Aaila: Bringing Hard-to-Find Perfumes Within Reach in Hawaii

“I still remember the exact smell of the rose geraniums in my grandma’s backyard,”

— Stephanie Matthew, founder

Aaila, in Honolulu’s Chinatown, is a multibrand perfume shop bringing together niche fragrances and independent makers from around the world. Its range extends from names such as Arquiste, Etat Libre d’Orange, and Essential Parfums to small, emerging brands. Visitors can discover that breadth by smelling the fragrances in person.

The shop was founded by photographer Stephanie Matthew. Her personal interest in perfume, and the difficulty of trying it in Hawaii, led her to open the store.

Contents

Essential Information
How a Photographer Came to Open a Perfume Shop in Honolulu
1. Childhood Smells and Long Waits for Deliveries
2. Choosing an Old Building in Chinatown
A Multibrand Selection Not Limited to Tropical Scents
1. Choosing Fragrances She Knows and Wears
2. From the Smell of Rice to a Pirate’s Story
Consultation and Sampling That Broaden Familiar Tastes
The Honolulu Shop
References

Essential Information

Name: Aaila
Founder: Stephanie Matthew
Location: Chinatown, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States
Business: A multibrand shop specializing in niche and independent fragrances
Official website: Aaila

How a Photographer Came to Open a Perfume Shop in Honolulu

Childhood Smells and Long Waits for Deliveries

Matthew spent her early childhood in California before moving to Hawaii with her family. Alongside the rose geraniums in her grandmother’s garden, the Santa Ana winds, chlorine, and chamomile are smells that evoke those early years. Even after she began working as a photographer, the memories called up by scent remained close at hand.

Living on the North Shore, she became drawn to niche perfume and discovered how inconvenient it could be to try fragrances on the island. Samples from brands that interested her could take weeks to arrive. Some shops would not ship to Hawaii at all.

A visit to a California perfume shop in 2025 sparked the idea. Before her stood fragrances that could not be delivered to her home. She wanted to bring the experience of smelling and choosing them in person back to Hawaii. By August 2026, Aaila was operating in Chinatown, and its founder’s ideas were being featured in the press.

Choosing an Old Building in Chinatown

“It had to be here.”

— Stephanie Matthew

When choosing a location, Matthew wanted Chinatown’s history, brickwork, old doorknobs, and large windows. The streetscape itself gave her a reason to locate the shop there.

The shop’s own account of its beginnings also identifies what she felt Hawaii was missing: a place to encounter niche and independent fragrances in person. Aaila’s work involves both bringing faraway perfumes to the island and creating somewhere to explore them without rushing.

A Multibrand Selection Not Limited to Tropical Scents

Choosing Fragrances She Knows and Wears

“I bring in brands I know, love, and already own.”

— Stephanie Matthew

Rather than leaning only toward light, fruity, tropical fragrances, she also chose heavier and spicier scents. The aim was not to reduce island residents’ tastes to a single image of the climate.

As of October 2026, the official brand list includes Arquiste, Etat Libre d’Orange, Essential Parfums, Imaginary Authors, Liis, d’Annam, Marissa Zappas, Room 1015, and Une Nuit Nomade, among others. Rather than centering on a particular in-house line, the shop specializes in choosing fragrances across different makers.

Chicago’s Clue and New York’s ROAN also list Aaila among their official stockists. The shop’s own descriptions and the makers’ listings both confirm its relationships with multiple brands.

From the Smell of Rice to a Pirate’s Story

Matthew describes a d’Annam fragrance that begins with the smell of rice before developing floral and then musky qualities. The brand’s White Rice takes jasmine rice at a Vietnamese dining table as its subject, layering pandan, jasmine, and white musk. Marissa Zappas’s Ching Shih, meanwhile, draws on a female pirate of the South China Sea, combining gunpowder, orris, and osmanthus. Here, orris is a perfume material derived from the rhizome of the iris, while osmanthus refers to the fragrant olive flower.

Familiar memories of food and the story of a historical figure: the appeal of this selection lies in being able to explore such different subjects for perfume within a single shop.

Consultation and Sampling That Broaden Familiar Tastes

“come in with an open mind” (excerpt)

— Stephanie Matthew

Consultations begin with scents the visitor already knows, then broaden in response to what they enjoy. Rather than defining someone’s taste solely by their first description, this approach uses their reactions while smelling to guide the next suggestion.

“Walk around and smell everything,”

— Stephanie Matthew

The official website also encourages visitors to smell, take their time, and discover what they like. Whether someone arrives already familiar with the brands or has yet to learn their names, there is room to explore personal preferences with the fragrances in front of them.

The Honolulu Shop

The address is 7 North Hotel Street, Honolulu, HI 96817. According to the official information available in October 2026, opening hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., and Sunday, noon–5 p.m.; the shop is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. For the latest information, see the official shop page.