What does Béton Chaud smell like?

Béton Chaud, by R Parfums, is a spicy amber: warm, dry spice under bright fruit. Peach, sweet orange and pink grapefruit open dry and bright. Cumin, caramel and Damask rose sit in the middle; cinnamon, star anise, frankincense, cardamom and vanilla stay at the base. The amber colour comes from the raw materials, with no colourants.

Will my cap look like the photograph?

Not exactly. The photograph shows a speckled glaze and a black tassel, but the kiln sets each glaze and the maker’s hand each tassel, and neither colour can be requested. A glaze also shifts with the light and from one firing to the next. Every bottle carries a ceramic charm engraved with R.

Does Béton Chaud come in a smaller size?

Yes. Béton Chaud comes in 12 ml at US$50, and as a 2 ml sample at US$9. It is also one of the five 2 ml vials in the Discovery Set, at US$35. Prices incl. 8% VAT.

Béton Chaud in the Ceramic bottle: a speckled glaze cap, a black tassel and a ceramic charm engraved with R, on terracotta-coloured cloth in warm light — Béton Chaud, Ceramic 50 ml, with a speckled glaze and a black tassel. Studio photograph.

Chapter VI · Spicy Amber · Eau de Parfum

Béton Chaud Ceramic, 50 ml

Where Summer Felt Like Freedom

Ký ức mùa hè tự do

Béton Chaud in Ceramic is a 50 ml spicy amber Eau de Parfum by Rei Nguyen for R Parfums, an independent fragrance house from Saigon, Vietnam. The clay cap is cast in a mould, cut at the mouth and sponged smooth, then glazed and fired; the kiln sets each glaze. 4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November, incl. 8% VAT. Smell it at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City.

Read Chapter VI Béton Chaud in both bottles

Bottle

Patina Three brass pieces 50 ml · 4.860.000 ₫US$195

Ceramic · selected A glazed clay cap 50 ml · 4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November

Also in 12 ml, 1.285.200 ₫US$50. Smaller sizes

The kiln decides the glaze and the maker’s hand the tassel, so each Ceramic bottle comes to you as it was finished.

A glaze shifts with the light and from one firing to the next, so each cap has a look of its own. Every bottle carries a ceramic charm engraved with R.

4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November

Incl. 8% VAT

Pay in USD by credit card — the amount in USD is shown before you pay.

Currently unavailable · expected back late November

Payment · Bank Transfer by VietQR (VND) or Credit Card (USD)

Delivery We currently deliver within Vietnam only. Visiting from abroad? Collect your order at any of our three houses. Shipping
Returns Returns
Smell first On paper and on skin, at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day. Addresses and hours

The Ceramic bottle

Clay, fire, glaze

On a Patina bottle, one brass piece is caught midway to patina. Ceramic is changed once, in the kiln. For a scent of summer heat, it is the cap that has been through the fire.

Studio photograph: hands, linen and the Ceramic bottle — The Ceramic bottle, photographed in the studio.

Why this cap

I · Cast in a mould

Each sphere is cast in a white mould. Its opening is then cut with a fine tool and wiped smooth with a sponge.

II · A glaze that recalls Chu Đậu

Chu Đậu is the old glazed ware of northern Vietnam. Brushed on raw, our glaze is pink; only the fire shows its colour.

III · Fired in the kiln

The kiln fuses the glaze to the clay. Its colour shifts with the light you hold it in, and from one firing to the next.

IV · Tassel and charm

Its tassel, finished by hand, and a small ceramic charm engraved with R, fitted in the box.

For Béton Chaud

Béton Chaud is shown in the speckled glaze, cream flecked with brown, with a black tassel. Your cap will carry a shade of its own.

At the ceramic studio

How a Ceramic cap is made

The mould A white mould, opened: round hollows, and one cream sphere in the corner.
The opening The opening is cut with a fine tool and wiped with a sponge.
The glaze One row brushed pink, the rest still white.
The kiln Glazed spheres, lined up inside the kiln.

Film · Series #3

Ceramic and fire

At the studio where our caps are made, from a block of clay to a box with a tassel in it.

Ceramic and fire · 1:29 · silent Filmed at the ceramic studio

What you see

The studio and its long table. Clay kneaded on plaster. Liquid clay poured into white moulds. The opening of each sphere cut and wiped by hand. Rows drying on trays. Pink raw glaze brushed on. The kiln. The spheres after the fire, in colours the pink gave no sign of. A box dressed with a tassel and a charm. Last, the finished caps.

The craft of Ceramic All films

Two definitions

The definition of liberty

Béton Chaud means hot concrete. A story about the scent, published on r-parfums.com on 18 September 2023, gave the concrete pipe two definitions. Our English first; the original Vietnamese beneath.

As grown-ups define it

A concrete pipe is a rigid pipe that provides both structure and a conduit on a construction site.

Theo định nghĩa của người lớn‘Ống bê tông là một loại ống cứng, cung cấp cả cấu trúc và đường dẫn tại công trường.’

As children define it

A place to set up base or build a fort; to shelter from the rain; to hide my secret toy gun; to post letters; to play hide-and-seek; to make new friends… (the list goes on)

Theo định nghĩa của những đứa trẻ‘Là nơi để cắm căn cứ hay xây dựng pháo đài; trú mưa; giấu khẩu súng nhựa bí mật của tôi; gửi thư; chơi trốn tìm; làm quen bạn mới… (danh sách tiếp tục kéo dài)’

The scent inside

Between concrete and sky

Cumin flares against the cool, aromatic edge of star anise, held together by frankincense, cardamom and vanilla. Nothing in Béton Chaud is loud. Its pull lies in the tension between materials, each placed where it can be heard.

The bottle changes nothing inside it. Patina and Ceramic hold the same Béton Chaud.

Read Chapter VI The scent page

Perfumer’s memo

In those red-hot summer days, the children from my neighborhood and I would sit inside concrete pipes in an empty lot, watching kites spread their wings across the sky.

Looking up at them, I thought I was flying too.

And inside those sun-warmed circles of concrete, we truly believed we were the freest creatures in the world.

Rei Nguyen, perfumer · memo for Béton Chaud

A summer afternoon, on skin

Midday · Top Ground that gives off heat Juicy Peach, Sweet Orange, Pink Grapefruit. Not cool, as citrus usually is, but dry and glaring.
Afternoon · Middle Hot air from the pipe Cumin, Caramel, Damask Rose. Scorched caramel, spiced cumin and deep rose rise like a wave of hot air from raw concrete.
Late day · Base Warmth on the sleeves Cinnamon, Star Anise, Frankincense, Cardamom, Vanilla. The heat leaves the nose and settles on shoulders, back and sleeves.

Silhouette of a Ceramic bottle with a tassel, backlit among cinnamon sticks and star anise — Cinnamon and star anise, two of the base notes.

What the eye does not see

Five times

At first, Rei put five times as much cumin into Béton Chaud as she does now.

And the amber is not a dye

No colourants are used. The amber in the bottle is the natural colour of the raw materials, the colour of a summer sunset.

Béton Chaud in the Patina bottle, three brass pieces on the glass, on sun-warmed stone

Same scent in Patina

Béton Chaud, Patina on Brass, 50 ml

Three brass pieces are set on the glass: one in plain brass, one caught midway, one fully patinated. Béton Chaud wears Brown Blue Patina, the shade it shares with 221B and Shadow Éclat. Each bottle is one of a kind.

I Brass

II Turning

III Patina

4.860.000 ₫US$195 Incl. 8% VAT

See the Patina bottle

Béton Chaud 12 ml · 1.285.200 ₫US$502 ml sample, 224.640 ₫US$9 · Discovery Set, five 2 ml vials including Béton Chaud, 918.000 ₫US$35

Smaller sizes

For the record

Béton Chaud Ceramic at a glance

The bottle in plain facts. Volume, ingredients and care are as printed on the label.

Scent: Béton Chaud, Chapter VI of six
Bottle line: Ceramic. The same scent also comes in Patina.
Volume: 50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.
Concentration: Eau de Parfum
Family: Spicy Amber
Top notes: Juicy Peach, Sweet Orange, Pink Grapefruit
Middle notes: Cumin, Caramel, Damask Rose
Base notes: Cinnamon, Star Anise, Frankincense, Cardamom, Vanilla
Colour: Amber, from the raw materials themselves. No colourants.
Cap: Ceramic, cast in a mould, its mouth cut and sponged smooth. How the cap is made
Glaze: Set by the kiln; each cap in its own shade
Firing: 1000°C, in the kiln
Tassel and charm: Tassel from the maker’s hand. Ceramic charm engraved with R.
Price: 4.131.000 ₫US$165Currently unavailable · expected back late November, incl. 8% VAT
Smell it: Our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day: 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, 42 Nguyễn Huệ (Level 2) and 26 Lý Tự Trọng.
Delivery: Within Vietnam only. Or collect at any of our three houses.
Perfumer: Rei Nguyen
Made in: Vietnam
House: R Parfums, an independent fragrance house from Saigon, Vietnam. Sold by NOTE CO., LTD.

Ingredients (INCI)

Alcohol, Aqua (Water), Parfum (Fragrance), Coumarin, Hydroxycitronellal, Limonene, Geraniol, Alpha-Isomethyl Ionone, Amyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Eugenol, Benzyl Benzoate, Linalool, Cinnamal.

As printed on the Béton Chaud label. Batch number: see packaging.

Wear and keep

Spray onto wrists, behind ears or on the neck, 15–20 cm from the body, on clean, dry skin. Store in a cool, dry place away from direct sunlight. Shelf life: 29 months from the manufacturing date. Flammable: keep away from heat and sparks.

The Ceramic line

Ceramic in the other five scents

All six in Ceramic

Prices incl. 8% VAT. Every scent comes in both lines, Ceramic and Patina.

Questions

Questions about Béton Chaud in Ceramic

Same scent, two bottles: Patina on Brass or Ceramic — see how each is made. We deliver within Vietnam only — see Stockists for Taiwan.

Anything else: +84 89 649 0038 or info@r-parfums.com.

What does Béton Chaud smell like?: Béton Chaud, by R Parfums, is a spicy amber: warm, dry spice under bright fruit. Peach, sweet orange and pink grapefruit open dry and bright. Cumin, caramel and Damask rose sit in the middle; cinnamon, star anise, frankincense, cardamom and vanilla stay at the base. The amber colour comes from the raw materials, with no colourants.
Will my cap look like the photograph?: Not exactly. The photograph shows a speckled glaze and a black tassel, but the kiln sets each glaze and the maker’s hand each tassel, and neither colour can be requested. A glaze also shifts with the light and from one firing to the next. Every bottle carries a ceramic charm engraved with R.
Does Béton Chaud come in a smaller size?: Yes. Béton Chaud comes in 12 ml at 1.285.200 ₫US$50, and as a 2 ml sample at 224.640 ₫US$9. It is also one of the five 2 ml vials in the Discovery Set, at 918.000 ₫US$35. Prices incl. 8% VAT.

Smell it first

Three houses, one city

Smell Béton Chaud on paper and on skin before you choose.

House I R Space, 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, Thảo Điền — An Khánh Ward Ho Chi Minh City Open daily · 8:00–18:00

House II 42 Nguyễn Huệ, The Café Apartment building — Level 2, Sài Gòn Ward Ho Chi Minh City · inside NOTE – The Scent Lab Open daily · 9:00–22:00

House III 26 Lý Tự Trọng, Level 3, Sài Gòn Ward Ho Chi Minh City · inside Saigon Scent Lab Open daily · 9:00–22:00

+84 89 649 0038 · info@r-parfums.com

Visit the houses

Summer leaves its fingerprint