Chapter II · Green · Eau de Parfum

Pluviophile

Q: What does Pluviophile smell like?

Pluviophile, by R Parfums, smells like rain on a lake, heard from under cover. Green leaves, rain and rhubarb come first, then violet, ylang-ylang and bluebell, with musk, anise and clove beneath. It is a green eau de parfum, and the scene behind it is a Friday afternoon of rain at Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo.

Q: Why does it smell of wet earth?

Because of geosmin, a compound made by bacteria in soil that can contribute to the smell we call petrichor. Pluviophile holds only the faintest amount, just enough to add a light trace of earth to the rain.

Q: Can I try it before buying a full bottle?

Yes. There is a 2 ml sample (US$8), a 12 ml bottle (US$45), and the Discovery Set of five 2 ml vials with Pluviophile among them (US$35). Prices include 8% VAT. All three are on Smaller sizes.

Q: Where can I smell it in Ho Chi Minh City?

Smell all six at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day.

Q: Do you deliver outside Vietnam?

We deliver within Vietnam only — see Stockists for Taiwan.

A Rain Reverie

Đoản khúc cho kẻ yêu mưa

Pluviophile is a green eau de parfum by Rei Nguyen of R Parfums, inspired by an afternoon of rain over the lake at Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo. Green leaves, rain and rhubarb open it; violet, ylang-ylang and bluebell follow; musk, anise and clove lie beneath.

Ink drawing for Pluviophile — Ink drawing · Chapter II

Pluviophile in the Patina bottle on moss among small white flowers and drifting mist, rain on a glass pane and rippling light like water behind — Pluviophile, in moss and mist, with rain on the glass behind.

Chapter II · Where it began

For a rain lover

Place: Shinjuku Gyoen, Tokyo. A wooden bench facing the lake.
Hour: A Friday afternoon, in a downpour.
Later: Two exhibitions at 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu: summer 2024, and Pluviophile – Chapter 2, July 2026.

Perfumer’s memo

“Pluviophile” means “a rain lover” in Greek.

One afternoon in Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo, I sat on a wooden bench and watched silver rain tremble across the lake. A cool wind carried the scent of wildflowers. Somewhere nearby, the bees were still humming.

Rain lovers know such simple joys. To be alone in the rain can also be a kind of happiness, can it not?

Rei Nguyen, perfumer

Read the full chapter

A Patina bottle with a gold cap and three brass pieces, one patinated blue, resting in thick green moss on the trunk of an old tree — A Patina bottle in the moss of an old trunk. Photographed in the winter of 2022.

Close on the Pluviophile Patina bottle: ‘R PARFUMS Pluviophile’ on a brass plate, drops of water on the glass, its reflection in a black surface below — Pluviophile, close, with water on the glass. Photographed in 2022.

Still from the 2022 film: the brass pieces of the Pluviophile Patina bottle, close, ‘R PARFUMS Pluviophile’ on one piece and green patina on another — Filmed in 2022 · with music, muted here Watch it with sound, among the five scent films

Film, 2022: Pluviophile in the Patina bottle on a wet black surface under falling water, the brass pieces close, then a hand lifting the bottle. Looping, muted. — Filmed in 2022 · with music, muted here Watch it with sound, among the five scent films

The composition

How the rain is built

Pluviophile belongs to the green family: scents built on leaves and stems rather than on flowers or woods. Here the green is wet. On the skin it keeps the order of a shower: the rain first, the flowers next, the shelter last.

“Pluviophile is for those who seek peace in the tranquility of rain.”

Rei Nguyen, in the Journal, 2023

<0.01% Key note · GeosminA compound made by bacteria in soil; it can give rain its smell of earth. Each dot is one part in ten thousand of the formula; geosmin does not fill a single one.

Top notes: Green Leaves, Rain, Rhubarb They open the scent, and they are the shower itself: wet leaves, the tart green of rhubarb, and beneath them a trace of earth from geosmin, the key note.
Middle notes: Violet, Ylang-Ylang, Bluebell They hold the middle, as the flowers reached the bench that afternoon: faint, carried on a cool wind.
Base notes: Musk, Anise, Clove They close the scent, the shelter after the shower: musk, with the sweetness of anise and the warmth of clove.

If you like…

One scent, two bottles

Brass or clay

The scent is the same in both. One bottle wears three brass pieces, from bare brass to full patina; the other, a cap of fired clay, each in its own shade of glaze.

Pluviophile in the Patina bottle, its plate of three brass pieces, standing on moss beside a pane of rain-streaked glass and green leaves

Patina · 50 ml

Three brass pieces, set by hand

Three pieces, three moments in the life of the same metal. Each bottle is one of a kind.

I Brass

II Turning

III Patina

Pluviophile wears the Verde Patina, a green-blue matched to the pale colour of the scent.

How it is madeThe idea came from relics in Huế; twelve months of research and development went into the Patina line. Each piece is corroded, filed and set on the glass. How the plate is made →

Film · The Patina Bottle

4.212.000 ₫US$170 Incl. 8% VAT

Choose Patina

Pluviophile collage: the Ceramic bottle with a speckled glaze cap, white tassel and R charm, over rippled water, white flowers, a green leaf and a dragonfly wing

Ceramic · 50 ml

A ceramic cap, glazed and fired

A round ceramic cap in a glaze that recalls Chu Đậu ware. The kiln decides the glaze and the maker’s hand the tassel, so each Ceramic bottle comes to you as it was finished.

A tassel, and a ceramic charm engraved with R.

How it is madeEach cap is cast in a mould, trimmed, sponged smooth and left to dry, then glazed. The glaze goes on pink and takes its final colour in the kiln at 1000°C. How the cap is made →

Film · Ceramic and fire

3.580.200 ₫US$145Currently unavailable · expected back late November Incl. 8% VAT

Choose Ceramic

Side by side

Patina and Ceramic, compared

Pluviophile: Patina 50 ml compared with Ceramic 50 ml
Feature	Patina · 50 ml	Ceramic · 50 ml
The scent	Pluviophile, eau de parfum	The same scent
Volume	50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.	50 ml / 1.7 fl. oz.
What it is made of	Glass, with three brass pieces	Glass, with a round ceramic cap
How it is made	Pieces corroded, filed and set on the glass	Cast in a mould, trimmed, sponged, dried, glazed, fired in the kiln
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 recalls Chu Đậu ware; its colour shifts with the light and from one firing to the next
Detail	Verde Patina, a green-blue matched to the pale colour of the scent	Ceramic charm engraved with R
The film	Series #1 · The Patina Bottle	Ceramic and fire
Price, incl. 8% VAT	4.212.000 ₫US$170	3.580.200 ₫US$145Currently unavailable · expected back late November
Go further	Pluviophile in Patina Patina in all six chapters	Pluviophile in Ceramic Ceramic in all six chapters

Same scent, two bottles: Patina on Brass or Ceramic — see how each is made.

For the record

At a glance

Scent: Pluviophile, Chapter II
Family: Green
Concentration: Eau de Parfum
Perfumer: Rei Nguyen
Bottles: Patina on Brass, 50 ml · Ceramic, 50 ml
Patina shade: Verde Patina
Ceramic glaze: Set by the kiln; each cap its own shade
Smaller sizes: 12 ml · 2 ml sample · Discovery Set
Notes: Top: Green Leaves, Rain, Rhubarb · Middle: Violet, Ylang-Ylang, Bluebell · Base: Musk, Anise, Clove
Key note: Geosmin, a light trace of earth in the rain, at less than 0.01% of the formula
Price, incl. 8% VAT: Patina 50 ml 4.212.000 ₫US$170Ceramic 50 ml 3.580.200 ₫US$14512 ml 1.069.200 ₫US$452 ml 194.400 ₫US$8Discovery Set 918.000 ₫US$35
Ingredients (INCI): Alcohol, Aqua (Water), Parfum (Fragrance), Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Limonene, Benzyl Benzoate, Benzyl Salicylate, Geraniol, Farnesol, Coumarin, Isoeugenol, Eugenol.
Smell it: At our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day
Delivery: Within Vietnam only
Payment: Bank Transfer by VietQR (VND) or Credit Card (USD)
Made in: Vietnam

Questions

Asked about Pluviophile

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

What does Pluviophile smell like?

Pluviophile, by R Parfums, smells like rain on a lake, heard from under cover. Green leaves, rain and rhubarb come first, then violet, ylang-ylang and bluebell, with musk, anise and clove beneath. It is a green eau de parfum, and the scene behind it is a Friday afternoon of rain at Shinjuku Gyoen in Tokyo.

Why does it smell of wet earth?

Because of geosmin, a compound made by bacteria in soil that can contribute to the smell we call petrichor. Pluviophile holds only the faintest amount, just enough to add a light trace of earth to the rain.

Can I try it before buying a full bottle?

Yes. There is a 2 ml sample (194.400 ₫US$8), a 12 ml bottle (1.069.200 ₫US$45), and the Discovery Set of five 2 ml vials with Pluviophile among them (918.000 ₫US$35). Prices include 8% VAT. All three are on Smaller sizes.

Where can I smell it in Ho Chi Minh City?

Smell all six at our three houses in Ho Chi Minh City, open every day.

Do you deliver outside Vietnam?

We deliver within Vietnam only — see Stockists for Taiwan.

Pluviophile exhibition, summer 2024

Seven stories of rain, each told as a scent.

Robb Report Vietnam profiled Rei Nguyen and all six scents, Pluviophile among them, in May 2025 (in Vietnamese). Read the article

Smell it in person

Three houses, one city

All six scents are on the shelf at each house. Try Pluviophile on paper, then on your skin, before you choose.

House I

Nguyễn Duy Hiệu

R Space, 34 Nguyễn Duy Hiệu, Thảo Điền — An Khánh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City

Open daily · 8:00–18:00

House II

Nguyễn Huệ

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

Lý Tự Trọng

26 Lý Tự Trọng, Level 3, Sài Gòn Ward, Ho Chi Minh City
Inside Saigon Scent Lab