Chapter III · Floral Fruity · Eau de Parfum
A Memory in Bloom
Tháng Ba hoài niệm
Nostalgic March is a floral fruity eau de parfum by Rei Nguyen of R Parfums, inspired by an old Hanoi custom: sugarcane infused with pomelo blossom for afternoon tea. Pomelo blossom, sugarcane and raspberry open; magnolia, rice tea and lily of the valley follow; sandalwood, orris, musk and vetiver remain.
The story
Key note
A March morning in the old quarter. Pomelo blossom came in street vendors’ baskets, and peeled sugarcane was laid among the white petals until it took their scent. In the afternoon it was served with tea. Tràng An is an old name for Hanoi.
I named this fragrance “Nostalgic March” not because Tràng An has disappeared, but because the ritual of that season has begun to fade.
A bite of sugarcane on a skewer.
A slow cup of afternoon tea.
How long has it been since we last allowed ourselves such ease?
Rei Nguyen, perfumer
For the record
Old Hanoi had a phrase for it
Ăn hương ăn hoa
To eat with the nose as much as the tongue.
The composition
One March day in Hanoi, read from top to base: a morning street, an afternoon street, a street at night. The same scent in the Patina and the Ceramic bottle.
Spray, then wait. Let the first drops settle on warm skin before you bring your wrist to your nose.
Floral fruity, if the term is new: flowers carry the scent and fruit lifts it. Here the flowers are pomelo blossom, magnolia and lily of the valley; the fruit is raspberry.
If you like…
White flowers and fruit, in an older structure: Eau de Hajime Pear and sambac jasmine over oakmoss and labdanum Magnolia and iris, taken darker: Shadow Éclat Magnolia at the top, iris at the heart, suede beneath The caramel and vanilla March leaves out: Béton Chaud Cumin and caramel, then cinnamon and vanilla Flowers and musk, under rain: Pluviophile Violet leaf and bluebell, then muskRead more in the Journal
Savoring Perfume as the Ancients Savored Tea – The Art of Sensing with Nostalgic March 23 March 2025 · how to wear March, step by step Nostalgic March – A March of Memories Captured in a Fragrance 31 March 2025 · the three streets, note by note The Journey of Taste in the World of Scent 9 July 2025 · a sweetness you almost tasteIn the press
“Nét đẹp của mùa xuân Hà Nội…” (the beauty of a Hanoi spring…; translated from Vietnamese)
Robb Report Vietnam, May 2025 · Read the article ↗
One scent, two bottles
The scent is the same in both. One bottle carries brass in three stages of patina; the other, a cap of fired clay in a white glaze.
Patina · 50 ml
Three pieces, three moments of the same metal. Each bottle is one of a kind, made for one owner.
Each piece is corroded, filed and set on the glass. How the plate is made →
Nostalgic March wears Verde Patina, as do Eau de Hajime and Pluviophile.
Film Series #1 — The Patina Bottle
Ceramic · 50 ml
The bottle closes with a small sphere of fired clay, its glaze recalling Chu Đậu ware. The glaze follows the scent, white for Nostalgic March, and the maker’s hand the tassel, so each Ceramic bottle comes to you as it was finished.
Liquid clay is poured into white moulds. Each sphere is cut at the mouth, wiped, dried and brushed with a glaze that goes on pink. The true colour appears only after the kiln, and it shifts with the light and from one firing to the next. How the cap is made →
A tassel, and a two-sided ceramic charm: the R logo on one face, the name of its scent on the other.
Film Ceramic and fire| Feature | Patina · 50 ml | Ceramic · 50 ml |
|---|---|---|
| The scent | Nostalgic March, eau de parfum | The same scent |
| Volume | 50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz. | 50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz. |
| Made of | Glass, with three brass pieces corroded by hand and sealed under a UV-resistant coat | Glass, with a cap of fired clay; the glaze recalls Chu Đậu ware |
| Colour | Piece I keeps its brass, piece II is caught midway, piece III has turned fully to patina. A UV-resistant coat slows the change; it does not stop it | The glaze shifts with the light and from one firing to the next |
| Detail | Verde Patina, shared with Eau de Hajime and Pluviophile | Ceramic charm: the R logo on one side, the scent’s name on the other |
| Price, incl. 8% VAT | 4.536.000 ₫US$180 | 3.855.600 ₫US$155, Currently unavailable · expected back late November |
| Go further | Nostalgic March in Patina Patina in all six chapters | Nostalgic March in Ceramic Ceramic in all six chapters |
Same scent, two bottles: Patina on Brass or Ceramic — see how each is made.
Nostalgic March, by R Parfums, is a floral fruity eau de parfum, built like a March day in old Hanoi. It opens on pomelo blossom, sugarcane and raspberry, moves to magnolia, rice tea and lily of the valley, and settles on sandalwood, orris, musk and vetiver. It is sweet, but the way honeyed tea is sweet, not vanilla or caramel.
An old Hanoi custom: peeled sugarcane was cut into pieces and laid with a few pomelo blossoms until it took their scent, then eaten in the afternoon with tea. Nostalgic March is built on that memory; the chapter tells the whole story.
Yes. Nostalgic March comes in 12 ml (1.177.200 ₫US$45) and as a 2 ml sample (210.600 ₫US$8). It is also one of the five vials in the Discovery Set (918.000 ₫US$35). All three are on Smaller sizes; prices include 8% VAT.
Smell all six at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day.
We deliver within Vietnam only — see Stockists for Taiwan.
Smell it in person
Try Nostalgic March on paper, then on skin, and give it time. Each house has all six scents to try on skin.
House I
Open daily · 8:00–18:00
House II
Open daily · 9:00–22:00
House III
Open daily · 10:00–21:30
“How long has it been since we last allowed ourselves such ease?”
Rei Nguyen, from the memo for Nostalgic March
