A Vietnamese perfume experience comes in two forms: the artisan niche fragrances of R Parfums and the hands-on DIY workshops at NOTE – The Scent Lab — and the best way to understand Vietnamese perfumery is to experience both. NOTE – The Scent Lab is a perfume workshop in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi, Vietnam, rated ★4.9 by 500+ travelers. R Parfums is the niche fragrance house founded by the same perfumer, Rei Nguyen, who trained in Japan’s centuries-old Koudou tradition before bringing that philosophy home to Saigon.
There’s a moment in every perfume workshop when someone pauses mid-blend, holds a test strip to their nose, and says something like: “Wait — this smells expensive.” They look up, half surprised, half proud. The workshop instructor smiles. Because what they’ve just discovered isn’t a secret — it’s the whole point. The line between a “luxury” fragrance and a handmade one isn’t about price. Our how perfume is made guide explains the craft behind both. It’s about intention.
That idea — that the person wearing the perfume matters as much as the person who made it — sits at the heart of everything Rei Nguyen has built. Two brands. Two approaches to the same obsession. And a philosophy rooted in something older than the modern fragrance industry itself.
The Perfumer Behind Both Brands: Rei Nguyen’s Journey
Before there was NOTE, before there was R Parfums, there was a young Vietnamese woman in Tokyo, sitting in a tatami room, learning to “listen” to incense.
On rainy afternoons, the Cafe Apartment corridors fill with petrichor — wet concrete mixing with coffee from the shop next door and the sandalwood lingering from our last session.
Koudou — the Japanese Way of Fragrance — isn’t about creating scent. It’s about receiving it. Practitioners don’t say they “smell” incense; they say they “listen” to it (聞く, kiku). The distinction is everything. Smelling is passive. Listening requires presence, attention, the willingness to let a scent arrive on its own terms.
Rei brought that philosophy back to Vietnam and asked a question that would shape both her brands: what if fragrance wasn’t something you consumed, but something you participated in? Our perfume workshop for beginners guide shows exactly what that looks like. What if the act of making a perfume could be as meaningful as wearing one?
The answer became two parallel paths. R Parfums — the niche fragrance house where Rei composes artisan perfumes that tell stories of Vietnamese landscapes, memories, and emotions. And NOTE – The Scent Lab — the workshop where travelers and locals create their own fragrances, guided by trained workshop instructors who carry forward that same philosophy of intentional creation.
They aren’t competitors. They’re two sides of the same coin. One asks: what does Vietnam smell like through the eyes of a trained perfumer? Our what is a perfume making workshop guide answers that question. The other asks: what does Vietnam smell like through yours?
R Parfums: When Fragrance Becomes Storytelling
Walk into the R Parfums atelier and the first thing you notice isn’t a scent — it’s a feeling. The space is deliberate. Every bottle on the shelf has a name that reads more like a poem than a product label. Each fragrance is a chapter in an ongoing conversation between Vietnamese ingredients and the wider world of perfumery.
Rei’s compositions draw on Vietnamese raw materials — Vietnamese agarwood, lotus from West Lake in Hanoi, Vietnamese cinnamon — but filter them through techniques learned in Grasse and Tokyo. The result is something that doesn’t exist anywhere else: fragrances that smell unmistakably of this place, but speak a language that’s universal.
R Parfums is for the person who wants a finished work of art. A fragrance conceived, composed, and refined by a single nose. Something you wear and people ask about. Something that carries a story you didn’t write but that resonates with your own.
If NOTE is the workshop where you pick up the paintbrush, R Parfums is the gallery where you stand in front of the finished painting and feel something shift inside you.
NOTE – The Scent Lab: Your Hands, Your Story
The workshop experience is a different kind of intimacy. You’re not receiving a finished fragrance — you’re building one. From the first moment you lean over the ingredient bar and inhale Vietnamese cinnamon bark, something changes. You’re no longer a customer. You’re a creator.
Ninety minutes. Thirty-plus professional-grade, IFRA-certified ingredients. A workshop instructor who guides without directing — who asks what memories a smell triggers, who suggests combinations but never insists. The formula you create is yours. It’s recorded on a card you take home. And the perfume you walk out with isn’t just “nice” — it’s personal in a way that no off-the-shelf fragrance can be.
“Finally understood how notes work. Came with our best friends for our 20th wedding anniversary.”
This is the experience economy in its purest form. You didn’t buy a souvenir — you created one. You didn’t visit a workshop — you became the perfumer for an afternoon. And that bottle on your shelf back home? Every spray is Saigon. Every note is a decision you made.
“I have a beautiful souvenir to take home and every time I smell it, I will remember Saigon.”
Comparing the Two Experiences: A Honest Guide
Here’s the truth that most “vs” articles won’t give you — these two experiences aren’t really competing for the same moment in your trip. They serve different moods, different desires, different versions of what you want from fragrance.
| Aspect | R Parfums (Niche Fragrance) | NOTE Workshop (DIY Experience) |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | A finished artisan perfume composed by Rei Nguyen | A custom perfume you blend yourself |
| Time needed | 30-60 min browsing and testing | ~90 minutes guided workshop |
| Best for | Fragrance enthusiasts, collectors, gift-seekers | Travelers, couples, groups, curious beginners |
| Skill required | None — just your nose | None — workshop instructor guides everything |
| The story | Rei’s vision of Vietnamese scent landscapes | Your personal scent story, created by you |
| Take-home | Signature bottle, ready to wear | Custom EDP + formula card (reorder anytime) |
| Vietnamese ingredients | Agarwood, lotus, cinnamon — in refined compositions | 30+ ingredients including Vietnamese specialties |
| Location HCMC | r-parfums.com (Thao Dien) | Cafe Apartment D1 + Thao Dien + Hanoi |
Notice what’s not on that table: a “better” column. Because the question isn’t which is better. The question is which version of the Vietnamese perfume experience calls to you right now.
The Philosophy They Share: Quality Over Everything
What connects R Parfums and NOTE isn’t branding or marketing — it’s an obsession with ingredients. Both use materials sourced from the same network of Vietnamese producers that Rei has built relationships with over years. The agarwood in an R Parfums bottle and the agarwood you’ll smell in a NOTE workshop come from the same tradition of careful, sustainable harvesting.
This matters more than most people realize. The fragrance industry is full of shortcuts — synthetic substitutes, diluted essences, ingredients that smell “close enough.” Rei’s approach, inherited from Japanese perfumery traditions, refuses those compromises. Whether you’re buying a finished fragrance or blending your own, the ingredients are professional-grade and IFRA-certified.
“As someone in the beauty industry for over 20 years, I was extremely impressed by their knowledge and professionalism.”
That’s why a perfume you make in 90 minutes at NOTE doesn’t smell like a “workshop project.” It smells like a real fragrance. Because it is one.
How to Experience Both on Your Vietnam Trip
Here’s the itinerary we’d suggest — and we say this not as marketers, but as people who’ve watched thousands of travelers move through both experiences:
Day 1 or 2: Book the NOTE workshop early in your trip. This is your introduction to Vietnamese ingredients. You’ll learn the basics of fragrance construction — top notes, heart notes, base notes — and you’ll create something personal. Do this first because it opens your nose. After the workshop, you’ll smell Saigon differently. The street food, the flowers, the rain on hot pavement — you’ll notice things you would have walked past.
Later in your trip: Visit R Parfums with educated nostrils. Now when you smell Rei’s compositions, you’ll understand what she’s doing. You’ll catch the Vietnamese cinnamon in the heart note. You’ll recognize the agarwood base. The experience is richer because you’ve been through the workshop — you have context.
Together, the two experiences take maybe three hours of your trip. What they give back is a completely new way of experiencing Vietnam — through scent, through creation, through the quiet intimacy of paying attention to what you smell. You can book the workshop online with instant confirmation — no deposit, no fuss. Pay by card, bank transfer, or cash when you arrive.
Vietnamese Perfumery on the World Stage
Vietnam isn’t traditionally associated with perfumery. France, yes. Japan, increasingly. But Vietnam? Most travelers don’t arrive expecting to find a world-class fragrance scene.
That’s changing. Vietnamese agarwood — also called oud — has been prized for centuries across Asia and the Middle East. Vietnamese cinnamon is considered among the finest in the world, with a complexity that its more common cousin from Sri Lanka can’t match. Lotus, jasmine, pomelo blossom — the raw materials are extraordinary. What was missing was someone who could translate them into modern perfumery.
Rei Nguyen is that translator. Trained in Japan, influenced by French technique, rooted in Vietnamese materials and stories. Through R Parfums, she’s creating fragrances that stand alongside niche houses from anywhere in the world. Through NOTE, she’s democratizing the craft — letting anyone with a curious nose and 90 minutes participate in the same creative process.
The result is a Vietnamese perfume experience that doesn’t exist anywhere else. Not in Paris, not in Tokyo, not in New York. Only here — in a studio above the Cafe Apartment on Nguyen Hue Walking Street, in a sunlit space in Thao Dien, in a mall overlooking West Lake in Hanoi.
Who Should Choose What
Choose R Parfums if: You’re a fragrance collector. You appreciate the artistry of a finished composition. You want a gift that says “I found something extraordinary in Vietnam.” You prefer to be moved by someone else’s creative vision.
Choose NOTE Workshop if: You want to create something yourself. You’re traveling with a partner, friends, or family and want a shared experience. You’re curious about how perfume works. You want a souvenir that’s literally one-of-a-kind — because you made it.
Choose both if: You have three hours and an open mind. Most people who do both say it was a highlight of their entire trip. Not because of the products — because of the shift in perception. You’ll leave Vietnam smelling differently. Paying attention differently. And that, more than any bottle, is the real souvenir.
The studio is open daily. Your nose is ready. The only question is whether you want to listen to someone else’s story — or start writing your own.
See what visitors think of the DIY experience — reviews on TripAdvisor, Klook, and Google Maps.
For more inspiration, follow @note.workshop on Instagram — workshop highlights, scent tips, and visitor stories.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Vietnamese perfume experience?
A Vietnamese perfume experience ranges from hands-on DIY workshops (like NOTE – The Scent Lab, ~90 minutes, ★4.9 rated) where you create your own fragrance, to discovering artisan niche perfumes at houses like R Parfums that use Vietnamese ingredients such as agarwood, lotus, and cinnamon.
Where can I make my own perfume in Vietnam?
NOTE – The Scent Lab offers perfume workshops at three locations: 42 Nguyen Hue (Cafe Apartment, District 1, HCMC), 34 Nguyen Duy Hieu (Thao Dien, HCMC), and Lotte Mall Tay Ho (Hanoi). Book at workshop.thescentnote.com/book.
Is R Parfums related to NOTE – The Scent Lab?
Yes. Both brands were founded by perfumer Rei Nguyen. R Parfums is the niche fragrance house creating artisan perfumes. NOTE – The Scent Lab is the workshop experience where you create your own. They share a philosophy of quality Vietnamese ingredients and intentional creation.
Do I need perfume knowledge to attend the NOTE workshop?
No prior knowledge needed. The workshop instructors guide you step by step through fragrance families and 30+ ingredients. First-timers consistently give it 5-star reviews. The workshop is designed for complete beginners and fragrance enthusiasts alike.
Can I buy R Parfums fragrances online?
Visit r-parfums.com for the full collection and brand story. For the hands-on experience, book a NOTE workshop at workshop.thescentnote.com/book. You can also explore NOTE’s full product range — reed diffusers, room sprays, and gift sets — at thescentnote.biz. Follow @note.workshop on Instagram for workshop content.
What Vietnamese ingredients are used in these perfumes?
Key Vietnamese ingredients include agarwood (oud) from the central highlands, lotus from Hanoi’s West Lake, cinnamon, jasmine, and pomelo blossom. Both R Parfums and NOTE use IFRA-certified, professional-grade materials sourced from Vietnamese producers.
