Sandalwood V's Sandalwood Essential Oil
April 3, 2018 4:38 PM Subscribe
I love the smell of sandalwood. I'm also making my own soap and skincare products and I'd like to put the two things together. However, I'm having difficulty finding sandalwood essential oil that smells like the sandalwood I'm used to. Can the keen noses of MeFi assist?
My main issue is that the sandalwood essential oils that I can find do not smell like sandalwood to me. These are very expensive, properly produced essential oils that come from reputable suppliers in concentrations ranging from 10% through to what was listed as "100%, pure oil". And on the whole, they almost all smell incredibly acrid and unpleasant to my nose. Some are so revolting that I literally cannot stand them - like a Demeter-brand room diffuser that was recommended to me and which I had to put into the bin. Others are less repulsive to me, and they are the ones that seem to smell more like sandalwood. There does not appear to be a correlation between purity of oil and the acrid smell. I have tried diluting the essential oil with a carrier oil on the assumption that the strength of it is what is causing the issue, but all I can smell is a faint oily smell that puts me in mind of turpentine, and definitely not sandalwood.
However, when I buy sandalwood soap from a variety of manufacturers, it universally smells beautifully of sandalwood to me. These are soaps that are listed as containing genuine sandalwood. And they do smell EXACTLY like a sandalwood fan that I own, and which I tend to think of as the benchmark. I found a cheap sandalwood room spray once (now defunct, alas) and THAT smells exactly like the fan.
I'm guessing that my nose wants cheap or imitation sandalwood and that essential oil is not the way to go for me? Or is there a different sort of sandalwood essential oil that I should be searching for? Price is not a huge issue as I'm willing to pay for what I want, but finding it has been impossible so far.
Can anyone suggest where I should be looking and what I should be looking for?
My main issue is that the sandalwood essential oils that I can find do not smell like sandalwood to me. These are very expensive, properly produced essential oils that come from reputable suppliers in concentrations ranging from 10% through to what was listed as "100%, pure oil". And on the whole, they almost all smell incredibly acrid and unpleasant to my nose. Some are so revolting that I literally cannot stand them - like a Demeter-brand room diffuser that was recommended to me and which I had to put into the bin. Others are less repulsive to me, and they are the ones that seem to smell more like sandalwood. There does not appear to be a correlation between purity of oil and the acrid smell. I have tried diluting the essential oil with a carrier oil on the assumption that the strength of it is what is causing the issue, but all I can smell is a faint oily smell that puts me in mind of turpentine, and definitely not sandalwood.
However, when I buy sandalwood soap from a variety of manufacturers, it universally smells beautifully of sandalwood to me. These are soaps that are listed as containing genuine sandalwood. And they do smell EXACTLY like a sandalwood fan that I own, and which I tend to think of as the benchmark. I found a cheap sandalwood room spray once (now defunct, alas) and THAT smells exactly like the fan.
I'm guessing that my nose wants cheap or imitation sandalwood and that essential oil is not the way to go for me? Or is there a different sort of sandalwood essential oil that I should be searching for? Price is not a huge issue as I'm willing to pay for what I want, but finding it has been impossible so far.
Can anyone suggest where I should be looking and what I should be looking for?
Do you know where the stuff you've been buying is sourced? That might make the difference. This site explains a bit about the different sandalwood varieties and sells a sampler with sandalwood oils from different parts of the world.
posted by clavicle at 5:53 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
posted by clavicle at 5:53 PM on April 3, 2018 [2 favorites]
Best answer: I think what you're probably looking for is sandalwood fragrance oil. Try a soap making or cosmetic supply company. They are synthetic oils, so they are much less expensive, and the fragrance lasts far far longer, so it is likely what you are smelling in the soaps that you purchase.
posted by OnefortheLast at 6:10 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by OnefortheLast at 6:10 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I would agree with clavicle. My local perfume oil store sells "indian" and "egyptian" 100% sandalwood essentials oils (or so they are labeled but perhaps one is a fragrance oil). They smell very different, and are similar prices, but I only like one.
posted by holyrood at 7:46 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by holyrood at 7:46 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I too found actual sandalwool essential oil disappointing. I suggest this Indian Sandalwood fragrance oil from Brambleberry. It is somewhat subjective, but it smells very similar to Chandrika Sandal Soap, which smells like actual sandalwood to me.
I just used that fragrance oil to scent some conditioner I made last night. I used it in my hair today and I'm very happy with it. In the bottle at full strength it doesn't seen too promising, but at one percent it smells lovely.
(Not affiliated with either, just a person who likes sandalwood and toiletries.)
posted by monopas at 9:51 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
I just used that fragrance oil to scent some conditioner I made last night. I used it in my hair today and I'm very happy with it. In the bottle at full strength it doesn't seen too promising, but at one percent it smells lovely.
(Not affiliated with either, just a person who likes sandalwood and toiletries.)
posted by monopas at 9:51 PM on April 3, 2018 [1 favorite]
Best answer: There's a strong possibility that the sandalwood oil you've gotten is santalum spicatum, or Australian sandalwood, as santalum album (Indian sandalwood) is seriously overharvested to the point where the trees are endangered or vulnerable, depending on which conservation assessment you read and how recently it was carried out. I don't think it is readily available for sale as an essential oil, at least, not for the average consumer. Meanwhile there may be chemically-produced scents that smell closer to santalum album, or mix s spicatum with other things to give it a greater similarity to s album. I adore s album but find s spicatum quite different - nice enough, but definitely more acrid and without the lovely richness of s album.
Don't know where you would find the right scent to use in your own production. I just looked up santalum album essential oil and it cost $880 Australian for 100ml. Further reading on the commercial perspective, and in general.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:52 PM on April 4, 2018
Don't know where you would find the right scent to use in your own production. I just looked up santalum album essential oil and it cost $880 Australian for 100ml. Further reading on the commercial perspective, and in general.
posted by Athanassiel at 3:52 PM on April 4, 2018
Response by poster: Most of the oils I've looked at haven't been labelled, although they all smelled very similar to one that was - and it was santalum spicatum, so that solves that mystery! I guess my next step is to find a fragrance oil and go from there.
posted by ninazer0 at 5:35 PM on April 9, 2018
posted by ninazer0 at 5:35 PM on April 9, 2018
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posted by as_night_falls at 5:50 PM on April 3, 2018