Island Essence has been crafting bath, spa, and body botanicals on Maui since 1990 — making it one of Hawaiʻi’s oldest operating beauty brands. Thirty-five years in, it’s still women-led, local, and made by hand.
Island Essence was founded in 1990 by Denise Diamond, and currently owned by Henry and Lili Brocklehurst, with a simple idea: take the extraordinary natural ingredients growing all around them on Maui — the plumeria, the pikake, the kukui nut, the tamanu — and turn them into something people could bring home. Bath products, body oils, spa treatments. The scents and textures of the islands, bottled.
Thirty-five years later, the factory is still in Kahului. The products are still handcrafted on Maui. The team is still entirely local women, most of them Hawaiian or born in the Pacific Islands.
Today, General Manager and part-owner Charade Law (she lives in Haiku, and was born on O'ahu) is the one keeping that continuity and Island Essence’s mission her own and shows up for it every day.
“I love the idea of sharing the beauty of the islands with our made-on-Maui bath, spa, and body botanicals that celebrate the fruits, flowers, and essences of Hawaiʻi,” Law says. “I am especially proud to be a part of this 35-year-old company that has a long tradition of sharing aloha.”
What’s in the Bottle
The Island Essence product line reads like an inventory of Maui itself. Wild-harvested kukui nut oil. Organic tamanu. Macadamia nut. Moringa seed. Wild Maui honey. Maui turbinado sugar. Hawaiian olena — turmeric. Coffee from all five main islands. Noni, awapuhi, orchid, hibiscus, vanilla. Every ingredient either grown here or sourced with the same care as if it were.
At the center of it all are the Maui Miracle Oils — the brand’s signature line, and the product that has defined Island Essence for decades. Four oils — tamanu, kukui, coconut, and moringa seed — combined into beautifying oils, lotions, body washes, and soaps that carry the warmth and richness of the island into daily life. The formulations are originals, developed and refined over 35 years, and entirely unique to Island Essence.
“Our beautiful fragrances make us uniquely Hawaiʻi, and our Maui Miracle Oils are unique to us,” Law says.
Everything is blended, poured, and packaged by hand in the Kahului factory. There is no outsourcing, no co-packing, no cutting corners. Made on Maui means exactly that.
“I absolutely love the Tamanu Nut Healing Lotion and use it every day,” Law says. “This is a perfect blend of our skin-loving tamanu nut miracle oil and our lotion, which gives amazing glide and glow all over, with the huge benefit of our warm and nutty custom Red Earth fragrance.”
Built to Last Through Everything
Thirty-five years is a long time to stay in business anywhere. On a small island, with high costs, limited resources, and a customer base that is partly local and partly visitors who may never return, it’s remarkable. Island Essence has outlasted economic downturns, hurricanes, a global pandemic, and the devastating Maui wildfires of 2023 — not by luck, but by staying true to what it is.
When COVID-19 shut down most small manufacturers in 2020, Island Essence pivoted immediately to producing Hawaiian hand sanitizers, running two full shifts to meet demand. For a period, they were the only source of hand sanitizer available in the state.
“Hawaiʻi Magazine rated Island Essence Hand Sanitizers as one of the top 5 available in the state.”
The response to the Maui wildfires was just as instinctive. The team donated antibacterial hand sprays and body washes to shelters and community hubs. Employees volunteered for the Maui Red Cross. The company launched weekly fundraising initiatives, donated backpacks and air purifiers to those displaced, and created the Maui Miracle Oil Gold Edition — donating a dollar from every bottle sold to wildfire recovery charities. It wasn’t a campaign. It was just what Island Essence does.
I am especially proud to be a part of this 35-year-old company that has a long tradition of sharing aloha.
The Real Cost of Making Things Here
Running a manufacturing operation on Maui is not a simple proposition.
The majority of ingredients and packaging ship from the mainland — expensive, slow, and subject to the same logistics pressures every island business faces. Labor costs, health insurance, and rent for a combined office, factory, and warehouse are steep. And as a manufacturer, Island Essence pays upfront for everything, then waits thirty days for wholesale accounts to pay.
“The costs of running a small manufacturing company here on Maui are huge,” Law says. “It is a huge challenge to manage costs and stay profitable.”
Against that backdrop, December 2023 was a milestone worth celebrating. It was the first month Island Essence exceeded $30,000 in online sales — produced, packaged, and shipped in essentially two weeks by a small team, by hand, on an island. A reminder that the model works, even when it’s hard.
Community Is the Product
The vision for the next three to five years is about reaching more people without losing what makes Island Essence what it is. More e-commerce growth. New retail partners across Hawaiʻi. International distribution for the Maui Miracle Oils. Deeper work with corporate event planners who want to give clients something genuinely made in Hawaiʻi.
Island Essence has always understood that what it sells is more than skincare. It’s a connection to place — for locals who grew up with these scents and for visitors who want to carry a piece of Maui home. That understanding shapes how the company operates: sourcing locally whenever possible, supporting island charities, collaborating with other small businesses, and showing up when the community needs it most.
“Building a business in Hawaiʻi, beyond profits, means supporting employees, contributing to the community around us, collaborating with local companies, and buying locally whenever possible,” Law says.
The advice to anyone thinking about doing the same in Hawaiʻi is deceptively simple: slow down.
“If you are coming into Hawaiʻi from another state, don’t rush it — take the time to get to know people and the different island ways,” Law says. “Business here is more about relationships and more chilled than the mainland.”
