The Cowboys Are Back: Salt & Stone x Cherry Los Angeles Bring Back the Scent of the Wild West.

September 6, 2026
Fashion & Beauty
Words:
Beanie Stolper

The cowboys are back. Salt & Stone and Cherry Los Angeles are teaming up again for round two of their cult, sell-out collaboration, bringing back the favourite scent; Leather & Desert Grass. Smoky leather, apricot nectar and tobacco blossom which is basically the scent of the Wild West without having to leave London town.

We caught up with Salt & Stone founder Nima Jalali to talk scent, skin, collaboration and why the best body care is so much more than just body care. Safe to say, we all want to be a Salt & Stone x Cherry Los Angeles cowboy!



 

 

 

Beanie Stolper: I actually discovered Salt & Stone through the original Cherry Los Angeles collaboration, which, to me, is a pretty perfect example of what a great collaboration can do. I came for Cherry, stayed for Salt & Stone, and now I exclusively use the brand. What do you think makes a collaboration genuinely powerful rather than just two logos on a product?

 

Nima Jalali: I love to hear that. For us, it’s important to collaborate with brands we’re excited about, where we feel there’s a unique story to tell. With Cherry, we developed a scent, packaging and campaign that we felt brought Cherry’s brand DNA to life, and I think people can sense that level of intention behind a collaboration.

 

 

BS: Leather & Desert Grass is back, and it feels less like a fragrance and more like a whole cowboy fantasy. Especially as someone living in London, very far away from the land of the cowboys, what was the world you wanted people to step into when they smelled it? 

 

NJ: We wanted it to feel like the American West. For us, that’s smooth, smoky and rich, with notes of leather, apricot nectar and tobacco blossom. It’s an ode to the rugged natural world of the American frontier, and the scent should take you there no matter where you are, even from London.


BS: There’s something very seductive about Salt & Stone’s universe. At what point did you realise that people weren’t just buying body care, they were buying into a taste level, a lifestyle? How important is that to your brand image?

NJ: It was important to me from the start. People want to be part of something beyond the product itself, so I was really thoughtful about how we showed up. I felt like the category had not been given much consideration beyond function, and I wanted to approach it in my own way, building an incredible product where design and scent mattered just as much.

 

BS: You’ve made deodorant one of the coolest and chicest things in the bathroom, which I’ve felt has needed to happen for a while. What’s the secret to making an incredibly everyday product feel aspirational without making it feel try hard?
NJ: I appreciate you saying that. I think it comes down to letting the product speak for itself. It’s designed to be something you’re proud to leave out on your counter, the way you would a beautiful perfume bottle, rather than hide in a drawer. It smells as good as your perfume, it performs, and it’s already something you reach for every day.

 

BS: You came to the brand through snowboarding and a very physical relationship with the outdoors. How much of your own taste is instinct, and how much comes from actually being obsessed with performance?
NJ: A lot of my taste is instinct, but that instinct has been shaped by my experiences. I draw so much inspiration from the places I’ve been lucky enough to spend time in, some of them my favourite places in the world and many of them in nature. Living an active life in those places is a big part of it too, so performance isn’t something separate for me; it’s just part of how I see things.

 

BS: What do you look for in a creative partner like Cherry that you can’t necessarily put into a brief? Is it taste? An attitude? A slightly weird point of view? A visual? What made you want to work with Cherry specifically and come back for round two?
NJ: I’d say it’s taste and a distinct point of view. Cherry is design-forward with a strong creative identity, which gave us a great canvas to work with. We like to push ourselves creatively with collaborations, and the goal is always to have fun with it. The collection sold out within a few days last year and people have been asking for it ever since, so it was obvious we’d bring it back.

 

BS: Salt & Stone now has this huge global following, but the brand still feels incredibly considered. What’s the one thing you’re absolutely unwilling to compromise as the business gets bigger?
NJ: There’s so much that’s important to maintain as we grow, I can’t pick just one. The design, the scent, the performance and the marketing all matter, and together they’re what preserves the magic. I’m obsessed with the details, and it took countless iterations and sleepless nights to get everything right. I care just as much now as I did then.
BS: What’s making you excited right now? It can be a person, a place, a scent, a brand, a restaurant, a book? Anything you’re currently a little bit obsessed with and it can’t be deodorant!
NJ: I’m in love with Point Dume in Malibu right now. It’s where the ocean meets the mountains, and being surrounded by that kind of nature is good for the soul. I find the natural beauty of it deeply inspiring, and I love the smell of salt water in the air when I run by the ocean in the morning.