Scents · 2025

Shadow Éclat – “Radiant Darkness” – Rei Nguyen’s Sixth Niche Scent

Published: 16 February 2025
Language: English
Reading time: 3 min

Read this piece in Vietnamese: Đọc bằng tiếng Việt

First published in Vietnamese on 16 February 2025. Translated in 2026 and kept to the original.

Since then:

The prices quoted in this article are former prices; current prices are on each scent’s page.
The article gives sizes only; the 50 ml now comes in two bottle lines, Patina and Ceramic.

R Parfums display table before a red velvet curtain: bottles, orange boxes and Shadow Éclat testers among white flowers at the exhibition

In perfume, some scents are more than a meeting of raw materials: they are a story, a way of seeing the world told in the language of smell. At the Light and Shadow exhibition, two principal scents led visitors into a dialogue between darkness and light: 221B, a scent long associated with R Parfums, and Shadow Éclat, an entirely new creation, made for the exhibition, which has now formally joined the house’s collection.

221B – the classic spirit of a sharp mind

A 221B bottle by R Parfums with its patina brass plate, beside a pipe, loose tobacco and an old letter in warm golden light

One of R Parfums’ earliest creations, 221B is a scent of opposites: close yet distant, cool yet full of courage and passion. The top notes open bright with green mandarin, lemon and blackcurrant, airy and full of finesse.

As the scent quietens, osmanthus, geranium and a rich rose nectar come through, the point at which ideas and deductions are forever being connected. In the base notes, 221B settles into leather, tobacco and Peru balsam, making a whole of real depth: masculine and self-assured.

Shadow Éclat – when darkness speaks

In contrast to the cool sharpness of 221B, Shadow Éclat is darkness embodied, yet without gloom: something alive, rich in feeling and wholly beguiling. From the very first notes, green mandarin, ozone and magnolia open onto something clear and pure, like the first breath of nightfall. But it is in the middle notes that Shadow Éclat reveals its soul: iris, geranium and rose blend into something at once mysterious and romantic, like an untold story written in scent. The base notes are where the darkness is at its most resplendent. Immortelle absolute brings warmth, and with it a touch of black pepper’s heat and the softness of leather. A wisp of ghostly smoke, a deep and lingering trace: together they make the scent and colour of the night. Shadow Éclat is the next mark Rei Nguyen leaves on the many-coloured world of artistic niche perfumery.

Two 50 ml bottles, 221B and Shadow Éclat, with brown leather labels, on a stack of orange R Parfums boxes at the Light and Shadow exhibition

Shadow Éclat – a subtle reflection of Rei Nguyen’s inner world, where quiet emotions are turned into beguiling layers of scent

Shadow Éclat is a perfume, and a piece of the soul of Rei Nguyen, scent artist and founder of R Parfums. Having studied perfume design in Tokyo before returning to live in Vietnam, Rei has devoted more than seven full years to the practice of olfactory art and to making perfume. Her approach to creation is an open one: to her, each scent is a world of feeling rather than a mere formula, and each layer of notes a chapter of stories yet untold.

A 50 ml Shadow Éclat bottle with a leather label beside another perfume on a stack of orange boxes, a deep red velvet curtain behind

Always seeking balance by working with the contrasts between raw materials, Rei Nguyen likens the art of making perfume to alchemy, in which balance is essential. Shadow Éclat does not hurry to show itself or dazzle from the outset; it steals in slowly, like a story gradually unfolding. Green mandarin, ozone and magnolia cast the first rays of light, before the quieter notes of iris, hollyhock and suede paint in dark, sombre tones of real depth. Between these layers runs a constant dialogue, in which darkness is no longer gloomy but becomes a place for emotions to settle, and light no longer blinds but is only a faint glimmer, just enough to give shape to a presence both mysterious and beguiling. With the arrival of Shadow Éclat, R Parfums adds a new scent and goes on shaping its legacy in the world of niche fragrance. This is more than a bottle of perfume: it is a chapter, Rei Nguyen’s personal mark, as she breathed life into every layer of notes and turned the perfume into a symphony, hushed yet still glinting with light. Shadow Éclat is now available in the R Parfums collection in the following sizes: 50 ml (4.950.000 ₫), 12 ml (1.309.000 ₫) and 2 ml (228.800 ₫).