Scents · 2023

Eau de Hajime: Where I Belong

Author: Rei Nguyen
Published: 18 September 2023
Language: English
Reading time: 2 min
Scents: Eau de Hajime

Read this piece in Vietnamese: Đọc bằng tiếng Việt

First published in Vietnamese on 18 September 2023. Translated in 2026 and kept to the original.

An Eau de Hajime bottle on a gold block, its front set with a brass patina plate corroded to blue and gold, ribbons of light curling around it

How was Eau de Hajime made?

Landscape ink painting: two strands of soft brass-coloured pools of light hang from sagging, broken ink lines, the near ones large and rich, the far ones shrinking towards a point on the right, each with a fleck of bare paper left as its glow. Below, a few very faint reflections lie on the wet street, and a single heavy ink stroke crosses the lower left corner.

“Sometimes, when I close my eyes, I still remember the glimmering lights of the lanterns in Kyoto. Ribbons of light drifting down the street, swaying in the wind, and the powdery scent of a kimono lingering after it brushed softly past.” — Rei Nguyen

Scenes held in memory, scents the nose has not let go of, recollections still fresh… A love of fragrance led Rei Nguyen to pursue perfumery in Japan, and she went on to become the first Vietnamese person to stage a successful scent exhibition in the land of the cherry blossom.

Eau de Hajime was Rei Nguyen’s first creation, marking her opening steps along that singular path.

What does Eau de Hajime smell like?

Jonquil

Known as one of the most precious floral materials in perfumery, narcissus (also called jonquil) calls to mind dense velvet, with a passing herbal note. In R Parfums’ composition, jonquil absolute comes into its own beside heady jasmine and the soft sweetness of coconut, and on the wearer’s skin the effect is spellbinding.

Landscape ink painting: from a base set to the left, long slender leaves rise, wet with ink at the root and dry at the tip, one folded over and one washed in pale green; a flower stalk bends to the right with two nodding narcissus flowers and a bud still in its sheath. The petals are drawn in outline only, left as paper, and each flower has a small cup seen from the side, washed in pale brass.

Narcissus is not the whole of it: pear is another reason Eau de Hajime stands apart. It makes up only about 0.1% of the formula, yet the scent of juicy pear seems to be an essential part of Hajime’s beauty. Tender green. Fresh and young. Do you think that is what youth smells like?

Eau de Hajime – 50 ml

Top notes: petitgrain, pear, bergamot

Middle notes: rose, jasmine, jonquil absolute

Base notes: patchouli, labdanum, moss, amber

Eau de Hajime – Where I Belong

In Japanese, “hajime” means “the first time”. This was the first scent Rei ever made: a personal milestone that means a great deal to her, and an expression of her own style in the art of scent.

Stepping outside society’s usual conventions, Rei set out on a path of her own in perfumery. It was a road full of thorns and hardship, yet a truly happy and worthwhile one. Hajime is the story of a beginning, of surprise, curiosity and self-questioning mingled together… and, above all, of joy. The joy of having found, at last, the place where she truly belongs.

Rei Nguyen