KAPAA — Tucked behind rows of award-winning orchids and an enclosed garden, with koi and more than 50 monarch and citrus swallowtail butterflies, is a little shop that smells like plumeria and pineapple.
Kapaa resident Sarah Schroeder is usually back there, mixing together essential oils, cocoa butter, organic sugar and Samoan coconut oil behind colorful displays of soap, hair oil and reef-safe sunblock.
Seven months pregnant, Schroeder’s been busy getting ready for the arrival of her baby and also building up stock at Sarah’s Sweet Scrubs for the holiday season.
“I work with local farmers and use actual plants and flowers from the islands in my products,” she said during a lull between afternoon customers. “Plumeria is probably one of my most popular scents.”
Bug sprays and after-sun lotions, shampoos and conditioners, Schroeder makes it all at her shop behind Orchid Alley, which she finally secured in May after three years in the organic beauty business.
She sells at markets, craft fairs and wholesale.
But while her products are sold and shipped throughout the United States, Schroeder’s ingredients are sourced — whenever possible — from one place: Hawaii.
“I have to outsource some things that don’t grow here or aren’t made here, but all my essential oils are Hawaii-grown,” she said. “I have friends that grow and make them.”
Schroeder started making her own beauty products after researching ingredients in conventional skincare and beauty products.
“I became aware of what’s in those products and had to switch over to clean, good products,” she said.
The more she researched the ingredients in products marketed as organic and natural, the more she started thinking she could do it herself.
She started with a sugar scrub that combined Hawaii-grown, organic essential oils with unrefined Samoan coconut oil and organic sugar. Her product line blossomed from there.
“I’m all about making all-natural, organic products for people at a good price,” she said. “And I really like supporting other local businesses, like using the Hawaii-made essential oils.”
While she’s settled into her new location in Kapaa and is busy stocking her shelves, Schroeder still makes time to welcome friends and customers alike to talk story and share bits about their days.
“This spot is really unique,” she said. “I love being back here.”
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Jessica Else, staff writer, can be reached at 245-0452 or jelse@thegardenisland.com.
