There's a new line of Hawai'i-inspired fragrances that couldn't be further from the single- note, hackneyed pineapple, coconut or pikake scents visitors buy at the corner ABC Store. It's called Saffron James, and it's the creation of Kate Growney, 35, a Big Island kama'aina whose Hawai'i roots date back to the early 1800s. Saffron is the occasional nom de plume of the former beauty editor, while James is her part-Hawaiian father's first name. The first three fragrances in the line are inspired by puakenikeni, plumeria and white ginger. She's currently working on pakalana.

Everything about the line is unusual and exhibits a depth of understanding about the flora of the Islands. Growney did extensive research with Desoto Brown at the Bishop Museum, among others, to learn as much as she could about how the flowers first came to the Hawaiian Islands, how they are used and what their cultural significance is. She worked with a highly qualified perfumer to identify the subtle notes that conspire to create the experience of smelling the flower where it grows or as it is worn in a lei or in the hair.

Marketers say that the first fragrance purchase is a result of the packaging, while subsequent purchases are driven by the scent itself. To make her packaging engaging, Growney has used her skill as a storyteller to capture the magic of the Islands, and their flowers, in each box of Saffron James. A perfectionist, she oversaw every detail, even the design of the fabric that cradles the bottles in the boxes.

WHY FRAGRANCE?

Growney has lived the sort of life little girls dream of. Growing up in Waimea, she attended Hawai'i Preparatory Academy, then attended the University of Colorado at Boulder. After graduating, she moved to San Francisco, where she interned with Might magazine. After a move to New York she landed editing jobs at Elle, Harper's Bazaar and Lucky magazines. Her beat? Beauty. This led her to freelancing for other magazines and beauty Web sites as well as consulting with several cosmetic companies.

After 9/11, however, she decided she needed a change. She went to chef's school, graduating with a degree from the French Culinary Institute. Tired of the pace of New York, she then moved to Los Angeles, where she worked on a novel and began freelance writing for magazines again.

During an interview with perfumer Sarah Horowitz-Thran, the two were dishing about all the new scents out there and what a shame it was that no one had really captured the fragrances of Hawai'i in an upscale, sophisticated fashion.

"I said 'Someone should do all these beautiful exotic flowers that we have at home,' " Growney said, "and Sarah said 'Why don't you do it?' "

In that moment, it all just clicked, and the beauty editor became a fragrance entrepreneur.

"The hard thing about Hawai'i is that it's so ridiculously beautiful, it's hard to describe without embracing this cheesy element," Growney said with a chuckle.

In guiding the perfumer, she studiously avoided the trite or cliched. She told family stories about the fragrances, explaining that in the Islands, flowers are celebratory and surround special moments such as proms, weddings, baby lu'au, graduations and anniversaries.

It took the team of two seven months and 48 samples to get the first fragrance just right.

THE PERFUMER

Growney worked with Horowitz-Thran, a perfumer (also known as a "nose") with the House of Creative Scentualization in Los Angeles. A perfumer of private-label fragrances for nearly 20 years, Horowitz-Thran has created fragrances for a number of celebrities, including Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jessica Biel and Jennifer Garner.

Although Horowitz-Thran has never been to Hawai'i, she has always thought of flowers and the Islands as being nearly synonymous. She remembers a college roommate sending her a postcard from Honolulu saying, "A fragrant wall envelopes you when you walk off the plane."

Horowitz-Thran said Growney brought Hawai'i to her.

"Literally. She sent me flowers and leis so I could smell them," Horowitz-Thran said. "She told me stories about where they grow, what the climate and earth is like. We had amazing conversations about the personalities of these flowers."

Getting at the personality of the flower is the essence of creating a fragrance with depth. "We tried to get it as nature-identical as we could, but also to infuse the personality and energy that Kate wanted to bring to it," Horowitz-Thran explained.

With fragrance, it's all about accents to give you that balance and harmony.

"It has to be a complete experience and come from something deeper," Horowitz-Thran said. "(Growney) wants it to be a tribute to her home. There's a childhood experience that goes into each fragrance."

Horowitz-Thran admires the way Growney stuck to her vision rather than rush to market.

"It had to be right. That's why her fragrances are not just good, but exquisite. She had the vision and she didn't compromise."

The perfumer also found Saffron James to be a learning experience: "She pushed me to a level in my art form that was exciting. She's a storyteller, and to read the history and legends and stories (of the flowers) was a great experience."

THE MENTOR

Jean Godfrey-June, beauty editor of Lucky magazine, was Growney's mentor at both Elle and Lucky. In fact, it was Godfrey-June who gave Growney her nom de plume, Saffron.

Asked if she was surprised that the beauty editor had become a fragrance entrepreneur, Godfrey-June said: "The thing about Kate is she always knows about the cool, obscure, gorgeous and unexpected thing long before anyone else does. She's the cool girl who lets you in on all her secrets. She's a font of amazing ideas, each better — and more surprising — than the last, so I always expect something truly surprising from her."

Godfrey-June said the fragrance world is in need of a fresh new face, as it's "plagued at the moment by what I call 'Eau de Focus Group' — they all end up smelling the same. Every one of Kate's scents is unique and pretty. Often if you come up with something unique, it's not so wearable. She's managed to do both."

Having visited Hawai'i, Godfrey-June said, "I feel Saffron James gets at several aspects of Hawai'i that really struck me when I visited. There's that soft air that Joan Didion describes so well, that really comes through in all three scents. The feeling of salt water all around, which is usually absent in the pineapple/coconut sweetness that's often associated with Hawai'i. And also the earthiness/cleanliness of the sand, which mixes with all the tropical floral notes and grounds them, in a way.

Her fave? "I actually like mixing all three, but if I had to pick one, I like Le'a. I love the plumeria in it, and the scent as a whole is the perfect balance between sexy, fresh and feminine."

Saffron James fragrances are sold locally at Riches Kahala, and they will be in the new Nordstrom when it opens March 7. They are also sold at Studio Fred Segal in Santa Monica, Calif., and online at www.saffronjames.com.

Each bottle of fragrance costs $85.

Reach Paula Rath at paularath@aol.com.