Botanical Name: Santalum Album

Origin: India

Steam distillation of the chipped or powdered heartwood and roots. Although sandalwood has often been recommended as an oral treatment it is most safely used in massage treatments, poultices, bath oils and evaporators.

Although the 'H & R Guide to Fragrance Ingredients' cites sandalwood oil as one of the most expensive raw materials available to the perfumer it must be said that there are many essential oils which are far more costly and much less versatile. With the exception of aloewood oil (which is very expensive indeed) there is no other essence which gives the same voluptuous warmth as sandalwood.The production of the oil is scrupulously controlled by the government of Mysore, the very best oil being 'agmarked'or approved by the Ministry of Agriculture. Only the heartwood of mature trees (aprox 30 yrs) is used and current reports from Mysore suggest that the use of sandalwood for carving and furniture making is to be curtailed in order to ensure a sufficiency of trees for future oil extraction.

The oil is present to some degree in all parts of the wood and is responsible for the formation of the heartwood. It is not secreted by the wood. This distinguishes it from other woods such as guaiacum and sanders whose heartwoods are formed through the action of resin which is secreted especially when the bark and outer wood are damaged.