patchouli, lends itself to her process, further enhancing the aromatic offerings available.
The establishment, while presenting an enchanting collection of scents, also unveils products with pronounced utility, like the aforementioned salt soap. Carmen highlighted its peculiar but effective functionality: “This is trippy; this is salt soap… if you have oily skin or have acne, a little bit of salt will help balance your skin by sloughing. By doing this, you’re actually allowing your skin to shed a little bit, and you can absorb things better.” It’s created with coffee and cacao, tying into a broader, tactile and olfactory experience that Wai’iti Botanicals promises.
As noted by Carmen, Wai’iti Botanicals also crafts eco-friendly lip balm and offers a unique experience to visitors to “distill your own scent of adventure.” This seems to align with the underlying theme of the botanical endeavor which provides not just a product but an experience, a sentiment that Carmen seems to resonate with: “Our products are made with intention, an alternative to just buying and throwing away plastic.”
Wai’iti Botanicals thus stands not merely as a provider of handcrafted soap and luffa products but also as a repository of experiences, where the line between product and experience is elegantly blurred. This is facilitated by a sense of rootedness in sustainability and a tangible, appreciable relationship with the products that the farm curates and crafts. This relationship is not simply transactional but is interwoven with learnings, experiences, and a gentle nudging towards more mindful consumption.