John Wayne x O’Douds: Western Scents Made Modern

John Wayne and O’Douds Apothecary have teamed up to create a line of products made for the modern man. With scents reminiscent of an authentic campfire or being out in nature on the western trail, the ethically sourced, hand crafted products are inspired by the iconic actor evoking his sense of Americana spirit and grit.

The line consists of candles, cologne and pomades all made in America and use essential oils to capture in a scent the adventure of the outdoors. Like John Wayne himself, the products are instant classics that appeal to every man.

We reached out the the founder of O’Douds, Clayton Douds, to dig into the inspiration behind the collection:

How were you first introduced to John Wayne?

I was first introduced to John Wayne through watching True Grit with my dad when I was growing up. It was one of those types of memories that you’ll never forget and I’ve been a big fan of John Wayne ever since.

Tell us about O’Douds.

O’Douds started from a passion for quality products made with natural ingredients. We began in late 2013 with simple aspirations of selling pomades to our friends, online, and maybe a few stores. However, that small goal quickly evolved into a much larger vision, and we’ve been growing and expanding ever since. Our goal is to make products that not only work great, but are crafted from ingredients that we can proudly stand behind. Our ingredients and packaging are sustainable, well sourced, and everything we make is healthy for you and your body, no harsh chemicals, synthetic fragrances, parabens, or any of that nonsense. O’Douds is sensible grooming for sensible humans.

What inspired you to take on this project?

Well as soon as we were approached by John Wayne Enterprises, we knew we wanted to participate. John Wayne is an american icon, and being a brand that is dedicated to american manufacturing, it just made perfect sense. There’s so much inspiration in John Wayne’s life and movies, I knew that creating products to reflect that would be both challenging and rewarding.

** A note from John Wayne Enterprises Creative Director, Candice K Moore: “I actually came across O’Douds at a tradeshow, and the visuals and scents surrounding their booth emanated characteristics of a modern day John Wayne. Opting for hand drawn, rugged design and musky, masculine scents, I knew straight away this would be a fitting partnership.”

How did you decide on the fragrances?

In my opinion John Wayne symbolizes early life in the rapidly growing American West. We wanted to craft scents that were unique  and captured the smell and feel of that time. All of our scents are made from essential oils exclusively, which means that when we say a scent contains Texas Cedarwood, that scent was harvested directly from real Texas cedar wood with nothing else added. After many different ideas and variations, we settled on Campfire and Western Trail for our scents. Our goal with Campfire was to take the take the full experience of sitting around a campfire with friends. Campfire embodies not only the smoky, woodsy notes of the fire, but also the sweet, savory, and bitter notes of coffee and chocolate. It consists of Virginia Cedarwood, Patchouli, Coffee, Cypress, Vanilla, Lavender and a few other notes. Western Trail was crafted to embody the fresh open air of the western trail. Woodsy notes of Texas Cedarwood blend with spicy notes of White Sage and floral notes of Lavender to transport you out of your home and onto the western trail.

As a man living in modern America, what do you think John Wayne represents today?

I think John Wayne represents the beauty of adventure and the great outdoors. So much has changed since his time, but those two things will always remain.