The Story
Why it exists.
The beginning
Let's Murder The Moonshine was launched in 2017 by Les Eaux Primordiales. The fragrance was created by Amélie Bourgeois, Anne-Sophie Behaghel and Arnaud Poulain, with collaboration from fashion designer duo Aganovich noted in the research. Its title carries a deliberate contradiction, moonshine suggesting something illicit and hazy while the composition itself points toward a sharper laboratory instinct. Rose, woody notes and smoke form the core image: floral warmth held inside a darker, more cerebral frame. There are no grand origin myths to decode here. The compelling part is the collision, a tender rose placed beside incense, ink and pepper, then grounded in guaiac wood, styrax and frankincense.
That rose-and-smoke pairing gives Let's Murder The Moonshine its peculiar charge. Rose acetate brings a metallic, cool edge rather than a conventional bouquet, while pepper and pink pepper add a flash of spark that keeps the composition alert. Frankincense, smoke and ink pull it toward resin and shadow; guaiac wood makes the heart drier and more structural. The result feels less like a polished floral than a rose caught inside an experiment, part pretty, part charred, and never quite willing to settle into one category.
The evolution
The first impression is a clean snap of rose acetate and pepper, bright enough to feel almost clinical before the smoky materials settle in. Chinese toon and woody notes add an herbal, green-bark tension underneath, while frankincense and guaiac wood begin building a darker grain. As the heart develops, the rose remains present but gets pushed into the background, becoming less like a flower and more like a trace on ink. Styrax and the balsamic facets of the woody materials carry the composition toward its drydown. Smoke softens without becoming plush. What lingers is a dry, resinous impression with rose still hovering at the edge, close to skin. The opening's sharp metallic edge slowly loosens its grip, trading that initial clinical snap for something warmer, almost waxy, as if the rose had been dipped in cooled resin rather than left exposed to air.
Cultural impact
Let's Murder The Moonshine occupies a cerebral corner of fragrance culture, closer to an experiment or art object than a straightforward floral scent. Its collaboration with fashion designer duo Aganovich places it within a context where scent was treated as part of a wider aesthetic proposition rather than sold as a solitary bottle. The research describes reactions that are distinctly personal, especially around its acidity, incense and smoke.
The House
Les EAUX PrimordialesLes Eaux Primordiales is a French niche perfume house that emerged in 2015 from the northern town of Acq. The brand translates the scientific curiosity of its founder, Arnaud Poulain, into scented compositions that reference the earliest forms of water on Earth. Each fragrance is launched from a restored 19th‑century château that once served a coal‑mining company, linking industrial heritage with contemporary olfactory art. The house distributes its creations worldwide while keeping production anchored in France.
The Creator
Amelie Bourgeois & Anne‑Sophie Behaghel & Arnaud PoulainBourgeois works within classical perfumery structures but pushes against the expected. She favors material combinations that surprise, finding harmony in contrasts others might avoid.
