Cowboys With No Names

Cowboys With No Names is a tribute to the Chinese laborers who shaped the American West—those who carved railways through stone, cultivated orchards from barren soil, and built the foundations of a nation while their names faded from record. This fragrance is a portrait of presence and quiet endurance—inspired by the mythos of the American frontier, and woven with the invisible heritage that helped define it.

It opens with the dry clarity of American sagebrush, bitter orange peel, and the subtle spark of Szechuan pepper—evoking wind-worn plains and sunlit stillness. At its heart, golden chrysanthemum and polished cherry wood pay homage to ancestral roots and unspoken legacy. Osmanthus, a nod to home, lends an apricot-soft glow, resting against the quiet strength of worn leather and meditative Hinoki wood.

As it settles, the fragrance grounds itself in the warmth of hay, the structure of cedarwood, and the soft shadow of tobacco leaf. Ink, and burnt vetiver echo like distant voices—stories carried across oceans, and held in the air long after footsteps have faded.

A tribute to those who came in search of a new beginning—carrying dreams across oceans, and creating lives of quiet resilience on foreign soil, far from everything they knew.

Top Notes:

American Sagebrush, Bitter Orange Peel, Szechuan Pepper, Lapsang Souchong Tea

Heart Notes:

Chrysanthemum Absolute, Cherry Wood Accord, Osmanthus Absolute, Hinoki Wood, Worn Leather Accord

Base Notes:

Hay Absolute, Cedarwood (Texas), Tobacco Leaf, Ink Accord, Burnt Vetiver

Szechuan Pepper

Szechuan pepper is rarely used in Western perfumery. Though prized for its bright, aromatic clarity, it was banned from import into the United States in 1968, severing its availability just as Chinese communities had begun cultivating it in the Pacific Northwest.

For this formula, we sourced a rare cultivar that predates the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, originally grown in Oregon. In 2022, we propagated it on our own farm. Its distinctive profile—citrusy, crackling, and sharp—offers not only olfactive energy, but a direct botanical thread to histories long overlooked.

Cherry Wood Accord

The cherry wood in this fragrance comes from the Bing cherry tree, first developed in Oregon in the 19th century by Ah Bing, a Chinese horticulturist who emigrated to the United States in 1855. As foreman of the Lewelling nursery, he was instrumental in cultivating one of the most commercially successful cherry varietals in American agriculture.

In 1889, after returning to China to visit family, Ah Bing was barred from re-entering the U.S. under the Chinese Exclusion Act. His name remained on the fruit and in history books, but even that level of documented contribution wasn’t enough to overcome institutional exclusion.

The cherry wood used here is from that lineage—a material connection to a bigger legacy.

Texas Cedarwood

This cedarwood is harvested from our founder’s land in the Texas Hill Country, where native Ashe juniper grows in mineral-rich soil under long sunny days. In many ways, the presence of this ingredient is only possible because of the path laid by those who came before—immigrants whose labor shaped the land, even if their stories were left untold.

In Chinese tradition, cedar symbolizes longevity, protection, and continuity between generations. The cedarwood is harvested in small seasonal batches and steam-distilled on site. Its inclusion is grounding, clean, and deeply rooted—a note shaped by both personal memory and collective inheritance.

Genderless: Inclusive of everyone.

Vegan & Cruelty-Free: No animal-derived ingredients. Never tested on animals.

Free of BHT, Phthalates, and Synthetic Dyes: We omit common fragrance additives that offer no benefit to your skin—or your senses.

Thoughtfully Composed: Our fragrance is made with 98% plant-derived, organically sourced materials, including botanicals, absolutes, resins, and natural isolates.

Purposeful Innovation: To achieve nuanced scent structure and longevity that cannot be bottled through plants alone, we use less than 1% of carefully selected, bio-identical aromatic molecules—lab-crafted to mirror naturally occurring compounds found in botanicals, but at concentrations that nature alone cannot yield sustainably.

Our Philosophy: There is no universal standard for “green” or “clean” fragrance. At Gentlerist, we believe in formulating with transparency, integrity, and reverence—prioritizing wellness, skin safety, ecological responsibility, and olfactive excellence.

Ingredients: Alcohol Denat.*, Water\Aqua\Eau, Fragrance (Parfum^), Geraniol, Citronellol, Linalool, Limonene, Citral, Eugenol, Farnesol

* Triple-distilled, small-batch, organic grape and organic sugarcane alcohol
^ Derived from 98% Organic Plant Sources

Texture: Eau de Parfum

Suitable for: Genderless

Packaging: 50 ml / 1.7 oz glass bottle with atomizer.

Storage: Keep in a cool, dry area.