Maile Lei--The Most Rare and Special Hawaiian Lei

The most rare and special lei from Hawaii is not one made of flowers but of leaves. It is called a Maile (pronounced my-lee) lei and is made from the fragrant leaves and bark of the indigenous Maile vine that only grows in the rainforests of Hawaii. What makes Maile so unique and unforgettable is its intoxicating fragrance that is clean, fresh, woodsy, vanilla, sweet, and spicy all at the same time. Once you smell true Hawaiian Maile, you want to smell that scent all the time. It is one of my most favorite fragrances but I have never been able to find a company that makes a true nice smelling Maile--so far nothing can beat the real thing.

Maile leis are the perfect leis for all occasions. Maile leis are traditionally worn at weddings (usually by the groom and men in the bridal party), graduations, birthdays, award banquets, anniversaries and all other special occasions. Maile is also a suitable "open ended" lei to give to a pregnant woman because in Hawaiian cultural it is bad luck to give a closed lei to a pregnant woman--it symbolizes the umbilical cord around the baby's neck.

The prestigious Maile lei is worn draped around the neck with the open ends of the lei hanging in front of you to waist level or below. Men like it for its masculine appeal and light fragrance, but it is suitable for both men and women of all ages.

CONSUMER ALERT:
Because of the high demand for Maile, some online companies sell Maile leis with NO scent. How is that possible? It is because they are selling Maile leis that do not come from Hawaii, but come from other Pacific islands such as the Cooke islands. Be sure to ask where their Maile comes from so you can get what you are paying for.

If you want to buy Maile lei online, we can ship fresh and fragrant Hawaiian Maile leis from the Big Island to the mainland. Please order at least one week in advance as there are no commercial growers of the Maile vine, and Maile pickers have to go deep into the Hawaiian rainforest to their secret locations to carefully hand gather the Maile vines. Maile leaves from the Big Island are large, about 2-3 inches, whereas Maile leaves from the island of Kauai are much smaller, about 1-2 inches long.

After your event, you can let your Maile lei dry naturally to continually have a light fragrance in your room as a beautiful reminder of your special occasion.

If you are familiar with Maile, please describe what it smells like to you, and your favorite Maile lei memory.

Comments

[Opal Tribble]

Oh my that sounds heavenly. How long does it last? What meanings do other lei's have. Would it be not appropriate to give a certain type of lei?

[Sheila]

Very nice lei! I think my husband was given one once that had those leaves, orange flower, and nuts on it. Does it take a long time to make one of those?

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Opal,
The lei will last about 5 days from when it is shipped (shipping is 2 days). I will have to get back to you on the other questions--those are very good questions.

Sheila,
It sounds like your husband was given a very nice lei with maybe orange ilima lei entwined with the maile. It takes longer to make a maile lei than stringing up a regular flower lei.

[Best HawaiiVacations]

The Maile lei is the king (or the queen?) of leis to me. We have so many beautiful leis in Hawaii for all occasions but none compares to the Maile lei. The scent is hard to describe but it is so pleasant and is loved by everybody. The sweet smells of orchids, gardenias or tuberose leis are not enticing to everybody but the Maile lei's smell is fresh, refreshing and everlasting. It's the scent of Hawaii!

I kept our wedding Maile leis for about 6 months. The leaves will wilt but the scent stays. When mailing leis to the Mailand or giving visitors a Hawaiian gift to take home, it's the Maile lei we decide for. Try the Maile lei next time. Aloha, Pua & Keoki

[Evelyn]

I can only begin to tell you the impact that maile has on me personally. It brings back memories in some cases and ignites a sense of passion in others. I remember when it was all the rage to have one maile leaf dipped in 14k gold. I'm dating myself a little, but such is the love of the locals for this vine! As far as the leis from the other islands, they brought them in because we had some messed up weather and the vines were, although still healthy, a bit leaf deficient and the desire was for the leafy look. That was the last information that was given to me by one of our florists. I'm not sure what the status is on that now. I'll try to remember to ask them this evening.

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Pua,
I agree the scent is hard to describe but it is nice and I don't know of anyone who does not like Maile.

Evelyn,
I will date myself also. My aunt used to own a wholesale costume jewelry store in the early 80's and would bring in huge boxes of gold electroplated real maile leaves. One of my jobs was to match up similar sized leaves in pairs to sell as earring sets.

We used to also make a full gold maile leaf lei where 200 leaves would be attached to long gold chains. I remember seeing the singer Loyal Garner wearing one when she performed.

[kailani]

The smell of Maile brings back memories of prom and graduation. I sure miss it!

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Hi Kailani,
You can get your husband a maile lei for your next wedding anniversary;)

[Bobbie]

Nothing is more elegant than a maile lei. As Kailani said, the scent brings back memories of so many special events. For me, the maile scent makes me think of weddings and graduations.

[auntiepupule]

I neva know some Maile Leis neba have scent. Now I know.

Mahalo

Auntie Pupule

[skeet]

I gave my son a maile lei on one of his recent visits. The fragrance is so intoxicating, so uniquely Hawaiian.

Visiting from the Waianae Coasst for the Carnival of Aloha!

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Bobbie, Aunty Pupule, Skeet,
Mahalo for visiting and leaving a comment. The carnival of Aloha has been a great place to meet other people blogging about Hawaii:)

[Evelyn]

I had to come back to look at the lei post one more time. :) It's such a great topic! Did I tell you, Cheryl, that I did ask the florist about the status of the leaves? They said that it hasn't gotten better because it was over harvested. Hopefully that won't drive the price up too high! It's already pretty substantial over here.

[HawaiiVacationGifts]

Evelyn,
If you ever need a maile lei just email me. We can get good ones here from the Big Island.