Living in the Pacific Northwest, I’m more than familiar with the scent of rain. Wet asphalt, damp wool, slicked pine trees, moist dog — I know them all. To me, Miller Harris La Pluie doesn’t have much to do with rain, at least not with rain in my part of the world. Instead, it smells like something much more wonderful: Revlon Moon Drops perfume, my grandmother’s favorite.

Miller Harris released La Pluie in 2011. Lyn Harris created it, and the fragrance has notes of tangerine, lavender, “wet” white flowers, ylang ylang, vetiver and bourbon vanilla. Initially, La Pluie is an aldehydic whoosh of tangerine and lavender with the ylang ylang already showing. Its citrus isn’t overtly juicy but leaves a dulled tangerine residue tinged with resinous lavender.

For the first twenty minutes or so on skin, except for the aldehydes and the top edge of the citrus, it doesn’t smell much like my grandmother’s Moon Drops. But once La Pluie’s moist, powdery, slightly spicy heart kicks in, Moon Drops comes back…

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